Stuck after BIOS

Since yesterday, my desktop reports "Initializing MBA. Press Ctrl-Alt-B to configure." after startup. I disabled LAN in BIOS settings, resulting in a cursor that replaced the " Initializing" message.
BIOS correctly reports my HDD and DVD drives, but fails to start them up. Desktop battery works fine. Changing startup sequence in BIOS from HDD to DVD system drive has no effect, the cursor is still there. The system fails to start up from any medium. I am lost as far as other options are concerned. Any ideas? Thanks, Richard
 
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