using any ethernet device freezes my configuration

[Chris Hipp]

After trying three different ethernet card with my computer and fedora
(one belkin reltek 8139too.o based, and two tulip based (linksys and
netgear)) I've come to the conclusion that using any ethernet card, as
soon as the card is pinged, hard freezes my computer, forcing a press of
the reset button.  

I have graphical boot disabled and this configuration worked fine in
redhat 9.0.

Is there anyway I can debug this to find out what the problem is and
file a more useful bug than "ethernet breaks my configuration"?