Although I have not been right on other suggestions, let me give a shot at this problem.
In linux, devices, such as USB devices, can be given custom 'dev' names using udev naming rules.
I do not have a USB connected radio but I have dealt with the situation where I have had multiple instances of a USB dongle (in this case a debugger) connected to my linux machine.  In order to make sure that I am talking to the right one, and that they always came up with consistent names, I used udev rules to force the creation of a unique name based on certain attributes of the connected device.

I know that I am not explaining how to do this, and I don't think that I could do this blind, but I wanted to provide a pointer to a possible resolution to this problem.  My suggestion from this point would be to find your local linux person that is knowledgeable in this area and bring them to your place to help you with this.

Regards

Ken
KC6PUQ