I did figure this out a while back, so I am sorry I didn't report it earlier. for my problem anyway.
it has to do with the kernel that it's being configed. with the soekris boxes, i know the 4501 and 4511, you have to have it a 386 kernel and not the 486. the easiest way to fix it is to recompile. for those that don't like to do that, learn. do- cd /usr/src/linux make xconfig - go into the processor type and change it to 386 make the kernel and reboot cheers
