Hi all,

I want to install debian into my old inspiron 8000 and I've heard that it is possible to do like a "minimun" install with the first debian cd and then download the rest of the installation from the internet.

what are the advantages of doing this instead of downloading all the cds?

The thing is that I don't know how that thing is called so I cannot look for tutorials or manuals.

can anybody give me a clue on what to look for?

Thanks a lot

Kermit,

Take a look at this link http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/
This is where you can get the cd for doing a net install. This will let you do a minimal install then download just those modules that you want to install on your system.

Hope this helps

Mclewson

Thanks a lot for your answer Mclewson!

I did that, downloaded netinst cd and make the instalation, disabling the PCMCIA detection phase (it crashed), but after the installation when it reboots to finish the installation (to select time zone, create the user and download packets), it looks like the screen driver is not correct, because after the text boot, I can only see strange 3-color bars in the screen.

The thing is that I can't switch to any command line to try to install the correct drivers, does anyone know how?

thanks again

by the way, this laptop has 384 mb ram and soon im suposed to receive up to 512mb, is it necessary any change in the config? where in that case?

thanks again guys

What do you mean by "it crashed" are you sure you have the correct video driver selected? For the screen you should be able to just choose a default LCD 800x600 resolution. I'm not too sure, but I think the dell inspiron uses the old neomagic video driver. A quick check of the dell sight should be able to tell you.

Mclewson

it crashed when the installation program tried to detect pcmcia cards. Once disabled, everything ok until the installation reboots, that's when it doesnt crash, but i cant see anything.

i don't think that the video driver is correct, i didn't have the oportunity to choose it.