2.2 The dreaded floppies
If you can't boot from CD, you can download floppy images to install
Debian. You need the floppy/boot.img, the floppy/root.img and possibly
one of the driver disks.
- floppy/net-drivers.img
To do an install over the network with a few common ethernet cards,
you do not need this driver floppy. If you have a less common ethernet
card, or pcmcia, you will need it.
- floppy/cd-drivers.img
If you have a cdrom, but cannot boot from it, you can boot from floppies,
and use this driver disk to complete the install using the cdrom.
Floppy disks are one of the least reliable media around, so be prepared for
lots of bad disks. Each .img file you downloaded goes on a single floppy;
you can use the dd command to write it to /dev/fd0 or some other means.
It's a good idea to them use cmp to compare what ended up on the unreliable
floppy disk with the image. If it fails throw that floppy away and try
again. Since you'll have more than one floppy, it's a good idea to label
them.
The boot floppy is the one with boot.img on it. This floppy, when
booted, will prompt you to insert a second floppy -- use the one with
root.img on it.