Installing Debian on an Alix 2d3 using PXE

[Urs Hunkeler <uhu@gmx.ch>]

Hi,

I'm trying to install Debian on an Alix 2d3 board (installing from 
network using PXE, the installer runs in a serial console). When I 
select a mirror, the installer tells me that it is going to verify the 
mirror, and then immediately gives me an error message saying that the 
mirror is invalid. A tcpdump on the relaying computer shows that there 
was absolutely no traffic on the network (ie. the installer is not 
trying to access the network at all, not even dns lookup). When I open 
the console and use netcat (nc, as ping, ifconfig and other such tools 
are not available in the minimalistic environment), I can access 
different servers without any problems, so I have to assume that the 
network setup is working.

What is going on? Why doesn't the installer use the network? How can I 
debug this?

I managed to boot the Debian text installer over PXE on an Alix 2d3. The 
Alix does not have a graphics card, so the installation has to be done 
using a serial console. Also, since so far I only got the basic 
installer running, I have a very limited system running, which 
unfortunately limits the debugging options.

Any help is appreciated!

Cheers,
Urs