Bryan, Sorry for the delay in replying. I know my install instructions could stand some clarification and/or updating.
I'm not clear on one thing: whether you are actually incapable of moving on after the failed install/config-device-drivers step. In my experience on powerpc this is pretty much a no-op, because every kernel I've installed with has had everything compiled in, so there've been no additional driver modules to deal with. Have you tried skipping this step and going on to the next? I figure you have, if you're writing, but I just want to make sure. But otherwise the major mystery is the fact that your HD is hde. I can't imagine why this is; it's very strange. Why don't you try with a brand-new kernel, one that's working marvelously for me: http://valla.uchicago.edu/ppc/vmlinux-pbg412-2003-08.bz2 On my computer this kernel has the hard drive as /dev/hda; if this is different for you, I wonder if there's been some revision to the hardware. Try this new kernel and tell us what you get. Feel free to ask me if you encounter problems, but I may be away this weekend. I can't think of anything major that you're leaving out, but I know my instructions are written from the perspective of someone who's installed scores of Debian boxes, so I, too, could be missing something obvious. Happy hacking, O.
