dhclient not able to obtain an IP address from my isp's cable modem

[JC Ferguson]

Hi - I recently upgraded my linux system to debian/sarge 31r3.  And now,
I cannot get an ip address via dhcp.  I have tried a bunch of different
packages:

- dhclient - no luck
- dhcpcd - no luck
- dhcp3-client - no luck
- pump - no luck

In my /etc/interfaces, I have eth0 and eth1.  eth0 is the dhcp i/f and I
have it config'ed as such:

  auto eth0
  iface eth0 inet dhcp

eth1 is a static interface - i assign it a 192.168.x.x address and it
works fine - i can ping no problem from my windows pc when i have the
windows pc phycially connected to the same network

each time i try to get a dhcp addr, i power cycle the cable modem
knowing how it likes to play games with MAC addresses.

the real kicker here is this WORKED with debian/woody and pump
previously - before I waxed the system and upgraded it to sarge.  So,
something changed between woody/sarge versions of these packages to
prevent it from working.  I am assuming the stock kernel on the debian
netinst CD's needs no tweaking to support dhcp (given it is all
user-space anyway).

Lastly, my windows PC works like a champ.  I follow the same procedure:
- Power off cable modem
- Power on cable modem
- Move CAT5 cable of windows pc -> cable modem
- modify windows to use dhcp
- within 5 seconds, done - on the network.

Any ideas?  Note: service provider is charter pipeline cable modem is
surfboard 4100.  I have read all the FAQ's, etc. I can find regarding
the 4100/charter and nothing appears to work.

thanks
/jc