system does not boot install cd

[Patrick Asselman]

On 2013-06-24 14:17, Colin Law wrote:
> On 24 June 2013 10:30, Patrick Asselman <iceblink at seti.nl> wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I'm trying to get a system reinstalled with Ubuntu server 12.04.2LTS 
>> 64-bit.
>> Someone at a remote site is helping me with this. The information 
>> I've got
>> so far:
>>
>> * .iso file downloaded from
>> 
>> http://www.ubuntu.com/start-download?distro=server&bits=64&release=lts
>> * the system does not boot from the DVD
>> * the system does not boot from USB
>> * the install DVD is confirmed to be bootable, it works on another 
>> system
>> * the install USB is confirmed to work on another system also
>> * the bios shows a correct boot order (1-cd 2-usb 3-raid 4-network)
>
> I have just realised that your question is ambiguous.  When you say 
> it
> does not boot, do you mean it just boots into the existing OS without
> even trying to boot off DVD/USB or do you mean it does boot from the
> media but then fails in some way?
>
> Colin

I'm sorry, I should have given you that information from the start.

The server boots okay from hard drive. It runs the 32bit Ubuntu just 
fine.
However upon inserting a DVD and rebooting, the server shows some 
activity on the drive, but after a while starts to boot from hard drive 
anyway, into the 32bit Ubuntu.
When inserting a USB and rebooting, the server also just boots from 
hard drive into the existing OS.

Reading the HP online documentation (to see whether Colin's suggestion 
of pressing a key during boot might be helpful) it seems that the server 
has many options that normal PCs do not have (afaik). One of the options 
is whether or not the system is allowed to boot from USB. Another option 
is a "boot controller order" option that allows one to choose which disk 
controller should boot first. When both of these are set wrongly, it 
might explain what happened, so I think I'll focus on these settings for 
now.

But please don't hesitate to point out other possible causes or 
solutions.

Best regards,
Patrick Asselman