Afterthought: If you haven't already, see if the problems persist if you compile the kernel with gcc 2.95.n.
There was a time when I would have said 2.7.2.3, but I hope that's no longer dictated as a "don't even think of filing bugs if you're using a version later than this" requirement. But you might check the kernel docs, to see what they say.
Rick Moen
rick@linuxmafia.com