uClinux boot up

I am having this same problem where I cannot boot Linux (w/MMU) from flash until I connect the USB Blaster and run nios2-terminal. Once I do that, the code runs perfectly from and the messaging comes up on the JTAG console.

I have removed JTAG console support from my image which is what I thought was the problem. Here is snippet from my kernel .config:

CONFIG_SERIAL_CORE=y# CONFIG_SERIAL_ALTERA_JTAGUART is not set

CONFIG_SERIAL_ALTERA_UART=y

CONFIG_SERIAL_ALTERA_UART_MAXPORTS=4

CONFIG_SERIAL_ALTERA_UART_BAUDRATE=115200# CONFIG_SERIAL_ALTERA_UART_CONSOLE is not set

Yet, I still see the messages when I connect. Nothing happens in the hardware until I connect the USB Blaster.

If I don't have a console, is that the problem?

I would really appreciate help as this is urgent (and yes, it's Friday night.)

Here are some relevant files:

kernel .config:

http://davehenning.com/pages/kernel_dot_config

linux-2.6/arch/nios2/kernel/config.c:

http://davehenning.com/pages/config.c

linux-2.6/arch/nios2/include/asm/custom_fpga.h:

http://davehenning.com/pages/custom_fpga.h

Dave ...