In light of the recent discussions today, I have been spurred into 
having another go at getting my beaglebone working with poky/yocto. 
Instead of adding a whole layer I cherry picked out the important bits 
(mainly the kernel package and u-boot) and got a build that would complete.

Upon, trying to boot my beaglebone I recieve the following error:

    INIT: version 2.88 booting
    Starting udevtar: short read

    Starting Bootlog daemon: bootlogd: cannot deduce real console device
    bootlogd.
    [    4.050198] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): re-mounted. Opts:
    user_xattr,barrier=1,data=ordered
    ln: /var/run/ld.so.cache: No such file or directory
    Configuring network interfaces... ifup: can't open
    '/var/run/ifstate': No such file or directory
    done.
    Thu Feb  9 15:34:00 UTC 2012
    [Halts here - will go no further and non-interactive]


Is this an issue with my userspace setup, my u-boot setup or indeed the 
kernel itself?

A point in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Cheers all, I have been enjoying the discussions today.
Jack.