[expert] ThinkPad 240 install issues

[salkin]

Hi-

I just got a thinkpad 240 that I want to install mandrake on. I ordered the 
cdrom drive, but what I got is this thing that needs to slide into an IBM 
ultra-slim portable drive bay. In other words, no way to use it at present.

I have a mandrake CD. I am wondering if either of the following ideas will 
work:

(1)I can put the cd into the drive of a machine I have and do an ftp install 
using a pcmcia ethernet card

(2) I can get access to a parallel port cdrom drive (microsolutions backpack 
bantam 24x) and try that.

Otherwise I am SOL until this part can be located and ordered. Can anyone give 
some feedback about these choices, or maybe something else that I have 
overlooked?

Thank in advance,

Steve Salkin