Machine hosed. Hang on uncompress kernel

[Mark Hutchinson]

upgraded fc5-fc6 with yum.  Old FC5 and 2798 kernel work fine.  Hangs  
on "uncompressing Linux" in boot sequence with latest 2849 kernel  
after yum update.

FC6 working fine, upgraded to latest kernel, now it hangs at
"uncompressing Linux"
The orig kernel is working fine if I choose it in the grub menu.  I
have checked that the GRUB entry is fine and the referenced boot files
are there.

Any one else seen this, or have any idea how to diagnose?  I have rpm
-e the new kernel and put it back in with -ivh ( keep old kernel ) and
no luck.  I am using kernel-2.6.18-1.2849.fc6.i686.rpm

Thoughts?