Fedora Users — FC3: Can't run 2.6.10 kernels with nvidia driver

I've tried each new kernel that has come out since 681, with the same result. With a 2.6.10 kernel and the nvidia drivers installed, my system boots to a black screen and a dead keyboard when it goes graphical. This is true on both 32 and 64 bit FC3, and this morning I tried the latest kernel with the driver patches mentioned here: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=42964 , with the same result.

I don't care about 3D performance, but I do care about dual headed operation, and it seems that I need the vendor proprietary drivers to get that. So I'm stuck there.

One of my systems now has a problem with USB mass storage devices, which I use a lot. the first time I plug in a drive everything is fine, but subsequently no device will be recognized and there are no messages in /var/log/messages. This worked just fine a couple months ago, so I'm guessing that something that needs the new kernels was installed, and I can't run the new kernels.

So at the monent, I can't run both a graphical interface and USB devices. What a mess. I'm starting to feel that FC3 is a bit too bleeding edge if I want to spend my time using rather than fixing my machines.

This particular machine is an Asus A8V with an Nvidia GeForce 6600 dual DVI card, running 32 bit FC3 (on an AMD64 processor). Are other people having these problems? Can anyone suggest how I might recover from this situation?

Frank.