MSI Wind Nettop 100 - Reliability Issues & network drivers

[mikeshandssay]

Hey,

I know I know there are tons of posts on hardware, but I have not seen on specifically for this nettop.
If there is such a post, feel free to post it, and lock this thread if it is truly a dupe.

Background:

Hardware:

• MSI Wind Nettop 100 (http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Wind-Nettop-100-Processor/dp/B001R1X0I0)

• Crucial 2GB 667 Mhz CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Memory (http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-CT25664AC667-200-Pin-SODIMM-Laptop/dp/B000F7QRTG/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_b)

• Samsung Internal Half Height DVD-W Supermulti SATA 22X Lightscribe (Black) SH-S223L/BEBS (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002HFWBIA/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)

• Seagate 250gb SATA (Model # escapes me currently)

• DUB-E100 HW Ver: B1 (http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=133)

Environment:
Normal home Comcast cable connection. Just trying to get pfSense for VPN and other tricks.
SB5120 <-> pfSense external USB adapter <-> Nettop <-> Internal adapter <-> GigE network
Latest stable PFsense burned to a CD then installed.

Problem:
The build of the nettop went just fine, along with the install, no problems at all.
HOWEVER consistently after 12 hours of the system being up, it just stops routing all traffic.
I can't even get to the cable modem which is at 192.168.100.1, or PF which is at 192.168.1.1

I understand that the external USB adapter is not listed on the HCL(only version A), but it seemed to install and work just fine normally.

The temperature is normal and I have made sure of this because of previews complaints with the nettop.

Is this the expected behavior with the HCL? (If it installs OK it does not mean it will work fully?)
What can I do to help get this solved? External syslog server to capture pf logs? Get a different USB adapter? If so which one is the best & tested?

Currently, this is extremely frustrating.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks, Mike

EDIT: When installing PF, I used the single core option at the very end because of other dual core issues I've read about.

[wallabybob]

What version of pfSense are you using? You said "latest stable version" so I presume that's 1.2.2.

My home system system has a USB ethernet adapter on the WAN link. Under pfSense 1.2.2 it locked up a few times. I've been running a 1.2.3 snapshot build since mid June and haven't seen a repeat of that problem, though due to power fails I haven't had an uptime of more than 40+ days. I suggest you try one of the recent snapshot builds of 1.2.3 which can be downloaded from http://snapshots.pfsense.org/FreeBSD_RELENG_7_2/pfSense_RELENG_1_2/?C=M;O=D