I know this release was a few versions ago but it was the one I used at the time of installation and I recall the problems I had then. I expect these issues are not limited to that release so this solution/help may come in handy for other people looking around.I won’t walk through installation of Ubuntu. Just download the latest LTS server edition and install with no additional services except ssh. Startup after initial Ubuntu install resulted in no response. On restart I received an error stating that the volume group from the USB stick couldn’t be found. Turns out it was due to an old USB stick which had errors. A new stick solved the problem.

I also managed to workaround the issue of using a problematic USB stick by waiting 5 min then typing the following at the ‘initramfs’ prompt:

modprobe dm-mod
lvm
lvm> vgchange -a y
exit
exit

You may also find that the system hangs on boot for a while if you don’t have a cable plugged in or if the box can’t get an IP address. You can change the period of time the system waits for a network connection by editing /etc/init/failsafe.conf

Useful Sources:
http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.com/2011/11/solved-ubuntu-doesnt-shutdown-properly.html