Has anyone managed to get a working kernel built with a gcc 2.9.5 cross-compiler...? It's the only one I can find with a nice set of debs...

Finding a gcc/binutils combo that would build an empeg kernel is no small feat, even if you're willing to build them from source. The problem is that the empeg kernel is old enough so that new versions of gcc/binutils no longer want to build it, but it still needs some features which older versions of gcc/binutils don't have. I had a lot of trouble finding a combination that works but eventually had success with gcc 2.91.66 and binutils 2.9.5. I think I built both from source, probably from the Redhat 6.2 SRPMs. Building for cross compilation isn't too hard as long as you follow the instructions precisely, and it won't screw up your current setup.

Borislav