sbhj,
Ok I take it when you say, "application for renewal which was filed in Oct 02", you mean EAD renewal.
Man this is a hairy case with 8 legs and a weird smell. Mostly complicated because of your long wait time, take heart there are others in your boat, I myself am a Nov 01 case so not that far.
Anyway, to answer your question,
First of all your EAD renewal which was filed on Oct 02, should come thru anytime soon, but we shouldn't rely on that especially if you are using your EAD. The date is in September right now. Your iEAD expires in August 2003, so you have still quite a ways to go. I would say, 5 months before August 2003 (March), is when you should apply for a renewal .. but you file for a renewal of an EAD .. not iEAD.
Say in August 2003, (this is unlikely), your 485 isn't approved, and your Ead renewal isn't approved either, I think you can go to INS office and request another iEAD in person. This provided there is no outstanding RFE on your EAD renewal application. If there is .. then you are SOL. In that case, soon as you get RFE, arrange with your employer to file for H1 even if you have to pay for it.
Your other question,
can I send in antother renewal for my original EAD which expired last nov. ?
Yea ........... but I wouldn't recommend, because
a) a new app will restart from the beginning, and
b) It will confuse INS. God knows they are pretty confused already. I would say rather fax INS and request the status on your EAD renewal that you filed on Oct '02.
Hope this helped.