Werner, I've a 505TX, with FreeBSD and Windows 98. I've found the Sony CD useless, and I'm sure that at several points in the past three years I've tried to install from a Rh or SUSE or ... or Debian CD, without success.
My suggestion (which I'll have to follow since my IBM T21 has a flaky CD), is to install from floppies. I already know how to do this for FreeBSD, it will be a learning experience for Debian. Live and learn, Eric
