[Tfug] 2.6 hangs on "Discovering hardware:"

[t takahashi]

why would that happen?  i asked google, but it wasn't helpful.

2.6 hangs on "Discovering hardware:".  if i do ^C once, it then goes on to some
hotplug thing and hangs after it prints usb.  if i do ^C three times
rapidly, it actually  boots.

one other clue: /dev/dsp does not exist now, so sound does not work.  did i
fry my sound card?

there are other weird facts.  all drives do work (assuming i can boot
to use them).
both master channels do work (assuming i can boot to use them).

here is what i might have done to cause this:

o while the power was off, but the power supply switch was not off,
   i tried plugging ide cables into various combinations of drives, and various
   m/s/cs jumper settings.  (to diagnose something else.)
o while the machine was running, i plugged a power cable into a cdrw that had
   no data cable connected.  bad idea.  the system froze at
   that time and seemed ok on reboot (but i did not test much).
o i booted, as usual using grub from a floppy, into 2.4.  would
   this change anything on the disk that would affect 2.6?

booting takes forever, so i would like to narrow the myriad diagnostic
possibilities.
with my backup computer disassembled and this one limping i'm eager for ideas.

thanks.