SIU woes in 10.6.2

Here's the story - 10.6.2 client (iMac 20" Intel) + all standard enterprise software, preconfigured. It's connected via FW800 to a MacMini running SLS 10.6.2. We are attempting to use SIU on the Mac Mini to create a NetRestore image. At approximately 75% of the way through "Creating Image From Source", the Mac Mini beach balls and is unresponsive. I have also tried creating a disk imaging using DU and creating an image from that - same problem. I booted into console mode and did an 'fsck -fy' - the filesystem checks out - no issues. Any thoughts? I'm running SIU right now with logging enabled so I can post any/all output. Banging my head against a wall trying to complete what should be an easy task. Thanks in advance for any feedback you might have regarding this problem.