Newly compiled 2.4.7 kernel: It just hangs after login
 

Ok, here's the the story:

I'm running Mandrake 7.2 kernel 2.2.19-4.1 and I wanted to try compiling the 2.4.7 kernel.

I followed the Howtos and everything seemed to compile correct. I tried booting with the floppy I created, and except for some usb module problems, everything seemed okay.

But, first strange thing: After the first boot, I logged in as root okay and then tried to run mcedit to change some startup scripts. But the system just hung there, with a blinking cursor. Had to CTRL-C and use pico instead.

Then, next boot up (still from the floppy), I couldn't login. I typed in 'root' and then after entering the proper root password, I got the same blinking cursor staring at me. This lasts about 30 seconds and then the login screen (with the penquin) redraws itself and I'm back were I started. It does this with my userid in addition to root. Changing consoles with CTRL-ALT-F2,F3,etc. does the same thing. I ended up CTRL-ALT-DELing. I then tried booting from the HD with the same result. Went back to 2.2.19-4.1 and it worked fine.

I looked at all the /var/log messages I could find and I couldn't find anything about any failed login or anything.

What's going on? This is my first attempt at compiling a kernel, so I'm sure I could've messed up somewhere, but how can I find out what's wrong when I don't get any kind of error?

Any ideas?
:confused:

You are standing in a minefield
 

First of all, I am fairly new to Linux. I "wanted to try compiling" the kernel V2.4. My experience was horrid. Dead ends, everywhere. Never did get the darned thing compiled and ended up buying Red Hat 7.1 with the Kernel alread compiled.
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It is my belief, correct me if I am wrong, that recompiling the kernel is a task that shouldn't be tried by a Newbie:)

I think it is fairly easy if you follow the kernel howto's, but it sounds like you may be having an unusual situation. The hanging may suggest hardware configuration problems.

Now that I've thought about it some more, I think you may be right about the hardware issue....in which case it may be impossible to track down.

What I don't understand is why the problem decides to only come up when logging in. All the pre-login booting, startup, etc works fine.

Very strange...