I bought it. The tech traced the problem to a defective sound system (radio/stereo) and it was replaced under warranty.
Before he could replace the unit, even though the car new and covered by the warranty, as per Porsche factory guidelines he used the Porsche diagnostics computer to reset the unit but the reset didn't fix things for long. The unit resumed acting up while the car was still in the service bay.
This is after the tech at the dealer where I bought the car also reset the unit. While the unit worked ok afterwards it soon started acting up again which is why I was at this 2nd dealer.
My 996's stereo can wake up -- after an engine start -- in a goofy state. All the controls appear to work but there is no sound. This behavior appears to proceed a battery failure. Before failure -- failure being the engine refused to crank -- the battery is losing power and somehow at engine start this "glitches" the radio/stereo and the goofy behavior is the result.