I recently recompiled my 2.6.10 kernel to add PocketPC support and it won't boot in GRUB. The error is "Error 13: Unrecognizable executable file format".

My previously compiled 2.6.10 kernel won't boot in GRUB, either. "Error 16: Inconsistent filesystem structure" is the cause of this.

LILO is out of the question, since I have yet to get it set up without some sort of corruption.

This whole thing means a lot to me to get working again,a and has put great stress upon me: What error in the menuconfig did I make and how can I rescue my system?

Did you backed up your *.config* before making changes?

I don't know which specific option could make such behaviour, however, you could learn about GRUB errors by reading here: http://www.linuxselfhelp.com/gnu/gru...r/grub_13.html

By the way, I don't think that stressing at that age in necessary, get some rest.

Yes, I did back it up.

Then, compare the changes between them...

If you read the link I gave you you'll see that the first error occurs because the kernel image file is not recognized and the second because of a error in the filesystem. Maybe your harddisk or filesystem is corrupted and causing both problems.

S I should just format the hard drive and try again?

If so, is there a distro that compiles when you install it from the CD?

I would first check your filesystem and harddisk to be sure if it's a fail on it, maybe it's just GRUB that's bad. You could use any "live" cd like Slackware CD 2 to check it, you could also get hd test utilities from your hd vendor homepage.

There are some source-based distributions, the most popular is Gentoo.
Here you've a list which include some of this: http://distrowatch.com/source.php
Good luck.