Bowie Bailey wrote:
Right. We've already determined that it has finished loading the audio by the time it prints it. The problem must be with something else that loads afterwards.
We had a similar problem with cpuspeed causing a hang on some (not all) Tyan K8SD Pro servers. But it happened later in the boot. It looked like it was happening when an ethernet interface was being brought up, but it was really cpuspeed, which was starting just before that. Also, it only happened on a clean "# reboot'. A cold power-up or a push of the reset button would not cause the problem. It might be worth seeing whether that is the difference in your case.
We just turned cpuspeed off. I don't think cpuspeed has started so early in the boot in your case, but it's something to look for. (See my message 08/08/06 to this mailing list, "cpuspeed causing hangs on warm boots".)
Dan