Bug#241179: Can't configure network on laptop with one pcmcia slot
Package: installation-reports
Debian-installer-version: beta3 netinst, with special pcmcia boot disc from joeyh
uname -a: Linux blackbird 2.4.25-1-386 #1 Tue Feb 24 08:11:13 EST 2004 i686 GNU/Linux
Date: Tue Mar 30 21:46:18 PST 2004
Method: boot from netinst CD
Machine: Sony Vaio SR-17
Processor: PIII 700MHz
Memory: 192M
Root Device: /dev/hda2 (20Mb internal IDE)
Root Size/partition table: 5.1G root, 90M /boot
Output of lspci: (available upon request, need to install another system to capture it)
Base System Installation Checklist:
Initial boot worked: [O]
Configure network HW: [E]
Config network: [E]
Detect CD: [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [O]
Create file systems: [O]
Mount partitions: [O]
Install base system: [O]
Install boot loader: [O]
Reboot: [O]
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Comments/Problems:
This laptop has one pcmcia slot: which means I can have the cdrom
plugged in, or the network card, but not both at once.
I found in a couple of tries that I had to select "other" for
networking, and skip the two networking steps, in order to install
the base system. (I tried telling it what module to use, and I
tried unplugging the cdrom and plugging in the network card; both
confused or froze the installer.)
The base system installed, I rebooted with CD unplugged and network
card plugged in, and now no network was configured. base-config
doesn't ask any networking questions, just says the system does not
seem to be connected to the internet.
I can't install packages from the CD, because it wants the wrong CD
name (apparently that's a known bug in beta3), but I can't install
from the network, or add security.debian.org to the sources list,
because it's convinced I have no network.
Could something be added to the installer stage after the first
reboot to ask again about a network? (Or perhaps use hotplug on a
system that has pcmcia, but that may be a lot to ask from a minimal
base system.) Failing that, could the initial base system install
have a category for "pcmcia network/configure later"? Even if I
had to choose the network driver[s] manually, that would help as
long as it didn't complain if that hardware wasn't currently there.
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