Try doing a "make mrproper" to delete the existing .config file. Then do "make config" or "make menuconfig", etc., and build a new .config file. With the exception of the processor type, don't make any changes to the default .config file. Then try to compile it and see what happens. This has worked for me on more than one occasion. I'm not sure what if any hardware detection goes on, but it's worked in the past.