Charles Blair wrote:
I am trying to install debian on a machine that does not have network access. I booted from the first disk of a 15-CD set and was told it could not find my hard disk. I downloaded (using a different machine) a "netinst" version of etch, and was able to do a hard disk partition and basic install. However, I did not see a way to continue to use this to complete the process, especially the automatic installation and configuration of X11.
If you have a basic install, you should be able to boot Debian and login as user root at the commandline. Use the root password you entered during the install. This will give you a shell prompt ending in "#". Enter the command "tasksel" (without the quotes). Select the "Desktop environment" task which should give you X and the Gnome desktop.
If you want the packages to be taken from your CD set, rather than the net, you may need to run "apt-cdrom" first in order to add them to /etc/apt/sources.list.
-- Chris.