So, some kind of keyboard issue? Both of those posts you reference were people trying to install nested ESXi on Macs. I'm trying to set up on bare metal. However, there is a KVM and an extra keyboard in the mix, so who knows. I don't actually recall seeing the license message, so perhaps I have a stuck key. Maybe ALT-F2 can get me past the gray screen.
Specs: Dell Precision M6400, Intel Core 2 Quad Q9100, 8GB DDR3-1066, 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD, Broadcom 57xx Gigabit
Yes, I know, I'm installing to it a laptop. But it's the best spare hardware I have at the moment for testing.