2.6.0-test2 froze while installing j2sdk-1.4.2 with netbeans (low on details)

Ran into a system lock up while running 2.6.0-test2 kernel and j2sdk-1.4.2-nb-3.5-bin-linux.bin (the latest Sun Java standard kit installer with netbeans and run as root). I'm sorry I don't have real details. I'm not at liberty to retry the java installer right now. But basically the system froze - no mouse movement, no caps-lock light toggling, no ctrl-alt-backspace (to shutdown X), no ctrl-alt-delete (to reboot), no ctrl-alt-fX (to switch to another console). If someone else encounters this then maybe at least the info can be used to better identify a pattern (like when this first started showing up).