I think I finally figured out why my box was hard locking... I seems
to require 'pci=routeirq' boot option. So far, I've only tested it
with 2.6.18-mm3 but it appears to be working well.
For googles benefit: Machine crash under heavy I/O load Abit AI-7 2.6.16 2.6.18
One last thing - I noticed I also get a 'pciquirk' claming that ICH4
has reserved a region - but the machine has an ICH5/ICH5R in it...
Thanks to everyone for a great system and all their hard work!
Steve