Disk 1 install setup screen freezes

[Richard Emberson]

I've got an HP 760n. It can not boot from CD, so I copied vmlinuz and
initrd.img from isolinux into /boot and modified grub.conf.
During the boot the mouse, card and display are correctly
recognized.

The problem:

The mouse/keyboard/window freezes within the first couple of
install setup screens. The furthest I got was entering in
my ip address. The earliest freeze occurred when the mouse
(as a pointer, after its an 'X') first appears.

Any hints as to whats up?

Thanks.

Richard