> > Has anyone experienced this kind of show-stopping problem, or am I the only
> > one who has encountered unique difficulties, one after another, during the
> > past year, with each release :-( ?
> 
> It's not just you :-(  I'm planning on working on it later this evening.
> 
> -allen

I got further tonight.  By disabling RAM Doubler as well as all other
extensions (but a few, including Mode 32 in order to come up in 32-bit mode),
I managed to have 22 gray bars show up on my main screen (14" color monitor
in 1-bit mode), followed by a successful boot.  I did this both in
single-user mode as well as multi-user.  Both times I got as far as becoming
root and getting a shell prompt.  In multi-user mode it froze there; I was
unable to type anything.  In single-user mode I got different results.
Sometimes I was able to type "ls" twice before things froze.  By the way, is
it to be expected that stuff show up in a tiny font, squeezing 48 lines on
my screen?