I have experienced the following problem on LLNL IA64. I first create_newcase and then configure -mach. If I want to change the configuration, I then configure -cleanmach followed by configure -mach. The reconfiguration terminates prematurely without error; in particular, the Buildnml_Prestage directory is not updated. I haven't bothered to add print statements to the scripts to see what is going on, as this could be a known issue.