Gingers can take a very long time to sprout but if it already was starting to produce a sprout, it doesn't seem like it should take as long. The "shriveled" doesn't sound good but it's hard to over water gingers, I used to grow Hedychium in the drain field from my air conditioner.

Half of my gingers rotted. The others took 3-5 months to come up and towards the end of that time I had bottom heat and a covered dome and placed them on the top shelf of the greenhouse where it might have gotten 100 or more during the day. It seems that they need heat in order to sprout. Next yr I'm going to try them in a sandier soil with daily watering.