Turns out it was mostly user-error. 1) i was having issues starting tftpd-hpa through /etc/init.d - the tftp daemon was already being run by inetd, i was unaware of that, got it to run stand-alone since it's a one-time job anyway and i'm goofing around.
2) dhcp3-server gave the client the ip, but it couldn't boot; i tried dnsmasq (amazing quantity of options to configure and it even inclues its own tftp server), but it couldn't even give an ip - again most likely a user error. 3) i remembered i had been fiddling around with iptables (Debian's default is allow everything) and my client booted to a nice netinst instaler image :) Thanks for the tips! Hope this helps the next guy. Nuno -- () ascii ribbon campaign - against html e-mail /\ ascii-rubanda kampajno - kontraŭ html-a retpoŝto -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
