Solution:
To create an installable file from a disk image file you must use the bffcreate command:
Once the installation files are created they can be ftp'd to a remote host and installed using the installp command.
For AIX 5.x this method must be used to install the RIO or Trueport drivers as the diskimage install will fail.
use the Unix dd command to create an initial disk image from the image file:
# dd if=tpaix410.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=64k
22+1 records in.
22+1 records out.
or use the Windows copydisk utility.
Create a temporary directory on the host. eg. /tmp/perle
Then you can use the bffcreate command to create the installation files from the diskimage:
# bffcreate -v -t /tmp/perle all
/tmp/perle/devices.tp.4.1.0.0.I
/tmp/perle/printers.tp.4.1.0.0.I
at this point the files can be copied to a remote host ... or installed directly using the installp command (this method is used to install on AIX 5.x).
run installp using the -d switch to specify the directory where the installation files reside:
# installp -acX -d /tmp/perle all
The installation will start at this point.
Ensure that there are no errors reported.