4.10, amd64, and raid

[ctodd at chrismiller.com]

Trying to install 4.10/i386 on an amd64 system with Promise raid
controller. The saga....

Can't use 4.x install disk because kernel doesn't support raid (at least
the promise controller).

Can boot off of 5.x install disk and switch media, but install fails
because it can't find the base distribution (and a few of the s* packages)
when they are in fact on the disk (it's an iso right from the FreeBSD
site).

Can't net/ftp install 4.x with 5.x install disk because the Marvell Gbe
bug isn't fixed without a custom kernel.

Can't make your own boot kernel with the right drivers without building an
entire release (which takes the better part of a day).

Can't make a 4.x "release" on a 5.x/amd64 due to various failures that
seem to point to the host being amd64 vs i386. Yes, I did specify
TARGET=i386 and TARGET_ARCH=i386 but it still fails.

Has anyone gotten 4.x installed on this type of system? (ASUS A8V,
Athlon64 3500+, Promise PDC20378 (AKA Fastrak 378, TX2000), and Marvell
88E8001 Gbe) If so, how did you align all the planets with the sun to
accomplish this? 5.3/amd64 was a breeze, but I need 4.10 on this system as
well.

Also, which file/pkg contains "base"? I could have gotten the system
booted with that installed, all the man pages, docs, and most of the s*
packages made it. At least with a booted system I could upgrade it.

Thanks in advance.

Frustrated...
Chris