installing 3.1 packages

[rudiedirkx]

Hi

I'm a total noob in linux installation, so probably a pain in the ass.
I've downloaded a few iso's (1-5) and burned a few. I burned iso-1 and booted the pc with that cd. All worked out fine. Except for totally no network. interfaces file is empty and hosts file says only 127.0.0.1.
So I have to get the network running. I thought I'd install a few more packages first, to make networking easier. So I burned iso-2 and iso-3.
Now I'm stuck in `dselect`. I have no idea how it works!!

The cdrom drive is at /cdrom/ and the packages are in a big pool of dirs (a-z) at/cdrom/pool/main/...

The problem is, I cant tell debian where the packages are. It just doesnt understand me, or I dont it.

The cd layout is something like this (not how the dselect guide says it 'should' be):
\boot\
\dists\
\dists\sarge\
\dists\sarge\contrib\
\dists\sarge\contrib\binary-i386\
\dists\sarge\contrib\binary-i386\Packages
\dists\sarge\contrib\source\
\dists\sarge\main\
\dists\sarge\main\binary-i386\
\dists\sarge\main\binary-i386\Packages
\dists\sarge\main\debian-installer\
\dists\sarge\main\debian-installer\binary-i386\
\dists\sarge\main\debian-installer\binary-i386\Packages
\dists\sarge\Release
\dists\frozen (0b)
\dists\stable (0b)
\dists\testing (0b)
\dists\unstable (0b)
\pool\
\pool\main\
\pool\main\a\...deb
\pool\main\b\...deb
\pool\main\d\...deb
\pool\main\d\...deb
etc

I have no idea whether its a normal layout or not, but I know the location of the packages (.deb) and the location of the Packages files. I just dont know how debian is gonna know too...

I use dselect. First option is [A]ccess, I choose apt.
Than I have to make a source list.
First question: "Please give the base url of the debian distribution. The access schemes i know about are: http file ftp"
I input: file:/cdrom/dists/

Next: "Please give the distribution tag to get or a path to the package file ending in a /. The distribution tags are typically something like: stable unstable testing non-US"
I input: stable (is default)

Next: "Please give the components to get. The components are typically something like: main contrib non-free"
I input: main contrib

Then: "Would you like to add another source?"
I say: No

So I goto step 2: [U]pdate.
Immediately lots of errors (cant find ...):

Err file: stable/main Packages
..File not found
Ign file: stable/main Release
Err file: stable/contrib Packages
..File not found
Ign file: stable/contrib Release
Failed to fetch file: /cdrom/dists/dists/stable/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz
..File not found (well true, because it doesn't exist, but I never said so! /cdrom/dists/stable is a file, not a dir! Only dir there is /cdrom/dists/sarge/)
Failed to fetch file: /cdrom/dists/dists/stable/contrib/binary-i386/Packages.gz

Yes it says /dists/dists/

And some more (reading packages...done << sure, none read).

I dont understand What do I do wrong? Is it a bad cd structure? Do I input wrong dirs?

Please help!


PS. The cdrom is the only way to install packages for me now, since network doesnt work (why, no idea). I dont know how to get it up, but some inet guide says about my network card (plug-n-play) that it needs something like isapnp. I downloaded that package, but have no idea how to get it on the pc!

Thanks alot

[rudiedirkx]

Now I got it (dselect apt) to say:

Failed to fetch file:/cdrom/dists/sarge/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz
and same for
file:/cdrom/dists/sarge/contrib/binary-i386/Packages.gz

And that's weird, because they DO exist! So can I conclude file:/cdrom/ doesnt exist??

How do I get to my cdrom drive then???
Thanks

[boggy]

Honestly.. If I where you I would just download 3.1 net-install. It should auto detect your network and you'll have the newest of the new. Not to mention it'll save you time, cd's and all these other problems your having.

[rudiedirkx]

That sounds like a great idea, but that's the whole problem! I don't have network access!
Something wrong with the network card or something. I have no idea. Have to install Linux to fix it. Install a package for the networkcard and when the network works, I can download and update like that.

How else to install Linux when network is unavailable?