This is the explanation of how I have managed to install Debian Etch through a netinst CD given that the official netinst CD did not recognise any of my two network adapters.
My two network adapters are: (1) the onboard one is an Intel Corporation 82562V-2 10/100 and (2) a conceptronic c54ri wireless adapter with chipset RaLink RT2561/RT61 attached to a PCI slot.
The main problem was that the official netinst CD did not recognise any of the network adapters. I finally managed to install debian through the wired connection (intel corp. 82562V-2) through the use of the bakported d-i images by Kenshi Muto http://kmuto.jp/debian/d-i/. Those images consist of a modification on Debian Stable installer in order to support newer hardwares, such as SATA and Ethernet devices (as you see, they can be useful not only for network problems but for any hardware related problem).
Once installed the system the wireless adapter still didn't work. Although the module for RaLink RT2561/RT61 based cards is present in the recent kernels (and it was correctly loaded), it seemed (by inspection of system logs) that there were problems with the firmware.
I solved them by simply copying the firmware filesrt2561.bin rt2561s.bin rt2661.bin rt73.bin, from /lib/firmware/<kernel-version>/ to /lib/firmware, where the module expected to find them.
Hope it helps.
Gerard.
installing debian etch with non-recognised network cards
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