For some reason I can't get the net install disc to work properly. The standard install images take up several DVDs from what I can ascertain from the website. Are all of the discs mandatory for a base install? I don't want to use up that many DVDs if I can just get a baseline and add packages via the net afterwards.

All you need is the first CD or DVD. The rest are just packages from the repo and are very handy if you need to go somewhere and install where there is no internet connection.

Did you check the md5sum of your ISO? Did you burn the image at the slowest speed you can (4x and under is best)?

The netinstall image is usually the most reliable.

Yea, everything was fine with the disc itself. I should have been more clear. The install will start up just fine. However, when it gets to the part where it goes to detect and configure for the network it just sits there doing nothing. No activity at all.

That could well be caused by a bad image or a bad burn. Always good to check that this was checked before going on. I have had similar things go wrong because I did not check the md5sum or had a bad burn (lazyness).

Did you check the disk integrity? There is a menu entry to do that when you boot.

That is about the only place I have never had an install hang at one time or another. I had the idea, wrongly, that it was bomb proof.

You are on some kind of wired connection I assume. If you are trying this on wireless I think you are in for some trouble.

Yea it's a wired connection. I just tried to install from the standard iso and the same thing happened. It got to where it detects network settings and just hangs.

I admit to being baffled.

One thing you did not mention was what version you are trying to install. If it is Squeeze (stable) then I am really at a loss. If it is Wheezy (testing) I would say install Squeeze and upgrade.

Even with the Wheezy install media I have not heard of problems with wired connections, the problems come later.

Hopefully there will be some other folks here that have a better idea as to what to do here.

One thing that I would try is to get a Live CD and see if the Live Session has a connection. If so then you could do an install from the 1st DVD using the no networking option and then run the update/upgrade from the new install assuming that it, like the live session, has a connection.

Are you running the text or the graphical installer? Try the text installer, then when it hangs press Alt+F4 and look if there are error-messages.

Yea, it's squeeze. Also, I was using the text installer, but I did try the graphical as well and got the same lockup. I'll give the Alt+F4 a try and see what I get. Will let you know.