Computer won't start properly after Leopard installation attempt

Yesterday I tried to install Leopard 10.5.6 on my G5 (currently running Tiger 10.4.11) and ran into a ton of problems. First, a message came up preventing me from upgrading without erasing my hard drive. I decided to quit the installer and back up my drive before erasing it, but after trying to start up again on my main disk, the computer will no longer get past the Apple logo screen. It stays that way for several minutes, and the computer revs and revs until it's at max RPM, then the computer just shuts off. I can't access my data to back it up.
I did some internet research and tried started up from the install DVD again (which still works) and tried to repair my disk using Disk Utility. This didn't work and an error message came up: "Attempted to Repair Disk, attempt failed. Invalid Node Structure, Volume Check Failed. Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit."
If anyone has any advice I would be VERY grateful, I am hoping to not have to have the computer repaired as I already have my other Mac out of service as well and the cost of repair has been high. I need to back up some important files before I update to Leopard, is there any way to do this while starting up from the DVD since my Startup disk doesn't work now? What happened??!!!

Is it possible that the piece stuck in the audio jack has resulted in turning off the internal speakers?
I would say that the Leopard installation is not 100%. Sometimes this happens. Or you may have a piece of software installed that mutes the speakers, and it needs to disable that. If it's not the latter, then I would erase the hard drive and reinstall from scratch. If that's not feasible then you can do the following:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

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