getty/login problem

[lord_fleg at iinet.net.au]

hi all,
when logging on via the serial port (ttyS1) i get prompted for the username when
i enter it and hit return it gets echoed back to me on the line below, and then 
when i enter the password nothing happens and it eventually times out.  
on entering the username/password a second time all is well.

essentially the same problem described in message...

http://www.busybox.net/lists/busybox/2004-August/012267.html

so i tried turning off syslogd but this wasnt sufficient, i also
had to remove "console=ttyS1, 9600" from the kernel command line, which
seems to me to fit in with the advice given in the above message and does remove
the problem of the first login always failing.  however it means i dont
see the kernel boot messages.

is there a better solution?  and if not could someone give me an idea
of how big a job this is to fix and where i should start?
thanks,
fleg