diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/hal/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/hal/default.nix
index 93ba4ea4f18..1fc01298105 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/hal/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/hal/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 { stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, python, pciutils, usbutils, expat
 , libusb, dbus, dbus_glib, glib, libvolume_id, perl, perlXMLParser
 , gettext, zlib /* required by pciutils */, eject, libsmbios
+, udev
 }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
@@ -19,22 +20,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   # !!! Hm, maybe the pci/usb.ids location should be in /etc, so that
   # we don't have to rebuild HAL when we update the PCI/USB IDs.  
   configureFlags = "
-    --with-pci-ids=${pciutils}/share/pci.ids
-    --with-usb-ids=${usbutils}/share/usb.ids
+    --with-pci-ids=${pciutils}/share
+    --with-usb-ids=${usbutils}/share
     --disable-docbook-docs
     --disable-gtk-doc
     --localstatedir=/var
     --with-eject=${eject}/bin/eject
   ";
 
-  /*
-  preInstall = "
-    installFlagsArray=(DESTDIR=$out/destdir)
+  preBuild = "
+    substituteInPlace hald/linux/coldplug.c --replace /usr/bin/udevinfo ${udev}/bin/udevinfo
   ";
-  
-  postInstall = "
-    mv $out/destdir/$out/* $out
-    rm -rf $out/destdir
-  ";
-  */
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index b9618d82552..891cd8f8a85 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ rec {
   # Write a plain text file to the Nix store.  (The advantage over
   # plain sources is that `text' can refer to the output paths of
   # derivations, e.g., "... ${somePkg}/bin/foo ...".
-  writeText = name: text: runCommand name {inherit text;} "echo \"$text\" > $out";
+  writeText = name: text: runCommand name {inherit text;} "echo -n \"$text\" > $out";
 
   substituteAll = import ../build-support/substitute/substitute-all.nix {
     inherit stdenv;
@@ -2233,7 +2233,7 @@ rec {
   hal = import ../os-specific/linux/hal {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv pkgconfig python pciutils usbutils expat
       libusb dbus dbus_glib libvolume_id perl perlXMLParser
-      gettext zlib eject libsmbios;
+      gettext zlib eject libsmbios udev;
     inherit (gtkLibs) glib;
   };