I really need some help here udevhotplugusbusbmount etc etc. 2033

The install CD. Most of them do install stable and then you have to dist-upgrade to the others. But as I said, there are some that install testing (in order to test the new installer). It has been a while since I did a new install but I think it says what it is on the boot screen

The contents ofetc-apt-sources.list will tell you what repository it is pulling from (stable-sarge, testing-etch, or unstable-sid). That is the definitive word on what you are running (or will be running after your next "apt-get upgrade").

new packages getting tossed in every day.

It initially uses the kernel on the CD. If that was sufficiently old it would have had 2.6.8 even for a testing release. The new testing starts shortly after the release of a stable and is based on that just released baseline.

Apt won't upgrade the kernel version automatically because of the kinds of issues you have seen (CD's are designed for the "stable" situation where versions do not change). But if you upgrade something else that depends on the kernel, you force the kernel upgrade.

That's not necessarily unusual. If there were a security update since the CD was released it would grab the updated one if possible (e.g. from the net). What would be significant is whether it upgraded the version or only the dash number.

If it upgraded the version (e.g. 2.3.2 to 2.3.6) then you have testing or unstable, regardless of what you started with.

Unfortunately, while upgrades are easy, downgrading is a unpleasant woman. It can be done, but requires a lot of manual intervention. If you can figure out exactly where you are now, then someone might be able to tell you the best way to proceed.

-- - Bob Hauck - A proud member of the unhinged moonbat horde.