Post install requires manual root fs mount

[Fuzzball]

I'm attempting to install FreeBSD 7.1-RC1 (AMD64). The install completes fine, however when attempting to boot I am presented with the "Manual root filesystem specification" and mountroot> prompt. I am able to specify the filesystem and partition slice to mount root. From there I am able to mount the partition slice /etc resides on and mount the remainder with "mount -a" with no errors.

Here are the specs of my hardware config:
Asus M3A78-EM motherboard (AMD 780G northbridge, AMD SB700 southbridge)
Sempron 2GHZ CPU
4GB RAM (2x2GB dual channel config)
Seagate 40GB IDE (PATA) HDD (set as Master on IDE channel)
Magicspin IDE (PATA) DVD-ROM (set as Slave on same IDE channel that the HDD occupies)

These are the troubleshooting steps I have taken:
Disabled IEEE 1394 Firewire (caused installer to hang when enabled)
Disabled USB in BIOS
Disabled ACPI 2.0 support in BIOS
Disabled ACPI APIC support in BIOS
Selected Disable ACPI in FreeBSD boot menu
Selected Safe Mode in FreeBSD boot menu
Reinstalled with Standard Bootloader
Reinstalled with FreeBSD Bootloader
Moved HDD from onboard controller to a PCI Promise FastTrack 100 IDE controller, attempted to change settings in fstab to correct values, and also reinstalled 7.1-RC1 (AMD64)
Checked output for "bsdlabel ad0s1" and made sure it was correct
Checked output for "boot0cfg -v ad0" and found that nopacket was set. Ran "boot0cfg -o packet ad0" to correct with no change.
Installed 7.1-RC1 (AMD64) on a 40GB Western Digital IDE HDD
Did a FTP install of 7.1-RC1 (i386) with same results on the WD drive
Removed IDE HDD and installed on a 80GB Seagate SATA drive


Hopefully someone has an idea for me.

[Fuzzball]

So I'm an idiot. For some reason I got it in my head that /etc needed its own slice. Obviously it doesn't and shouldn't ever. I feel like such a n00b.

I'd edit my original post so it doesn't show up in the search results of searches for the numerous possible terms it has, but I've past my 2 hour edit window. I'm more than ok with this thread getting deleted if the mods choose to do so.