Help!!!!!! Package install problems!!!

[Lyndon Fletcher <Lyndon.Fletcher@uab.ericsson.se>]

Hi,
   I'm reposting this message with a few clarifications in the hope that
someone will answer my questions.

I was recently lent an old 486 PC by a friend so that I could do some
Web server development. The machine is not mine and not readily
upgradable so I HAVE to work with what I have. First limitation is that
the machine only has ~360Mb of hard disk space, limitation number 2 is
that the machine has an old CDROM drive with an ISA based proprietary
controller card. This card is NOT supported by Linux, though I have a
DOS boot disc with the nescessary drivers for DOS. I also have
Cheapbytes version of the Debian 2.0 CD.

OK. Now I cann't load Debian directly off of the CD because the CDROM
drive is not supported. So I got base installed on the machine by
creating a 30MB Dos partition and copying the basic installation files
on to it from DOS. Install went OK up to the point where I need to
install packages, then the lack of the CD (and space on the HD for
temporary storage) became a problem. I need parts of about 8 or 9
packages some of which will involve loading up to 80MB at a time in
temporary storage if I can't use the CD as source.


My problem is how to load the rest of the packages. I have a couple of
ideas and would like to know the answers to a few specific questions.

1) Idea 1

I could copy a few packages at a time onto the 30Mb Dos drive and
install from there. 

Question 1 --- To run dselect do I only need the .deb files or do I need
the "packages" files too? 

Question 2 --- If I do need the "packages" file do I have to edit it to
reflect the actual path to the .deb files? If not how do you deal with
loading packages from paths different from those in the package file?

Question 3 --- What constitutes a package? I have several directories
called things like "net" do I copy the whole directory or just the .deb
files I seem to need?


Idea 2

I also have a laptop PC with a working CDROM (running win95) on which
I've installed an FTPD for win95. 

Question 4 --- when I try to use this machine as an FTP source, Dselect
seems to expect a specific layout dist/stable/main et al

Unfortunately my CD has the form d:/debian/hamm/hamm... How can I change
this so that Dselect can read fron the remote drive?

Question 5 --- the "packages" file has the paths to the files listed as
dist/stable/main etc. However, the layout of my CD is
D:/debian/hamm/hamm/binary-i386/... would I need a new packages file
with the paths corrected?

Question 6 --- is it possible to use a "packages" file in a different
path from where the .deb files are stored?

Hope that you can send me some answers... I've been pulling my hair out
over this all week.

Thanks

Fletch