why don't you all compile your own kernel? it's really simple...
# cd /usr/src/linux
# make menuconfig
# make
# cp arch/i386/kernel/bzImage /boot/bzImage
i really don't understand
btw, hpx, you need to do make modules_install iirc. may be dumb to mention this, but also make sure it's built as a module and not into the kernel.