diff -urNp hal-0.5.8.1.old/hald/hald.c hal-0.5.8.1/hald/hald.c
--- hal-0.5.8.1.old/hald/hald.c	2006-09-19 21:23:25.000000000 +0100
+++ hal-0.5.8.1/hald/hald.c	2009-05-14 12:26:02.000000000 +0100
@@ -217,6 +217,9 @@ usage ()
  		 "        --use-syslog         Print out debug messages to syslog instead of stderr.\n"
 		 "                             Use this option to get debug messages if HAL runs as\n"
 		 "                             daemon.\n"
+		 "        --child-timeout=time Set this timout for the child prober. A larger\n"
+		 "                             number than the default 250s is required for systems\n"
+		 "                             with many resources to be probed at boot time\n"
 		 "        --help               Show this information and exit\n"
 		 "        --version            Output version information and exit"
 		 "\n"
@@ -297,7 +300,7 @@ handle_sigchld (int value)
 }
 
 static int 
-parent_wait_for_child (int child_fd, pid_t child_pid)
+parent_wait_for_child (guint timeout, int child_fd, pid_t child_pid)
 {
 	fd_set rfds;
 	fd_set efds;
@@ -324,8 +327,8 @@ parent_wait_for_child (int child_fd, pid
 	FD_SET(child_fd, &rfds);
 	FD_ZERO(&efds);
 	FD_SET(child_fd, &efds);
-	/* Wait up to 250 seconds for device probing */
-	tv.tv_sec = 250;
+	/* Wait up to a set time for device probing */
+	tv.tv_sec = timeout;
 	tv.tv_usec = 0;
 
 	retval = select (child_fd + 1, &rfds, NULL, &efds, &tv);
@@ -365,6 +368,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	guint sigterm_iochn_listener_source_id;
 	char *path;
 	char newpath[512];
+	guint opt_child_timeout;
 
 	openlog ("hald", LOG_PID, LOG_DAEMON);
 
@@ -394,6 +398,9 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	setenv ("PATH", newpath, TRUE);
 
+	/* set the default child timeout to 250 seconds */
+	opt_child_timeout = 250;
+
 	while (1) {
 		int c;
 		int option_index = 0;
@@ -402,6 +409,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 			{"daemon", 1, NULL, 0},
 			{"verbose", 1, NULL, 0},
 			{"use-syslog", 0, NULL, 0},
+			{"child-timeout", 1, NULL, 0},
 			{"help", 0, NULL, 0},
 			{"version", 0, NULL, 0},
 			{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
@@ -431,6 +439,8 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 					usage ();
 					return 1;
 				}
+			} else if (strcmp (opt, "child-timeout") == 0) {
+				opt_child_timeout = atoi (optarg);
 			} else if (strcmp (opt, "verbose") == 0) {
 				if (strcmp ("yes", optarg) == 0) {
 					hald_is_verbose = TRUE;
@@ -470,6 +480,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	loop = g_main_loop_new (NULL, FALSE);
 
 	HAL_INFO ((PACKAGE_STRING));
+	HAL_INFO (("using child timeout %is", opt_child_timeout));
 
 	if (opt_become_daemon) {
 		int child_pid;
@@ -516,7 +527,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 
 		default:
 			/* parent, block until child writes */
-			exit (parent_wait_for_child (startup_daemonize_pipe[0], child_pid));
+			exit (parent_wait_for_child (opt_child_timeout, startup_daemonize_pipe[0], child_pid));
 			break;
 		}