diff --git a/rse/features/org.eclipse.rse.core-feature/feature.xml b/rse/features/org.eclipse.rse.core-feature/feature.xml
index db9345f2633..304898b267b 100644
--- a/rse/features/org.eclipse.rse.core-feature/feature.xml
+++ b/rse/features/org.eclipse.rse.core-feature/feature.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
-     Copyright (c) 2005, 2008 IBM Corporation and others.
+     Copyright (c) 2005, 2009 IBM Corporation and others.
      All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
      are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
      which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 <feature
       id="org.eclipse.rse.core"
       label="%featureName"
-      version="3.1.0.qualifier"
+      version="3.1.1.qualifier"
       provider-name="%providerName"
       plugin="org.eclipse.rse.core">
 
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index f28d5ef8540..e85d9c43409 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Manifest-Version: 1.0
 Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
 Bundle-Name: %pluginName
 Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.rse.ui;singleton:=true
-Bundle-Version: 3.1.0.qualifier
+Bundle-Version: 3.1.1.qualifier
 Bundle-Activator: org.eclipse.rse.ui.RSEUIPlugin
 Bundle-Localization: plugin
 Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.core.runtime,
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemBasePlugin.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemBasePlugin.java
index 817fc902b4a..8f97034d057 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemBasePlugin.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemBasePlugin.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /********************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2002, 2008 IBM Corporation and others. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2002, 2009 IBM Corporation and others. All rights reserved.
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the terms
  * of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 which accompanies this distribution, and is
  * available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
  * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [243263] NPE on expanding a filter
  * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [244454] SystemBasePlugin.getWorkBench() incorrectly returns null when called during Eclipse startup
  * David McKnight   (IBM)  [246406] [performance] Timeout waiting when loading SystemPreferencesManager$ModelChangeListener during startup
+ * Martin Oberhuber (Wind River) - [246406] Timeout waiting when loading RSE
  ********************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.rse.ui;
@@ -58,9 +59,13 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 	// static variables
     private static SystemBasePlugin baseInst = null;
 
-    /**
-     * Logger object for logging messages for servicing purposes.
-     */
+	/**
+	 * Logger object for logging messages for servicing purposes.
+	 *
+	 * @deprecated do not use use this directly, use {@link #getLogger()}
+	 *             instead for lazy loading of the Logger. We do not guarantee
+	 *             that this variable is ever initialized.
+	 */
 	protected static Logger log = null;
 
 	/**
@@ -343,7 +348,7 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 		boolean ok = false;
 		try {
 			URL url = bundle.getEntry("/"+fileName); //$NON-NLS-1$
-			if (url != null) { 
+			if (url != null) {
 				mf = SystemUIMessageFile.getMessageFile(fileName, url);
 				ok = true;
 			}
@@ -459,19 +464,19 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 		switch (type)
 		{
 			case SystemMessage.ERROR:
-				log.logError(message.toString(), ex);
+			getBaseDefault().getLogger().logError(message.toString(), ex);
 				break;
 			case SystemMessage.WARNING:
-				log.logWarning(message.toString(), ex);
+			getBaseDefault().getLogger().logWarning(message.toString(), ex);
 				break;
 			case SystemMessage.INFORMATION:
 			case SystemMessage.COMPLETION:
-				log.logInfo(message.toString(), ex);
+			getBaseDefault().getLogger().logInfo(message.toString(), ex);
 				break;
 			case SystemMessage.INQUIRY:
 			case SystemMessage.UNEXPECTED:
 			default:
-				log.logInfo(message.toString(), ex);
+			getBaseDefault().getLogger().logInfo(message.toString(), ex);
 				break;
 		}
 	}
@@ -488,7 +493,7 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 	 */
 	public static void logInfo(String message)
 	{
-		log.logInfo(message);
+		getBaseDefault().getLogger().logInfo(message);
 	}
 
 	// -----------------
@@ -508,7 +513,7 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 	 */
 	public static void logWarning(String message)
 	{
-		log.logWarning(message);
+		getBaseDefault().getLogger().logWarning(message);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -523,7 +528,7 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 	 */
 	public static void logError(String message)
 	{
-		log.logError(message, null);
+		getBaseDefault().getLogger().logError(message, null);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -541,7 +546,7 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 	 */
 	public static void logError(String message, Throwable exception)
 	{
-		log.logError(message, exception);
+		getBaseDefault().getLogger().logError(message, exception);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -556,7 +561,7 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 	 */
 	public static void logDebugMessage(String prefix, String message)
 	{
-		log.logDebugMessage(prefix, message);
+		getBaseDefault().getLogger().logDebugMessage(prefix, message);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -609,11 +614,8 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 
         super.start(context);
 
-		// logger
-	    if (log == null) {
-	    	log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this);
-	    	log.logInfo("Loading " + this.getClass()); //$NON-NLS-1$
-	    }
+		// // bug 246406: initialize the logger lazily
+		// getLogger();
 
 	    addWindowListener();
     }
@@ -622,7 +624,9 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
      * @see org.osgi.framework.BundleActivator#stop(org.osgi.framework.BundleContext)
      */
     public void stop(BundleContext context) throws Exception {
-    	logDebugMessage(this.getClass().getName(), "SHUTDOWN"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		if (Logger.DEBUG) {
+			logDebugMessage(this.getClass().getName(), "SHUTDOWN"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		}
    	    LoggerFactory.freeLogger(this);
         super.stop(context);
     }
@@ -739,12 +743,16 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Returns an image descriptor from the base IDE. Looks only in the "icons/full/" directories.
+	 * Returns an image descriptor from the base IDE. Looks only in the
+	 * "icons/full/" directories.
 	 *
-	 * @see org.eclipse.ui.views.navigator.ResourceNavigatorActionGroup#getImageDescriptor(java.lang.String)
+	 * @deprecated use {@link org.eclipse.ui.ISharedImages} via
+	 *             PlatformUI.getWorkbench().getSharedImages()
 	 */
 	public ImageDescriptor getImageDescriptorFromIDE(String relativePath)
 	{
+		// This code is from
+		// org.eclipse.ui.views.navigator.ResourceNavigatorActionGroup#getImageDescriptor(java.lang.String)
 		Hashtable registry = getImageDescriptorRegistry();
 		ImageDescriptor descriptor = (ImageDescriptor)registry.get(relativePath);
 		if (descriptor == null) {
@@ -778,6 +786,11 @@ public abstract class SystemBasePlugin extends AbstractUIPlugin
      */
     public Logger getLogger()
     {
+		// logger
+		if (log == null) {
+			log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this);
+			log.logInfo("Loading " + this.getClass()); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		}
     	return log;
     }
 
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemPreferencesManager.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemPreferencesManager.java
index 9cdccd71620..ca5cb5e1546 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemPreferencesManager.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/SystemPreferencesManager.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /********************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2000, 2008 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2000, 2009 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the terms
  * of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 which accompanies this distribution, and is
  * available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
@@ -18,17 +18,14 @@
  * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [237300] Problem with setDefaultHistory for SystemHistoryCombo.
  * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [240991] RSE startup creates display on worker thread before workbench.
  * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [240991] Avoiding calling SystemBasePluging.getWorkbench()
+ * Martin Oberhuber (Wind River) - [246406] Timeout waiting when loading RSE
  ********************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.rse.ui;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor;
-import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IStatus;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Preferences;
-import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Status;
-import org.eclipse.core.runtime.jobs.Job;
 import org.eclipse.rse.core.IRSEPreferenceNames;
 import org.eclipse.rse.core.RSECorePlugin;
 import org.eclipse.rse.core.events.ISystemModelChangeEvent;
@@ -39,8 +36,10 @@ import org.eclipse.rse.core.events.ISystemResourceChangeEvents;
 import org.eclipse.rse.core.events.ISystemResourceChangeListener;
 import org.eclipse.rse.core.model.IHost;
 import org.eclipse.rse.core.model.ISystemRegistry;
-import org.eclipse.ui.IWorkbench;
-import org.eclipse.ui.PlatformUI;
+import org.osgi.framework.Bundle;
+import org.osgi.framework.BundleContext;
+import org.osgi.framework.BundleEvent;
+import org.osgi.framework.BundleListener;
 
 /**
  * A utility class that encapsulates all global preferences for the remote system framework
@@ -493,28 +492,26 @@ public class SystemPreferencesManager {
 
 		if (!alreadyListening) {
 			// FIXME bug 240991: With the current workaround, we might miss events
-			// Instead of adding the listener deferred in a job, the SystemRegistry
+			// Instead of adding the listener deferred, the SystemRegistry
 			// should send events via the IRSEInteractionProvider
-			Job addListenerJob = new Job("Add Listener"){ //$NON-NLS-1$
-				public IStatus run(IProgressMonitor monitor){
-					while (!PlatformUI.isWorkbenchRunning()){
-						try {
-							//Checks in the loop are fast enough so we can poll often
-							Thread.sleep(100);
+			Bundle bnd = RSEUIPlugin.getDefault().getBundle();
+			if (bnd.getState() == Bundle.ACTIVE) {
+				// addListenerJob.schedule();
+				fModelChangeListener = new ModelChangeListener();
+				RSECorePlugin.getTheSystemRegistry().addSystemModelChangeListener(fModelChangeListener);
+			} else {
+				final BundleContext ctx = bnd.getBundleContext();
+				ctx.addBundleListener(new BundleListener() {
+					public void bundleChanged(BundleEvent event) {
+						if (event.getType() == BundleEvent.STARTED) {
+							// addListenerJob.schedule();
+							fModelChangeListener = new ModelChangeListener();
+							RSECorePlugin.getTheSystemRegistry().addSystemModelChangeListener(fModelChangeListener);
+							ctx.removeBundleListener(this);
 						}
-						catch (InterruptedException e){}
 					}
-						
-					IWorkbench wb = PlatformUI.getWorkbench();
-					if (!wb.isClosing()) {
-						fModelChangeListener = new ModelChangeListener();
-						RSECorePlugin.getTheSystemRegistry().addSystemModelChangeListener(fModelChangeListener);
-					}
-					return Status.OK_STATUS;
-				}
-			};
-			addListenerJob.setSystem(true);
-			addListenerJob.schedule();
+				});
+			}
 		}
 	}