6.0 "xl0: watchdog timeout" w/ supported 3COM card

[Timothy J. Luoma]

New clean install of FreeBSD 6 from CDs on a Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop.

I get this error on boot:

xl0: watchdog timeout

Googling around for that error indicated it might be an issue with a
BIOS setting "Plug and Play BIOS: YES" but my BIOS does not seem to
have a setting for that (I am using the latest bios for my hardware,
A14).

PCCARD network card (3CCFE575CT-D, 3Com card made for Dell) is
recognized but I cannot even ping the router by IP.  The non-D version
of the card is listed as supported in
http://www.freebsd.org/releases/5.4R/hardware-i386.html by "xl(4)"

Light on nic indicates that it sees the network.  I've tried a
different cable, both PCCard slots on the laptop, I've tried plugging
the cable directly into the wall instead of through a hub.

Nothing seems to matter.

Any suggestions on what I should try next?  Most of my searches have
turned up only really old hits :-/ which isn't surprising since this
laptop is 5 years old...

Thanks!