No, this is trying to upgrade the software to a) learn a bit about what's going on, and b) improve my graphics support to the point I can try out the game Wurm and get more than 0.4 fps.

The intent is to build an up-to-date kernel, and then X, and then see where I can go from there. I had thought the kernel would be the easy bit though.

I suppose you've tried booting from a LiveCD of the kernel version you're trying to end up at and checked the original problem doesn't still exist at that release?

No, I don't have any such useful CDs - I probably ought to find myself one. In any case, I'm pretty sure though that the CPU speed is a hardware or firmware issue.

Hugo