This is a dual pentium system?
Yes, it's a dual Pentium 233 MMX. From looking at other bug reports (which I hadn't seen before I submitted this one), I'm guessing the problem here is the lack of an i586 smp kernel in 8.0? For reference, I'm in the process of upgrading the 6.0 install to 7.3 and it's currently sitting in the package selection screen (at home), which is the step after the point at which 8 failed. So I'm hopeful the upgrade to 7.3 will work.
Yes we removed the i586 smp kernel for 8.0. We needed space to fit on 3 CDs and there were only a handful of smp Pentium systems registered so we decided it should go.