Strange problem - need unused variable to make (Blink like) sketch run

gilhad:
it compiles without problems, but once uploaded, it lights pin 7 and does nothing more

But if I uncomment the two lines with led, it uploads and start blinkind all pins 7-13.

If I comment out the led, it stuck again.

I used IDE 1.0.4 on Windows 7 Pro 64-bit to upload the code in the original post to a UNO R3, and pin 13 blinked briefly at a bit less than 1Hz. That's what I'd expect from that code. Then I tried again using IDE 1.5.2 - no problem there either. In other words, I couldn't reproduce the problem.

Has anyone else reproduced the problem?