OK,
  no signs of life from my pcmcia card.  the log shows the kernel has crashed again. looking at the log I see the following:

Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.412074] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: pccard: CardBus card inserted into slot 0
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.412181] yenta_cardbus 0000:02:04.0: EnE: chaning testregister 0xC9, 04 -> 04
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.508200] eth0: link down
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.508594] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.548941] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0x100-0x3af: clean.
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.550634] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0x3e0-0x4ff: excluding 0x4d0-0x4d7
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.551375] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0x820-0x8ff: clean.
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.551990] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0xc00-0xcf7: clean.
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.553131] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0xa00-0xaff: clean.
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.586627] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.648525] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.648531] 	(start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.648535] 	(2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.648538] 	(2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.648542] 	(2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.648545] 	(5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Apr 28 20:43:30 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.648549] 	(5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837344] rt2500pci 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNKA] -> GSI 10 (level, low) -> IRQ 10
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837377] ------------[ cut here ]------------
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837389] WARNING: at /build/buildd/linux-2.6.32/drivers/pci/pci.c:79 pci_ioremap_bar+0x57/0x60()
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837392] Hardware name: Satellite A30
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837394] Modules linked in: rt2500pci(+) rt2x00pci rt2x00lib led_class mac80211 cfg80211 eeprom_93cx6 snd_intel8x0 snd_ac97_codec ac97_bus snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss pcmcia joydev snd_pcm snd_seq_dummy snd_seq_oss snd_seq_midi snd_rawmidi snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq snd_timer snd_seq_device yenta_socket rsrc_nonstatic snd pcmcia_core soundcore snd_page_alloc psmouse serio_raw shpchp lp parport fbcon tileblit font bitblit softcursor vga16fb vgastate i915 8139too drm_kms_helper ohci1394 intel_agp 8139cp usbhid drm i2c_algo_bit ieee1394 mii agpgart video output hid
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837446] Pid: 753, comm: modprobe Tainted: G   M       2.6.32-21-generic #32-Ubuntu
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837449] Call Trace:
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837458]  [<c014c3d2>] warn_slowpath_common+0x72/0xa0
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837462]  [<c03606b7>] ? pci_ioremap_bar+0x57/0x60
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837466]  [<c03606b7>] ? pci_ioremap_bar+0x57/0x60
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837470]  [<c014c41a>] warn_slowpath_null+0x1a/0x20
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837473]  [<c03606b7>] pci_ioremap_bar+0x57/0x60
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837480]  [<f801b84a>] rt2x00pci_probe+0xea/0x29e [rt2x00pci]
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837486]  [<c0363883>] local_pci_probe+0x13/0x20
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837489]  [<c0364688>] pci_device_probe+0x68/0x90
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837496]  [<c03e684d>] really_probe+0x4d/0x140
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837502]  [<c03ed15e>] ? pm_runtime_barrier+0x4e/0xc0
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837506]  [<c03e697c>] driver_probe_device+0x3c/0x60
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837510]  [<c03e6a21>] __driver_attach+0x81/0x90
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837514]  [<c03e5e63>] bus_for_each_dev+0x53/0x80
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837518]  [<c03e671e>] driver_attach+0x1e/0x20
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837522]  [<c03e69a0>] ? __driver_attach+0x0/0x90
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837525]  [<c03e60e5>] bus_add_driver+0xd5/0x280
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837529]  [<c03645c0>] ? pci_device_remove+0x0/0x40
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837533]  [<c03e6d1a>] driver_register+0x6a/0x130
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837537]  [<c03648c5>] __pci_register_driver+0x45/0xb0
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837543]  [<f805e017>] rt2500pci_init+0x17/0x19 [rt2500pci]
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837547]  [<c0101131>] do_one_initcall+0x31/0x190
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837552]  [<f805e000>] ? rt2500pci_init+0x0/0x19 [rt2500pci]
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837559]  [<c0182340>] sys_init_module+0xb0/0x210
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837563]  [<c01033ec>] syscall_call+0x7/0xb
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837566] ---[ end trace c6a161249884d29c ]---
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837581] rt2500pci 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   29.837589] rt2500pci: probe of 0000:03:00.0 failed with error -12
Apr 28 20:43:31 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [   30.436889] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver



OK - I'll try the latest mainline kernel to see if it has been resolved.