Error 'No common CD-ROM drive was detected' when installing Ubuntu Server via USB drive

Summary: Attempted to install Ubuntu Server 8.04.2 via a usb drive. Got an error 'No common CD-ROM drive was detected' at the step 'Detecting Hardware to find cd-rom drives'

Environment:
Ubuntu 8.04.2 Server Install ISO
Computer with no CD-ROM drive and can boot USB
usb drive
unetbootin

Steps:
1. Put Ubuntu 8.04.2 Server Install ISO onto usb drive with unetbootin
2. Attempt to boot onto the usb drive and run the install
3. Observe for any errors

Expected Behaviour: Ubuntu should install onto the computer without any problems

Actual Behaviour: At the step 'Detecting Hardware to find cd-rom drives' it fails with the error 'No common CD-ROM drive was detected' which would seem obvious since its not being installed from a CD-ROM drive. It asks to load CD-ROM drivers from a driver floppy. If one chooses no and chooses to manually select a CD-ROM module and device and then chooses the partition of the USB drive the installation step will still fail.

As far as I can tell this issue is not encountered when using the graphical installers on the desktop versions. It only occurs on the text-based alternate installers on the desktop and server versions