i5 12600k & b660 Slackware 15/current Install/Update Hangups
 

Old desktop is suffering failing hardware so purchased new, wound up deciding on the Intel i5-12600k and a gigabyte b660 aorus master ddr4 motherboard.

So results:
Slackware64 current LiveSlak boots and brings me to KDE all fine and dandy.

Slackare64 15.0 installs & works. 15.0's 5.16 kernel needs updating to fully appreciate the efficiency/performance cores from everything I've read. After using slackpkg to update 15.0, the next boot locks up with this error, USB keyboard provides no response:
Slackware64 *-current ISO install hangs at the option to select the keyboard map. I assume this is due to the kernel not loading the USB modules fast enough for the USB keyboard.

Using the Slackware 15.0 installer and a *-current http/ftp online source package directory provides a functioning system after install.

I assume this is all kernel module loading related but am at a loss to get an updated 15.0 install functioning. Any suggestions to get an updated 15.0 install functioning are appreciated. Thanks.

Edit: Slackware64-current hanging at keyboard was temporary issue. Fixed after this post.

Had some limited, but mostly positive experience with aorus, FWIW:
It had both usb 3.0 and 3.1, my old keyboard worked on one and not the other, re-plugged & enabled legacy usb in bios, it was fine.
IIRC defaults for aorus bios prefer what windows 10/11 prefers, it's capable of legacy modes but none of them enabled by default.
Also, I've had no nvme drive whatsoever, I just plugged a SATA SSD which already had a MBR and enabled "legacy-only" CSM to get it booting.
Since there was no windows involved to consider, it was the most straightforward course of action.

elcore: Legacy USB is enabled in the Bios. CSM will not enable, from my understanding, Intel has disabled legacy boot with the Alder Lake CPU's unless it's present on an existing drive so UEFI is what I'm stuck with on this unit.

The one I tested was a ryzen am4 board.. fully supports MBR and legacy boot.
Anyway, if you're stuck with secure boot enabled, maybe you've got a hidden FAT partition where the kernel is at.
FAT doesn't support symlinks which Slackware uses for "vmlinuz", you'll have to move the actual kernel file to "vmlinuz".
At least that is how I understand it, someone more experienced with secure boot may be able to help more.

If you are sure it was the kernel update that caused it, maybe if you revert back to the old kernel would help?
Could be you're using generic, but forgot to generate new initrd, or generated incomplete initrd, or moved initrd to the wrong place?

As UEFI is new to me, I'm not sure where my hangup with eliloconfig is. After clean install of 15.0, skipped elilo and installed grub following OTB's comments in his video description (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZeJd5JPQro), everything works perfectly. After using grub, I have no interest in pursuing where I went wrong with elilo.
To add an edit: I was finding many items not fully supported hardware wise automatically on 15.0 with the 5.16 kernel, moved to current with the 5.19 kernel and everything works without effort. (Not enough time to devote to making everything work with stable these days.)