But I followed the FAQ RELIGIOUSLY!!!

Could be this. But, as I seem to be the only one with that problem I would say it is more likely you have flow control set incorrectly in your terminal software.

How DOES one increase that timeout?

The timeout isn't the issue (it is only there for the software that updates the player), you are supposed to be able to hit 'q' at any time. Did you try control-c as well?

-Mike