I have narrowed it down to the config setting CONFIG_PM_DISABLE_CONSOLE. The mainline kernel package does not have this option set, and the Ubuntu kernel does. When I build the Ubuntu 2.6.35 kernel sources with this setting, the problem occurs. When I build the sources with CONFIG_PM_DISABLE_CONSOLE=n, the problem goes away. Interestingly, this option is set in the Ubuntu Lucid 2.6.32 kernel and does not seem to cause a problem there.
I have narrowed it down to the config setting CONFIG_ PM_DISABLE_ CONSOLE. The mainline kernel package does not have this option set, and the Ubuntu kernel does. When I build the Ubuntu 2.6.35 kernel sources with this setting, the problem occurs. When I build the sources with CONFIG_ PM_DISABLE_ CONSOLE= n, the problem goes away. Interestingly, this option is set in the Ubuntu Lucid 2.6.32 kernel and does not seem to cause a problem there.