potato/kernel 2.2.17 upgrade problems

["Neil L. Roeth" <neil@occamsrazor.net>]

I upgraded my Sony Vaio 505VE from slink to potato, and then upgraded
the kernel from 2.0.38 to 2.2.17.  Using potato with 2.0.38 is no
problem, but with 2.2.17 there are a couple of problems, perhaps
related.

syslog gives me an error at bootup.  I can reproduce the error by
executing /etc/init.d/sysklogd restart later.  The error is:
syslogd: cannot create /dev/log: Invalid argument

X problem - the server does not start - I eventually kill it with
Ctl-Alt-Backspace and see the following:

_X11TransSocketOpen: socket() failed for local
_X11TransSocketOpenCOTSClient: Unable to open socket for local
_X11TransOpen: transport open failed for local/vaio:0

The above three lines are repeated many times.  The hostname of the
machine is vaio.

The reason I think they might be related is that both are problems
opening sockets.  Has anyone seen one or both of these problems?  I
can provide more detail if necessary.  TIA.

-- 
Neil L. Roeth
neil@occamsrazor.net