pagination

Hello,
I am working with an install of Nodestream (D6 version), and I am having issues with getting pagination to work. I have tried several modules, including Pagination (Node) (which I have used in the past, but NOT with Nodestream) with no success. Other modules have failed as well.
What I am looking for is:
1. Making Pagination (Node) work with character count pagination
2. Another module that will accomplish the same thing, automated paging.

My requirements are centered around automated paging, which is what the site uses 95% of the time.

I have a few content types that I have used pathauto to alias as taxonomy listings. Will drupal paginate automatically when a certain number of nodes are displayed? Is there a way to make that happen?