Newest Kernel

Hi There, I'm new to this list and new to the combination of IBM PPC with SuSE Linux (7.1). I've tryed to compile and install the newest 2.4.18 kernel, just copying the .config from SuSE's 2.4.2 kernel and doing a "make oldconfig" and the other proper things. Now, I'm unable to boot the server with the newest kernel. I've tryed all zImage files that the kernel build generated, but the kernel loading stops. It does not boot and freezes just after LILO. So... I need some help to update this kernel. If someone have the RPMs from SuSE 7.3 PPC and knows that this works for upgrading 7.1 it will be very welcome too. If someone knows how to update to the newest 2.4.18 kernel, it will be very cool to!!! Thanks in advance, Herbert