Update The problem turned out to be the BIOS of the PC we were using. The Python test program has been running fine for 5 days now (after we upgraded the system BIOS) and is still running fine.
Sorry, I do not have any information as to what was fixed in the BIOS. Also, I do not know exactly who made the motherboard or the BIOS. I will post another update if this information becomes available. This was sure a strange bug! Olaf -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
