Help: can't ifup lo on etch system - any ideas?

[Julian Gilbey <jdg@polya.uklinux.net>]

Here's the core of the problem:

burnside:~ # ifup lo
SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
lo: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
lo: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
Failed to bring up lo.

It's essentially a freshly installed etch system, with Debian kernel
2.6.15-1-k7.  What could I do to figure out how to fix this?

Thanks!

   Julian