What about your USB problem:
It's all about PolicyKit.
I guess you're logged to your system as a normal user, not as root.
So, under root edit /usr/share/PolicyKit/policy/org.freedesktop.hal.storage.policy and replace "no" on "yes" in the structure:
Code:
<action id="org.freedesktop.hal.storage.mount-removable">
<description>Mount file systems from removable drives.</description>
<message>System policy prevents mounting removable media</message>
<defaults>
<allow_inactive>yes</allow_inactive>
<allow_active>yes</allow_active>
</defaults>
</action>
Save this file.
And you'll get an ability to mount removable media by any user, not only root.