PS/2 mouse disappearing with gcc-4.2 built kernel

There seems to be a small problem with the psm0 device.
In particular, my Inspiron 4150 laptop has a touchpad,
and I plug a PS/2 mouse into the PS/2 port on the back.
At some point, the console shows 

May 25 11:31:44 mobile kernel: psm0: failed to reset the aux device.
May 25 11:31:44 mobile kernel: psm0: the aux device has gone! (reinitialize).

and the mouse is gone.  Of course, a disappearing mouse while in 
X is somewhat inconvenient.

-- 
Steve