I tried adding the vga=normal noddc, but it still behaved the same... The "You passed an undefined mode number" shows up even before uncompressing starts! It wants me to hit 'enter' or 'space'... 'enter' brings up a list of what looks like resolutions? I have no idea.

Also...is there a way to pause the screen so that I can read the message that appears later... when entering run level 5?