freezing/crashing in configuration menu

[kujara]

hi all. this is my first post here, so apologies if there are any issues.

Pi Model or other hardware: Zero W
Power Supply used: Archeer 3.4A Dual Wall Charger
RetroPie Version Used: 4.5 for 0/1
USB Devices connected: Logitech Keyboard
Controller used: N/A
Error messages received: Unhandled fault (it also just crashes and/or black screens)
Log found in /dev/shm/runcommand.log (if relevant): unable to recover it
How to replicate the problem: boot retropie
Guide used: PiGRRL Zero (this step)

essentially, every time i try to start retropie, it lets me get about as far as the configuration menu before it freezes, crashes, or flashes an error message at me. the error message is usually some variation of the following:

[135.669865] Unhandled fault: alignment exception (0x011) at 0x00031f8d
[135.670260] pgd = cae40000
[135.670441] [00031f8d] *pgd=0d1e8831, *pte=00000000, *ppte=0000000
Bus error

i've tried a few different power sources and cables with no luck. i tried flashing raspbian buster lite, which seemed to go well, but i didn't fiddle with it too much. i reflashed retropie just in case something had gone wrong the first time, but again, no dice. the furthest i got was a menu immediately after the configuration menu, but i didn't recognize it as emulation station. it promptly crashed before i could finish identifying it.

i'm really at a loss, so any help would be appreciated.