LinuxQuestions.org - lilo / initrd stuff

ok, firstly, i've got 2 4gb scsi drives.
sda1 has / and about 500mb swap
sdb1 has /home.
(hda1 is my win98, if it's ever plugged in)

everything works fine, except when i go to compile a new kernel. even using the one that came with my distro (suse 9.1, k2.6.4) and running a 'make oldconfig' using /boot/config-2.6.4 (theoretically giving me the same kernel as my current one), it still won't boot.

so after doing:
make
make modules_install
cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/
cp System.map /boot/
depmod -a
(is all this right, btw?)

i get to:
edit lilo.conf

here's the vital bits of my lilo.conf (that came with the distro):
default = Linux
timeout = 80
lba32
change-rules
reset
read-only
prompt
boot = /dev/sda

image = /boot/vmlinuz (the old one, that works)
label = Linux
initrd = /boot/initrd
root = /dev/sda1
append = "resume=/dev/sdb2"

and the bit i edited in:

image = /boot/bzImage
label = Linuxnew
root = /dev/sda1

then i run lilo, and i get a:
Warning: /dev/sda is not on the first disk

and if i change the line to:
boot = /dev/sda1
i get the same warning.

so:
do i need to copy any extra lines to my lilo.conf (like the initrd=x line)?
how do i make an initrd to go with my new kernel?
wtf does that Warning mean, and how can i get rid of it?

cheers