>creepy little hands on them. :-) If it's a new drive, you can just
>`disklabel -r -R sd0 protofile' (or whatever options you find
>appropriate) and forget about a DOS partition table altogether.

As he mentions, be sure to use the "-r" option!!!
That could explain a magical disappearing label.

PS: See my NetBSD boot sequence guide, or ask me if you can't find a copy.