I have bee trying unsuccessfully to get debian up and running on a Presario F700 notebook.

I am using the three DVD set of DVD's from cheap bytes.

The base system works find (glitches with the graphics card) but I can't hit the network because I have no software for the wireless card that came with the machine.

I can't compile anything because gcc is not installed.

When I try to use aptitude, the notebook just hangs there, apparently unable to see the cdrom drive.

apt-get install gcc

fails similalry.

apt-cdrom with just about any command option doesn't work either. (I'm using the AMD 64 release BTW).

I've found bits and pieces of this question asked and answered in various places, but never quite in this form.

I'd appreciate an suggestions from the forum.

Jack

To start with, we need to know what kind of card that is. This is Debian. If it's a card with a closed source driver, it's not on the CDs. You really need a wired connection for the initial setup, but you may be able to work around that, if you provide enough info. Start with the output of ...
$ lspci