problems with nge driver

[joe_stevensen at comcast.net]

I am having a problem with some nge interfaces.I am using the NetGear GA621 cards, which use the nge driver. I compiled the driver into the kernel with "device nge". I have the card plugged into a NetOptics fiber tap.
(this system is an IDS)

The card is recognized at boot and its status is active, however, when I "up" the interface, the card status goes to NO CARRIER.

I can verify that this setup works with OpenBSD 4.3 and Debian Linux -stable. I have even tried replacing the hardware.

Here is my hardware configuration:

Intel P4 3.06 GHz (HT not enabled in kernel)
1 GB RAM
80B HD
NetGear GA621 NIC (no ip address) used to monitor traffic

Any ideas? Anything I am missing?