Cannot compile kernel: make-kpkg seems to hang

["Mathieu Peltier" <mathieu.peltier@gmail.com>]

Hi,
I am trying to recompile the linux kernel (Debian etch 4.0r4) on an
old Compaq Presario 1234 Notebook PC (K6 MMX 266 MHz, 32MB RAM, swap
760MB, wm2 window manager). Even the "make-kpg clean" command seems to
hang:

 # cd /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.18
 # make-kpkg --verbose clean
 exec make -f /usr/share/kernel-package/ruleset/minimal.mk clean
 <hangs here>

strace last output (if relevant):

--- SIGCHLD (Child exited) @ 0 (0) ---
sigreturn()                    = ? (mask now [])
close(6)                       = 0
read(5, "/usr/share/kernel-package\n", 200) = 26
read(5, "", 174)               = 0
close(5)                       = 0
wait4(-1, [{WIFEXITED(s) && WEXITSTATUS(s) == 0}], 0, NULL) = 16857
pipe([5, 6])                   = 0
vfork()                        = 16858
close(6)                       = 0
read(5,

Any idea? Maybe I simply need more memory?
Thanks in advance.
--
Mathieu