Well, I downloaded and burned the netinst CD for Sarge. It boots fine
and I can start the installation with no problem.
My hesitance comes with configuring the network. The installation
attempts to configure the network with DHCP. It then returns a message
saying: "The network is not using the DHCP protocol." It then allows me
to press a Continue button. BTW... my machine is a standalone machine,
not connected to any local network.
At this point, the installation gives me the opportunity to configure
the network manually.
1) It asks me for the IP address for this computer. What do I enter??
Can I enter any valid IP address?
2) After that, it asks me to enter the netmask. Should I just accept the
default (255.255.255.0)??
3) Then, I am asked to enter the gateway IP address. I have no router.
It says in rare cases (with no router) the address can be left blank.
Should I leave it blank? Should I enter some address??
4) It then asks me to enter the nameserver addresses. I have the address
of Verizon Online's nameservers. OH! I have a DSL connection with
Verizon Online and my network card is SiS900 PCI Ethernet adapter. I
should enter those nameserver addresses here??
I haven't gone any farther than that. I wanted to verify what I should
enter for the network configuration first.