Hello,

> 4) reboot... and the booting process freezes right after
> "start=0x100000"

The GENERIC kernel might have gotten too fat again - please build a
smaller kernel ( remove some drivers you know you're not going to
need ) and tell me if that works.
Then - which version of the iBook G4 do you have? First generation with
256kB L2 cache or the later one with 512kB ?

have fun
Michael