Fedora 12 ongoing saga

My HTPC was recently "upgraded" to Fedora 12. The Fedora 10 and 11 installs on that box were almost completely broken and so I opted for a clean install. What I forgot was that Fedora's text mode install leaves you with a system that has

1. No network connection
2. No Wi-Fi
3. In fact, NetworkManager is not installed or is not working
4. No GUI
5. No easy way to install software from the CD-ROM media

Sigh.

I wanted to be able to connect this system to my network so that I could install the missing software, but this meant moving the computer to the other room, where the hub is.  This meant that I can't see what I'm typing, because this computer's monitor is my TV, which is a CRT weighing a million trillion pounds*.  So I plug the computer into the hub and turn it on.  But the network isn't starting, for some reason, or it's not connecting properly.  This means I have to log into the computer and try to type random commands blindly until the network card finally connects.

Once the computer is on the network I have to try to figure out WHERE on the network it is so that I can log into it from my notebook.  I wrote a little script to ping various addresses until I found it.  Once I had it I was able to log into the computer using SSH and then (gasp!) actually see what I was typing.  From that point on it was relatively easy to use yum to install whatever software I need, and the copious updates that Fedora had waiting for me.

Once the software was installed it was easy to get livna hooked up and the binary nVidia driver installed, which lets me use the TV as a monitor.  Now if only I could remember the incantation which tells it that my TV is not HD..... stay tuned.

--
*I'd secretly hoped that something bad would have "accidentally" happened to the TV when we moved, thus giving me an excuse to get a modern TV, but sadly, it arrived without incident.