KNetwork Manager fails to configure static IP

I have 2 partitions: one with Kubuntu Herd 5 + updates & another with Ubuntu Herd 5 + updates.

Kubuntu Feisty does not configure properly the ethernet card at boot.

When I launch KNetwork Manager eth0 is listed as enabled, but does not work.

I have to enter the gateway address manually each time. It does not take effect until I disable
then re-enable eth0.

There is one NIC on this machine wired to a router. I have not modified /etc/network/interfaces;
it seems that the reconfiguration process described above does modify that file.

This difficulty has persisted through reboots over the past 10+ days; I have not found an exact
duplicate of this report under "Network Manager" and "KNetwork Manager" searches in launchpad.

The standard Network Manager in Ubuntu Feisty simply works w/ static IP;
this is a Kubuntu-specific problem.

Linux eo 2.6.20-14-generic #2 SMP Mon Apr 2 20:37:49 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
address 127.0.0.1
netmask 255.0.0.0

iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.60
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.1

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

auto eth2
iface eth2 inet dhcp

auto ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp