I have been using the bare kernel that comes with the Slackware 10.2 distribution. However, I have added a total of 2 GB of RAM to the system. Here are some steps I took to compile the kernel for highmem support:

1. cp /boot/config-ide-2.4.31 /usr/src/linux/.config
2. cd /usr/src/linux
3. make menuconfig
4. Processor type and features -->
5. High Memory Support (on)
6. Exit
7. make bzImage
8. cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-custom-2.4.31
9. cp .config /boot/config-2.4.31
10. ln -fs /boot/config-2.4.31 /boot/config

I added the image to lilo.conf and ran /sbin/lilo. The new kernel seems to boot just fine, and the 2 GB is recognized, but when starting X, the screen goes blank. I can't even switch to another virtual terminal using Shift-Alt-F6. The only solution is to reboot. I still have the original kernel image configured in Lilo, so I'm able to recover, but I would really like to take advantage of the extra RAM.

I vaguely remember installing some kernel module for my NVIDIA graphics card some two years ago. Perhaps this has something to do with my problem? Any help to solve this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

was the nvidia module compiled for a different kernel?

also i vaguely remember and i dont remember well these days, but i remember something about the nvidia driver conflicting with highmem support because the highmem support uses the memory ranges that the nvidia module wants to use ... sorry best i can give. try downloading the new nvidia modules and reinstalling them.

As skog pointed out, you should recompile your NVIDIA module (or as a temporary solution switch to the "nv" driver in xorg.conf). If you haven't compiled ALSA together with the kernel, you will also need to compile the driver for your sound card. In short, all kernel modules must be recompiled when the kernel changes.