My thanks to both… I'm replying while online with pfSense as I type.
I didnt have an IP and I got one when I rebooted the modem! But I had lost LAN function.
In the process, I changed NIC's out and finally back in (to original); I removed all the extraneous cards (firewire, and sound); rearranged the order of the cards in the slots; tried new cabling; installed 1.2.3RC3 on the HD....
Do I dare put things back to the way they were??? I'm going to try...
So I got proof-of-concept to work! Now to put it in front of the entire network, not just the trimmed down version.
Thanks again!