Bug#509775: Debian installer amd64 cannot complete installation due to a lack of the system codename

[andrew kanode <Script_Expert@operamail.com>]

Package: amd64
Severity: important

When installing Debian amd64, the installer cannot "Install the base system" because of the error "base-installer: error: exiting on error 
base-installer/no_codename".  I have typed up the full error and saved it in a pastebin which can be found here: http://yama.pastebin.com/m315ecccb 

I am presently using another computer because the server that I'm trying to install Debian Etch on cannot finish installing the operating system 
without this step.  The server has 500gb of hard drive space and 8gb of RAM, so that should not be the issue.  The package was stable, so I'm not 
aware as to why I get these errors. 

I believe this is an important part of the error message, and in case you cannot be bothered to read the pastebin, I shall include it
Dec 26 23:45:24 base-installer: error: exiting on error base-installer/no_codename

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 4.0
  APT prefers stable
  APT policy: (500, 'stable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell:  /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.18-6-686
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)