I am Kubuntu 10.10. KDE 4.5.

I use my 80gb iPod classic (enabled for disk usage in Windows - iTunes) to take backups.

When I connect it to the computer:

1. It is mounted as Read Only in /tmp/ipodxxxxxx location. All other USB drives get mounted is Read Write in /media directory

2. When I remove it by clicking Safely Remove in Device Notifier, it gives an error 'Can not unmount as files are in use.' More details indicate 'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.NotMountedByHal: Device to unmount is not in /media/.hal-mtab so it is not mounted by HAL'

3. When Amarok is running, it identifies the device properly. If I click on safely remove button an Amarok, the entry disappears from Amarok but iPod screen continues to show 'Connected' as status.

Lastly, the same iPod plays quite well under GNOME. It mounts in /media with Read Write access and gets safely removed.

Can the same thing be achieved in KDE? How?

It is possible you have a conflict between HAL and UDev/UDisks here, given your usage of KDE 4.5 with Kubuntu 10.10. If you upgrade to KDE 4.6, does the behaviour change?

May be, KDE 4.6 will solve the problem. But KDE 4.6 is not available on Kubuntu 10.10. I think it is part of distribution upgrade to Kubuntu 11.04 but that is still a month away.

In the meantime, is not there something I can do to start making the iPod behave like other USB sticks?

Unfortunately not, as KDE at least doesn't ship with automated policies to mount media (unless you activate that functionality, but the KDE method through HAL isn't being used anyway)

I would suggest eliminating any GNOME applications which may be running in your desktop, as they are likely using UDisks.