Another 4.0.2 dhcp boot freeze

I see quite a few posts re this issue, but haven't spotted a real solution yet. Please forgive my adding to the noise.

4.0.2 CD booting on a P4 deskside w/Intel D945GCZ motherboard. On-board NIC chip Intel 82573E GigE. It boots OK until the infamous "eth0 detected. dhcp broadcasting..." then freezes permanently.

Booting knoppix nodhcp works. Using netcardconfig and selecting dhcp freezes system. Using netcardconfig with a static address works and the network comes up.

I see lots of talk about the wrong driver module being loaded at boot time, but since netcardconfig freezes w/dhcp but works with a fixed address it seems that the correct (but buggy?) driver is being loaded.

My goal is to remaster 4.0.2 with a much smaller footprint and install on a USB thumb drive to use as a rescue device. It would be nice if I could just plug it in and boot w/dhcp so I don't have to know a given network's parameters in advance.

Thanks for any clues,
Z.