No video on latest kernel release
 

I downloaded (on Slackware 11) Kernel 2.6.18.3 and compiled it using the following procedure:

ln -s linux-2.6.18.3 linux
cd linux
cp ../linux-2.4.33.3/.config .
make oldconfig
(press and hold enter; I have no clue how to answer a single question...)
make menuconfig
make && make modules_install
cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/kernel-2.6

Modified LILO to boot that kernel. It boots it, the drive appears to be busy as though the kernel is working as it should, but no video output. What did I do wrong, and how can I fix it?

Did you compile the framebuffer stuff into the kernel? Also, I would compile the kernel from scratch because there are many differences between a 2.4 kernel and 2.6 kernel.

The issue is, I don't have any idea what I'm doing when it comes to compilation of kernels. I just want my machine to have acpi and I can't seem to do that with 2.4. I don't know anything about compiling a fb in, either.

There is a good guide on how to compile a 2.6 kernel on this page. Also search on this site and on google for "how to compile a linux 2.6 kernel".