having problems upgrading kernel: RH7.3, 2.4.18
 

Good morning,
I have tried numerous times to upgrade my kernel, with no success. Can you find any problems w/ my build procedure:

1. Download linux-2.4-18.tar.gz from kernel.org
2. cp linux-2.4-18.tar.gz /usr/src
3. cd /usr/src
4. tar -xvzf linux-2.4-18.tar.gz (creates /linux subdirectory)
5. mv linux linux-2.4.18
6. ln -s linux-2.4.18 linux

7. cd linux
8. make mrproper
9. cp /boot/config-2.4.18-3 .config (copy existing RH 7.3 config file)
10. make oldconfig

Note: I've also just ran make xconfig after step 8, and skipped 9 & 10.

11. make dep, make bzImage, make modules, make modules_install.

12. cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.18-new
13. cp System.map /boot/System.map-new
14. change soft links in boot to point to new kernel and map
15. edit /etc/lilo.conf (change label and image lines to point to new kernel)
16. lilo -v
17. reboot

Upon reboot, I get many errors, including:
Timeout: AT keyboard not present(ed)
Timeout: AT keyboard not present(f4)
lib/ext3/ ........ unresolved symbols (a bunch of these messages)

I also get some type of ext3 error

and finally, just hangs, w/ this message:
Kernel Panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

Is an extra step needed to make a kernel.org kernel work in RedHat?
Is my configuration process not correct?

I am extremely frustrated right now... please help. Thank you.