ok, i set up the new bootblocks, rebooted the machine in single-user mode and
everything worked fine. when i rebooted in multiuser though, i got the login
prompt, typed in root and hit return and got something like this

	login: 887i

none of the keys i hit seem to have the effect they should... the only error i
got while booting was

	savecore: can't find device 85/252

but i don't think it has anything to do with it. in another thread you mentioned
something about a new console device in the 1.4 kernel... could that have
anything to do with it?

pedro