My USB connector broke AGAIN. I am so sick of this crap. Frankly I hope whoever was responsible for the mechanical design of the n900 either "learned their lesson" or got shown the door. I bought an aftermarket warranty; will see how that goes.

What was wrong with compiling?

No clue about the driver. I would try the driver on a desktop system first with first whatever is convenient and probably 2.6.28 there too.