that wouldnt be it because it boots the first bit, and then drops to a shell (which would have to be from the CD)
....not that i can be of any help to the actual problem.
Actually, it very well could be. If the disc was burned directly as Data instead of as a copy of a disc image, he'd just have discs with ISO files on them that can never boot because the entire loading process would be in the ISO - thus a catch-22.
Given, that doesn't really apply here, since the first screen that he gets wouldn't load, either. Forget I said anything.