So I just downloaded the Debian 3.1 stable DVDs, and attempted to install them. The first problem I encountered was that the installer could not detect my ethernet card (which is onboard), and there was no Via Velocity Gigabit Ethernet driver on the list to chose from.

So despite that problem, I decided to go ahead with the install. Debian installed ok, and rebooted my machine. I then came to the install packages part of the installation, but the configuration wizard could not detect my DVD-ROM drive. During the installation I noticed that the installer was installing from /cdrom, which is also the location that the configuration wizard was looking (/dev/cdrom).

So now I have no way to install Debian. Just fixing one of these problems would be enough to install it, and I could fix the other problem from there.

/dev/cdrom or /dev/dvd are still symlinks to /dev/hd[x]. If it's the first device on the second IDE it's most likely /dev/hdc.

As for the ethernet card, install modconf from the dvd (when it's fixed) and run modconf to load the modules (not sure if it's supported, but most is).