hand-rolled kernels sometimes work, sometimes not

[Goh Lip]

On Sun, 26 Dec 2010 01:47:37 +0800, Robert P. J. Day  
<rpjday at crashcourse.ca> wrote:

>   ok, things just got worse.  i went back and selected the latest
> ubuntu-supplied kernel -- 2.6.35-23-generic -- and *that* one failed
> as well.  early in the boot process, i got a *very* brief glimpse of
> something like "i915 graphics turbo disabled" or something like that,
> after which total darkness. so i'm now in the position of having what
> looks like precisely *one* working kernel, which i rolled myself and
> which works for no reason that i know of (and which is the kernel i'm
> running right now).
>  i am very nervous at this point.

dkms modules not loaded/installed?
I cannot help you with more, even if it is dkms. Try man pages.