headless server not responding

I installed Ubuntu 11.10 on my HP MediaSmart Server EX485 about a year ago. It rocks or rocked until yesterday when it will not finish booting. It is headless or in other words does not have a video card(by design). It originally shipped with Windows Home Server which sucked!

So I'm guessing that either the bios or an fsck is probably the culprate, but I am struggling to decide on how to proceed.

Just so you know I went ahead and purchased a $65 adapter made for this server that will allow me to plug in my monitor. But it is like 5 days away still. I cant wait that long(I can but that sucks).

A couple of ideas, please feel free to make suggestions or constructive comments:
1. USB boot iso - Need to find the right image that will allow me to telnet or ssh in after auto booting.
2. Take out OS HD and attach to another system and run fsck - assuming that is the issue.

Any other ideas?

Thanks,
creol

Assuming the problem is not BIOS related (e.g. something as minor as "BIOS battery drained" or "Disk configuration changed - Press FX to continue"), then you can try Scientific Linux. Note that on the page I linked to, it indicates various boot options--one of which is 'ssh' to start an ssh server. Also note that, even though the page is described as "LiveCD" there is a link on the left for "Create Live USB"

Of course, a Live USB requires that your machine's BIOS be configured to boot off USB before local drives.

Also, I have never used Scientific Linux, and won't comment on whether it is good/bad/indifferent.

Given that the boot options on that page are to be entered at boot time and you have no monitor, you will need to guess when to enter the options. You can do it, because I've done something similar in the past. It may help to boot another device with a monitor so you can get an idea of how long you have to wait and what extra keys, if any, need to be pressed before you get to the boot options.

Otherwise, look into remastering the live USB image to start the ssh server by default of look for another live usb distribution that does so automatically.

I had a liveUSB of Ubuntu 11.04. I tested it and made the necessary changes to make it allow ssh etc, but when I tried it in the EX485 it never came up as far as I can tell. The problem must be in BIOS. I guess I have to wait for my adapter to arrive.

Thanks anyway!
Creol