CI session

[eluser]griffithtp[/eluser]
Does CI 1.7 session library actually work?

I have created my session table (session_id, ip_address, user_agent, last_activity, user_data) and when set userdata with $this->session->set_userdata('logged_user', $username) it stores in the db table fine as serialized string but cannot get it back using $this->session->userdata('logged_user').
I then thought I should call $this->session->userdata('user_data') and deserialize it but still is empty.

I also noticed when a page request is sent (i.e. refresh or going from login page to landing page) a new session is created and stored in db table.
I'd guess that's probably why I never can get my custom userdata session back?
Is this a reported bug in CI 1.7 or is it just me being dum?