I downloaded and installed Slackware 9. First time with Slackware, though I'm no Linux newbie. Installed using the bare kernel, set up LILO, etc. Trying to boot into the system now, it freezes after this:
usb-ohci.c: AMD756 erratum 4 workaround
And that's it. Can't figure it out. The installation kernel (for which I also used bare) didn't have this issue, and this is supposed to be the same problem. USB was working fine during installation, since I used a USB keyboard to set it up...

does it boot from your boot floppy

Same issue comes up.

The USB keyboard support may have been provided through the system BIOS. You might want to try the usb.i kernel. However, since the last message displayed was the usb host controller interface loading, you might try disconnecting all your usb devices except the keyboard and see if it boots past the point. If it does then you know it is a usb device causing the problem. Also, are you sure it is freezing? If you have waited more than 2 minutes then I concur. Some usb devices appear like scsi controllers. They can take some time to scan, looking for other attached devices. Most printers today do not have power switches, they just go to sleep. The usb port remains active even though the printer is not ready.

I don't think it's the BIOS that provides USB keyboard support, since the dmesg output (before running setup) shows usb drivers loading. The CD I have does not have a usb.i kernel. How is that the problem, though? Is it not the same bare.i kernel that I use to install?
Still hangs:
dhcpcd[57]: infinite IP address lease time. Exiting

usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
usb.c: registered new driver hub
usb-ohci.c: USB OHCI at membase 0xd4875000, IRQ 10
usb-ohci.c: usb-00:07.4, Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] AMD-756 [Viper] USB
usb-ohci.c: AMD756 erratum 4 workaround

The setup kernel boots past this output. Now the cursor immediately disappears and nothing happens; I've waited nearly 5 minutes just to see.
I'm going to try booting without the USB hub, and have the keyboard and ONLY they keyboard installed as a USB device.

No luck. Even with only the keboard plugged in (no USB hub or other USB devices), the exact same problem.

It is very possible that the new bare.i kernel now provides usb support.

From what you just posted though, the output contains a message from dhcpcd, and I do not think that is from the kernel. I would think that the kernel is loading just fine, and the init system has started to load. The usb messages would then be from modules that are loading. The last message may NOT be the problem. The problem could be the next module OR program that is loading after the usb devices. The installation boot probably did not load all the modules that are currently attempting to load.

As yet I do not have a Slack 9 system installed. So I am not able to verify the load order of the startup scripts. I do not know what it will produce, but I would attempt the following if unable to get past the point.

boot the install CD as normal.
login as root.
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt (note: use whatever your root partition is for hda1.)
chmod 000 /etc/rc.d/rc.modules
umount /mnt
And then reboot and see what you get.

If it doesn't get past the problem then it is not a module, do the above again except use 755, instead of 000, for the permissions on the rc.modules file to reset back to normal.

You're right, INIT has started, this is after runlevel 3 has loaded. It is when the USB modules are loaded; it's quite possible it is the next module which is the problem. I'm going to try and figure out which it is, maybe by seeing which one loads after USB on the setup CD.

Just wondering if you've figured out the problem... I am having very similar things happening, and I now believe it isn't so much a problem with USB, but with whatever is trying to load directly after it... Since there is no information provided when it locks up, it's nearly impossible for me to guess.

Please post your results if you've had success, I'll do the same if I can figure it out.

Thanks.

*slight* update...

I chmodded my /etc/rc.d/rc.hotplug to 644 so that it won't try to autodetect everything... This seems to have allowed me to get past the hang...

I booted from the CD.
made a mount point for the partition that had all my etc stuff...
mkdir /mnt/temp
mounted the etc partition.
mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/temp (hda3 is mine, your's might be different)
and ran:
chmod 644 /mnt/etc/rc.d/rc.hotplug
rebooted and it works.
Of course, I had to edit the rc.modules file to uncomment the devices I need, like my network card, but now it's booting quite clean.

Good luck!