Re FreeBSD v 6.0 (boxed cd set)

[je killen]

(On e-Machine with Intel Sempron processor and 256 mb memory).
I'm not able to log into x via kdm as root and not able to su to root 
when in Gnome (or KDE for that matter).
It also goes through what seem to be excessive sleep cycles (two 
lasting at least a minute apiece) during the boot process
to establish the system's name.
It refused ssh from my Mac OSX machine (It starts sshd on boot, which 
also takes a noticeable amount of time)
What ftp server is recommended for FreeBSD? (There doesn't seem to be 
any provided by default install)
How do I tell it who it really is? (Is it trying to contact a DNS 
server and/or /etc/hosts ?)
How can I get set up to su to root in a console window? (Or do I have 
to learn to live with it?)
If I can't get set up to su to root in a console window, how can I log 
into an x session as root?
(Does it have to do with security levels, or who is a member of the 
'wheel' group? Even Mac OSX only allows sudo -- and it is based on 
FreeBSD, isn't it?)

Thanks
JK
This is definitely the most active list I've subscribed to (203 total 
e-mail load yesterday when usually 30 -50 per day with 3 other tech 
related list subscriptions)