Can you still reproduce this problem? Maybe your BIOS has an option for "quick-boot" or verbose or full tests or something that you can try?
Nothing is run from the HD, but maybe the BIOS initializes the screen when it displays its F12 boot menu. -- grub menu not displayed https://launchpad.net/bugs/25517 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
