Will attach snapshot in a moment ... Basically, ppp is unable to insert modeule 'ppp0' which kppp is able to -- such that the pppd man page example on establishing a session is notfunctional. Alsi, it looks as though there is a sleep in an interrupt processing routine, possibly in the pccard logic, which is causing the kernel to fault.
Created attachment 52204 [details] dmesg, klogd, and device information
Does this still happen with the kernel from skipjack-beta2?
machine in question is at home -- will test tonight -- I also bought a handful of used pccard modems across the weekend, to extend the scope of my testing ...
ticket is no longer relevant -- I am closing, and will re-submit if I see it again