Struggling with an Nvidia driver and Fedora Core 3

[Marvin Dickens]

Hello list,

I've been struggling to get a nvidia tnt2 card working with the nvidia
proprietary driver. I've been using this card for several years with the
nvidia proprietary drivers without issue. Installation and upgrades
(Kernel...) have never been a problem... Up until now. The nvidia module
loads and the screen
freezes with a HUGE (Or at least bigger than I've ever seen it...)
nvidia startup logo. When I move the mouse, the pointer moves extremely
slowly and leaves trails.

Here are the installation details:

Driver version is NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run

Generic Fedora Core 3 installation on an ECS K7S5A
with an Athlon XP2400 

Kernel is a stock 2.6.9-1.678_FC3 and I have not as of yet recompiled
the kernel for the Athlon processor

The system is completely up to date as provided by fedora.us
repository. 

What I have tried:

A.) Normal installation where you su and lower
    the system init to level 3 and modify 
    /etc/X11/xorg.conf as per described in nvidia
    docs. Compiled the nvidia driver, Removed 
    xorg-x11-Mesa-libGL in case of conflicts, 
    modified GRUB and removed the rhgb screen,
    and ran modprobe.
B.) looked for offending dri entries file located
    in /etc/security (And elsewhere) as suggested
    by IA64 users.

The king sized nvidia screen makes me think there is a conflict between
the driver and something configurable in the system. It's not a crash
and the driver loads without warnings (Except for the "your tainting the
kernel" propaganda). But, as soon as the nvidia driver arrives in kernel
space, X locks up (Or perhaps, enters some endless loop). Now, I know
that the most
recent nvidia driver has a reputations as buggy, but
this "feels" like a system configuration issue as opposed misbehaving
bits in the nvidia module code.

I'm out of ideas. Anybody have a solution or any ideas
that makes sense?

Best regards

Marvin Dickens