I've never had trouble using a second port number. You're also
supposed to be able to use host headers.

I recall blowing up at 42% being a database issue. I was trying to
use a database instance that was not properly named.

From the log, I suspected that it is a DB issue as
well. What do you mean by "DB instance not properly
named"?

I was using the InstanceName or ServerName\InstanceName name instead
of SQLservername\instance name. I believe the server  had a
different name from the SQLServer that ran on it.

I don't have my notes to refer back to but make sure, when you're
specifying your SQL connections, you include the SQLServerName in
the database name field.

On the "Create portal  Site for myServer" page, I only
need to specify site  Name, Virtual Server, URL, Owner
Account name, and Email address. I don't see where to
specify DB instance.

Did you mean changing something such as "Specify
content database server" under server  Configuration?

Some additional information for my server
1. the server used to be under a different domain, and
the first portal was created  successfully. Then the
computer server was promoted to Domain Controller so
it has its own Active Directory. Do you think this
could cause the problem?
2. The SQL server is on the same computer.

We finally found the root cause of my portal  creation
problem:

I copied the whole 60\templates directory from an
existing working server  to the new server, without
realizing that WSS on the old server is with SP1 and
the one on the new server is SP2. Directory
60\templates\sql contains some SQL scripts that change
from WSS SP1 to WSS SP2.

For more information, here is the link
msmvps.com/.../75165.aspx

BTW, the same root cause had caused some other
problems:
-- cannot create  an area
-- cannot change the column name in a list

Note that the SharePoint content database changed when SP1 was installed
and it changed again when SP2 was installed.

It is likely to radically change when we move to v3 so be aware.

If a portal  creation fails between 48-52%, it is almost always due to
security, connectivity, or configuration.

Security: The MsSharePointPortalAppPool app pool identity must be at
least a Power User and may also need to be an Administrator of each Web
Server, it must also be a Security Administrator and Database Creator of
your SQL Server. Validate that these

Connectivity: If you are creating the portal while disconnected to DNS,
the machine name resolution will not work properly. SQL Server will
attempt to use named  Pipes and it will fail to find the IP Address that
the database is on. So, you must remove named pipes using the SQL Server
Utility (leaving just TCPIP) and add the machine name to the hosts file
in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and reboot.

Configuration: SPS expects the SQL Server database to be in Windows Only
mode so if it is in mixed mode portal creation  will sometimes fail. I'm
told that other SPS features are also dependant on Windows Only mode.

Ensure that these are all correct and then try creating the portal
again. Be aware that somehow some of the SPS databases may have been
created and orphaned. If they remain on the hard drive and you try to
recreate the portal it will fail because it cannot create  the databases
that already exist.