In this new VMWare 5.1 host server, I have created 2 VMs -- one for Win 2008-R2 and one for 2003-R2. Neither of VM guest OS can be installed. The VMs cannot see the DVD drive. I have modified/verified Boot options, so that CD-ROM has priority over hard disk. Normally, I would see the message - "Press any key to boot from CD-ROM" but on this host, that option has not shown up for any VMs. The delay is 2000 ms.
ISO images are located in datastore and DVD-drive is set to Connect on power on.
The server is HP ProLiant DL360 G6, and in BIOS, "Local Bus IDE adapter" is set to Both. Thanks for any help.