Suse 8.2 kernel compile problems

With Suse 7.2 I compiled kernels many time with no problem With Suse 8.2 every attempt has been a disaster, luckily I have a 2nd install on a removeable hard disk for tinkering, dabbling and learning... I've followed the Admin guide instructions to the letter, but no luck. One question: in 7.2 the "make bzlilo" seems to do more than rename the kernel to .old and copy the map file, is that an area I should look at? I am using GRUB. The latest attempt resulted in: Kernel panic:VFS:unable to mount root fs on 03:43 I compiled the reiserfs support into the kernel, not as a module. (but I have tried modules as well) so what am I doing wrong? Thanks, Charles