new kernel won't boot

[ScreamerChaotix]

I've been interested in playing around with IPv6 for the past few days, so I finally decided to grab a new kernel from kernel.org and set it up with the protocol. The first kernel I tried was 2.4.18, and after going through all the steps, I rebooted and found that it refused to work. It began loading, but would immediately restart my computer. Next, I decided to try 2.4.5. This time, it got as far as:

Uncompressing Linux.... Ok, booting the kernel.

And froze. I've tried it several times, but still nothing. I understand this is a difficult question that could have a plethora of answers, but if anyone has any suggestions on what to do, I'd be grateful. Currently I'm running Mandrake 7.1 with a 2.2 kernel. I should also note that I've NEVER had success loading a new kernel, even though I've tried about 7 times now. I've read through books on the subject, and even resorted to text file tutorials...but still nothing. Am I cursed?

 

[ScreamerChaotix]

After some experimentation I found my problem, and figured I'd give the solution for anyone who's interested. Like a fool I listened to a friend of mine when he said I should set the kernel's processor type to the kind of processor that I had. After setting it down to 386 however, the new kernel booted with no problems. That's the last time I ever take his advice!