configuring interface & configuring MTA time out

[Gilbert Sullivan <whirlygig@comcast.net>]

Hi!

I'm running fully up-to-date Debian testing system (AMD64) with Xfce and
Wicd on a system that I take from network to network during the day. I
use a fixed IP address at some locations and DHCP assignment at others.

Until the recent update (a couple of weeks ago) of netscript which
removed ifupdown, the system just always booted quickly on any of its
various network locations. Since then, when I have set Wicd to connect
to one of the fixed IP address locations, the boot process halts for one
minute at two places -- the configuring interface line, and the
configuring MTA line. (I'm guessing the configuring MTA time out happens
because the configuring interface time out precedes it.)

My /etc/network/interfaces file on this system is:

----------------------------8<----------------------------

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

----------------------------8<----------------------------

If I hit <Ctrl>+C when the boot process stalls at the configuring
interfaces line, the remainder of the boot continues quickly, albeit
with a failure for startpar. I haven't noticed any untoward effect on
system behavior after doing this.

Is there any downside to using <Ctrl>+C like this?

Is there a way for me to edit the /etc/network/interfaces file that will
get rid of the problem?

Thanks for any suggestions you might give me.

Regards,
Gilbert