I have also tried in the past and have failed with the same hang/restart issue. gem install seems to be working now... I can install ruby-mp3info, but still cannot install sqlite3-ruby. It quits with this error:
checking for fdatasync() in -lrt... no
checking for sqlite3.h... yes
checking for sqlite3_open() in -lsqlite3... no
make
make: *** No rule to make target `ruby.h', needed by sqlite3_api_wrap.0'. Stop.
I'll look through /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/sqlite3-ruby-1.2.4 to see if I can find anything to help it build.