Dual 1Ghz PowerMac G4 gray screen after booting

Greetings
Please can someone give me some more ideas to try, my G4 dual 1Gz system boots in to the operating system fine but after a while I get the gray screen crash, can be quick can be a while. I've reinstalled the operating system after formatting the HHD, I've done the disk utility repairs, I've swapped out the video card and the ram and its still doing it.
Any further ideas would be appreciated.
Rgds
James

Sounds like it's going out.
I would try running the extended version of your Apple Hardware Test.
It's not perfect but may flag something.
DALE

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Gray screen after boot and blue screen with stripes

Hi, I have a MacBook Pro Mid 2011 with Mavericks (came with Snow Leopard).
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One day i was working and things were too slow. I tried to restart but it was taking too long to close all the programs. So I forced shut down by holding the power button. When I turned it on again, my problems begin.
Problem:
The Apple logo and the spinning wheel appear. After a while, both disappear and it freezes at gray screen. Some solutions I tried make the screen goes blue with black vertical stripes. In both cases, I have to force shut down.
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I found this to work at least to get in and backup some files. It is VERY important to put these commands in EXACTLY as seen here, including spaces.
Boot into Single-User mode (Command-S while booting up)
Execute the following commands:
/sbin/fsck -fy /
/sbin/mount -uw /
mkdir /Disabled_System_Library_Extensions
cd /Disabled_System_Library_Extensions
mv /System/Library/Extensions/ATI* .
mv /System/Library/Extensions/AMD* .
touch /System/Library/Extensions
exit
I guess these two graphics extensions go bad quite often on Macbook Pro 15-inch. They are part of the logic board. The only problem I had was I still couldn't get into my computer any other way, and the graphics for Safari were messed up. Firefox was okay. Good Luck!
Here's the original thread:
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/120507/boot-hangs-on-grey-screen-even-w hen-booting-from-usb-drive-with-fresh-os-x-inst

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I did. I took it into the Apple store and they replaced my hard drive. It was under warranty, so it wasn't a problem. I got them to give me my old hard drive back, which I hooked up to an external SATA enclosure. My mac recognized it, but said it wasn't initialized. I downloaded Data Rescue II and it recovered all of my software. I'm now using it as a Time Machine disk.
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If your Mac isn't under warranty, try this post:
http://phail.net/2008/04/10/bootcamp-windows-xp-sp1-epic-phail/
and his solution:
http://phail.net/2008/04/13/bootcampsp1-white-screen-of-death-a-solution/
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Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
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b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
c. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
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If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
Step 6
Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 7
Repeat step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 8
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Step 9
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

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on shift - the same
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On click on usb with Yosemite I see loading and gray screen after all of this..
If I inset second monitor, on MacBook freeze I see vertical lines. Red-green-blue-white vertical lines on all monitor
Please help me. I need work...

Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion Using Internet Recovery
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Partition and Format the hard drive:
Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
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Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.

Gray screen after login - Cinnamon 2.2/Nvidia 334

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So, I added the following to pacman.conf -
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:: Synchronizing package databases...
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core/mlocate 0.26-1 1 -> 3
core/shadow 4.1.5.1-7 7 -> 9
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extra/mesa 10.1.0-4 4 -> 5
extra/pango 1.36.3-1 1 -> 2
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extra/gthumb 3.2.7-1 1 -> 2
extra/libreoffice-en-US 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
extra/libreoffice-common 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
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extra/libreoffice-calc 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
extra/libreoffice-draw 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
extra/libreoffice-gnome 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
extra/libreoffice-impress 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
extra/libreoffice-math 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
extra/libreoffice-writer 4.2.3-1 1 -> 2
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core/man-db 2.6.6-1 -> 2.6.7.1-1
extra/at-spi2-core 2.10.2-1 -> 2.12.0-1
extra/atk 2.10.0-1 -> 2.12.0-1
extra/at-spi2-atk 2.10.2-1 -> 2.12.0-1
extra/gobject-introspection 1.38.0-1 -> 1.40.0-1
extra/gdk-pixbuf2 2.30.6-1 -> 2.30.7-1
extra/cogl 1.16.2-1 -> 1.18.0-1
extra/json-glib 0.16.2-1 -> 1.0.0-1
extra/clutter 1.16.4-3 -> 1.18.0-1
extra/gtk-update-icon-cache 2.24.22-1 -> 2.24.23-1
extra/libcups 1.7.1-4 -> 1.7.2-1
extra/gtk3 3.10.7-1 -> 3.12.1-1
extra/clutter-gtk 1.4.4-4 -> 1.5.2-1
extra/cups 1.7.1-4 -> 1.7.2-1
extra/dconf 0.18.0-1 -> 0.20.0-1
extra/gnome-icon-theme-symbolic 3.10.1-1 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/gnome-icon-theme 3.10.0-1 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/libsecret 0.16-2 -> 0.18-1
extra/gsettings-desktop-schemas 3.10.1-1 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/evince 3.10.3-1 -> 3.12.1-1
extra/file-roller 3.10.2.1-1 -> 3.12.1-1
extra/fontsproto 2.1.2-1 -> 2.1.3-1
extra/gcr 3.10.1-3 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/gtksourceview3 3.10.2-1 -> 3.12.1-1
extra/libpeas 1.9.0-2 -> 1.10.0-1
extra/pygobject-devel 3.10.2-2 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/python-gobject 3.10.2-2 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/gedit 3.10.4-2 -> 3.12.1-1
extra/gnutls 3.2.13-1 -> 3.3.0-1
extra/glib-networking 2.38.2-1 -> 2.40.1-1
extra/gnome-common 3.10.0-1 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/gnome-keyring 3.10.1-2 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/gnome-screenshot 3.10.1-1 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/gnome-themes-standard 3.10.0-1 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/libsoup 2.44.2-1 -> 2.46.0-1
extra/xorg-server-common 1.15.0-5 -> 1.15.1-1
extra/xorg-server 1.15.0-5 -> 1.15.1-1
extra/nvidia-utils 334.21-7 -> 337.12-1
extra/nvidia-libgl 334.21-7 -> 337.12-1
extra/webkitgtk 2.2.5-2 -> 2.4.0-1
extra/gtk2 2.24.22-1 -> 2.24.23-1
extra/gucharmap 3.10.1-1 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/gvfs 1.18.3-3 -> 1.20.1-2
extra/libplist 1.10-1 -> 1.11-1
extra/libimobiledevice 1.1.5-2 -> 1.1.6-1
extra/gvfs-afc 1.18.3-3 -> 1.20.1-2
extra/gvfs-mtp 1.18.3-3 -> 1.20.1-2
extra/gvfs-smb 1.18.3-3 -> 1.20.1-2
extra/lcms2 2.5-2 -> 2.6-1
extra/imagemagick 6.8.8.9-1 -> 6.8.9.0-1
extra/js 17.0.0-1 -> 24.2.0-1
extra/libgee 0.12.0-1 -> 0.14.0-1
extra/libgnome-keyring 3.10.1-2 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/libtracker-sparql 0.16.4-1 -> 1.0.0-2
extra/nvidia 334.21-4 -> 337.12-1
extra/python2-gobject 3.10.2-2 -> 3.12.0-1
extra/python2-atspi 2.10.0-2 -> 2.12.0-1
extra/upower 0.9.23-2 -> 0.99.0-2
extra/usbmuxd 1.0.8-2 -> 1.0.9-1
extra/vte-common 0.34.9-1 -> 0.36.0-1
extra/vte3 0.34.9-1 -> 0.36.0-1
extra/webkitgtk2 2.2.5-2 -> 2.4.0-1
extra/xproto 7.0.25-1 -> 7.0.26-1
community/cjs 2.0.0-1 -> 2.2.0-1
community/python2-pillow 2.3.1-2 -> 2.4.0-1
multilib/lib32-pcre 8.34-1 -> 8.35-1
multilib/lib32-glib2 2.38.2-1 -> 2.40.0-1
multilib/lib32-nvidia-utils 334.21-5 -> 337.12-1
multilib/lib32-nvidia-libgl 334.21-5 -> 337.12-1
aur/jdk7 7.51-2 -> 7.55-1
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extra/libinput 0.1.0-1 (required by clutter)
extra/libusbmuxd 1.0.9-1 (required by libimobiledevice)
extra/js17 17.0.0-1 (required by polkit)
and I still had the same issue with the gray screen after login.
Last edited by madscience (2014-04-16 15:02:33)

Forzen gray screen at boot

I'm using an iMac that was new in Dec '12. 27-inch I think it's still the current model.
Lately I've been getting long if not terminal hang-ups at boot on the plain gray screen.
The only system maintenance I have with this Mac is to confirm and correct my preferences on the main drive, through Disk Utility. I know there is much more to clean up in the system.
What program should I be using to do this with?
I used to use Onyx, but that is now only a pay program now. If I must use a pay program I want to get the best value for the program.
So my question is two questions.....
1. Are there free programs that will clean up the caches and whatever else needs attending to?
2. What is the best pay program for maintaing a Mac?
Thanks

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a boot failure is to secure your data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since your last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.a. Boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
c. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Step 3
Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is damaged and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to step 5.
If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
Step 6
Boot into Recovery again. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.
Step 7
Repeat step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a backup.
Step 8
A dead logic-board battery in a Mac Pro can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions.
Step 9
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

Does anyone know what a gray screen on boot up means?

I have a Mac Pro with 10.6.x (snow leopard) and I am getting a gray screen on boot up. Any ideas on how to fix this? It wont boot from the dvd either.

"A Mac that will not boot from an appropriate Installer/Utilities DVD has a Hardware problem."
Is the Power light flashing? that may mean a RAM problem.
Sometimes the "snag keys" at Startup are not seen due to the keyboard connected via a Hub in a display. The keyboard needs to be connected to a USB directly on the chassis, no intervening Hub.
Use the Alt/Option key for best resuilts when in a jam -- it needs nothing from any drives to make a picture on the display, its code is all in ROM.

Black Screen After Boot up

My T420s (2 months old) recently has been giving me a black screen after boot up (no "Thinkpad" image is displayed during boot up). System totally unresponsive -- I have to push on/off button multiple times. Subsequent boot up usually OK. Sometimes once I'm up and running, upon entering sleep mode, the machine will not wake up.
I have adjusted power management setting and and up-to-date on all drives. HELP!!!

if this is constantly occurring this would mean something is wrong with the Thinkpad's hardware, since this laptop is fairly new, you should consider getting it fixed under warranty.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Powerbook G4 Gray Screen on boot up after trying to install an update

I was trying to update my computer but when I was doing the install and shut down all my programs to complete the install it said it could not find the application from which it was trying to update. I closed the update and when I tried to get on the internet and the laptop froze. I turned off the laptop and when I turned it back on all I have is a gray screen. I have done a PMU reset as well as a RAM reset. Both of these have not solved the problem. I know it is probably software related. Would you reccommend booting from the OS X disc??? Please help!!

I believe your problem is software related not hardware. Try to do archieve install and install update by downloading 10.4.7 PPC combo from apple site and then do the rest of the update from software update.
I think this problem caused of the bug in the 10.4.7 the first released by apple has problem with software update app (I've seen few of our customer has to do archive install to solve their boot related problem after software update to 10.4.7). Apple already released the update and also they fix the bug so I believe it is already safe to do archive install and update your software to 10.4.7 from software update but just want to be safe do from combo update download.
Hope this help
Flippo

MacBook Air boots only to gray screen after OS X 10.8.2 upgrade

I upgraded my MacBook Air 13in (purchased new in mid 2011) from OS X 10.8.1 to 10.8.2 today. As it was restarting, it hung at a gray screen that had only a Mac icon on it. I let it stay there for about 15 minutes before I forced it to tun off by holding the power button down for several seconds. Starting up again, it plays the startup sound and immediately displays a completely blank solid gray screen, no icons. I've shut it down and started it up again trying many different key combinations. The only one that seems to do anything is cmd-opt-p-r (pram). Others that I've tried at startup are shift, shift-cmd-v, cmd-v, cmd-r, opt. With an osx lion install USB in a USB port, I've tried booting with opt and with c, to try to boot from the USB stick. All of these attempts are met with the same result. A solid gray blank screen.
Is there anything else I can try on my own? I have a recent time machine backup and a 15in 2010 MacBook Pro.

Sandra, I am aware of that... I have found the following regarding this issue: In my deep despair, I have connected a wired mouse (feeling reeeally strange with that, since I use gestures a LOT)... I begin to work that way a few minutes ago, and tired of the mouse, I have tried to use the trackpad (not expecting much) with the mouse connected to the usb port and the trackpad is now working as expected. I don't wan't to understand this, as this seems very odd, but it worked for me!
Is not a proper solution, but it is best than waiting for a fix, or downgrading...

Beach Ball of Death, Dark Gray Screen after Clean OS ReInstall- Please Help

My 13" MBP is less than two months old.
I read online somewhere that a company that buys large quantities of Macs has a strategy for combating the industry standard 5% hard drive failure in new notebooks. It said something along the lines of performing a clean install / reformat of OS X was a good idea to see if any problems arise- then the HD would likely have problems in the near future, etc...
Being the nerd that I am I performed a clean install on my MBP. I had just performed one the day before on my other Mac (which worked perfectly).
First of all, my MBP took roughly 15 minutes to boot from the disk (to begin the reinstall). Actually one time I gave it over 20 minutes and it never did load. Once I finally got to the Language select screen it froze, clicking the continue arrow did nothing and I couldn't even choose another language. So I shut down and tried again. The DVD doesn't look scratched. Is my drive less than stellar?
This time, it worked, albeit, it took much longer to install than my lesser powered Mac Mini. OS X notified me that the installation was successful and that it now simply needed to restart. Upon restart I was greeted with a dark gray screen and mouse cursor spinning beach ball (that responded to trackpad).
Shut down, turned it back on- same thing. Tried a bunch more times, no luck.
Called Apple Care and after a few questions / tips we concluded that it needed to be sent in, the associate imagined it was a HD problem.
I took my MBP to a local authorized service provider and they took it, and called me back in a few hours. I asked what they did to fix it, and they skillfully dodged the question. They said it should be good now, that it passed all hardware tests, but to let them know if it happened again.
Since then it's been running okay. As a nerd it's a bit bothersome to know that I can't perform a clean install when I see fit- and that if I did, I'd have to take it into Apple Care again in the future, and once Apple Care runs out than a clean install just isn't an option.
It boots up just as fast, but when it gets passed the white screen with the Apple logo... when the desktop is loading I noticed that it stays at the flash of the solid blue desktop a bit longer than usual (the second before it loads your desktop bg image). It also seems that fully loading all of the top right menu bar items takes a bit longer than before.
Also, not sure if the hard drive's sudden motion sensor is going haywire. But randomly, the hard drive will make a singular faint "thud / click" noise. Very faint. But it's not your usual "reading data from the HD" hard drive thrashing noise you hear when you open an app / file. It's a single, more sudden noise, but like I said it is fairly quiet- I hear it when I have literally nothing running except this Safari window. This is something I didn't notice the first few weeks with the MBP.
Also in system profiler, the battery's condition was never good, but only "Normal." I did calibrate my battery one of the first days I had it.
Here's some coconutBattery info:
Current Battery Capacity: 5588 mAh
Original Battery Capacity: 5770 mAh
Which is 96%.
Load cycles: 10
Anyways, curious if anyone has any ideas about my inability to perform a clean install and successfully boot up? I don't see any reason why it should have taken THAT long to boot from the disk, frozen in several random spots throughout, and then not be able to boot up.
The HD noises aren't a huge deal just a bit concerning, and admittedly the battery info is just nerdy paranoia. Just curious what's going on with my MBP. Is there anything I can do, or should read?

Hi simplecoder13,
I perform a similar process on all the HDs that I buy, only I take it a step further. I'll run a single pass erase on drives under 500GB and a seven pass erase on drives larger than 500GB and ones that are deemed "mission critical." Here's an interest metric, though.
Since 01/01/10 on laptop drives (Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi)
+HDs purchases - 461+
+Drives > 500GB - 119+
+Drives < 500GB - 342+
+Drives that fail zero test - 13+
+Drives that pass zero test, fail within 30 days - 2+
+Drives that pass zero test, fail within 60 days - 0+
+Drives that pass zero test, fail within 90 days - 3+
+Drives that pass zero test, fail within 180 days - 4+
+Total drive failures within 6 months - 22 (4.77%) ~ 5%+
I don't have a manufacturer break down, I suppose I should start logging that more closely. Anyway...
I have a new MacBook Pro (13" @ 2.4GHz) and booting off the installation disc, from selecting the installer disc via the boot manager to the language selection screen is ~ 6 mins and 44 seconds. I use that as an average, I did it over 10 restarts but it was a pretty fair assessment. The fact that the installer is freezing is definitely cause for alarm, that's not normal or to be expected. Process of elimination would tell me the following:
1.) The disc is bad
2.) The optical drive is bad
My understanding of the installer is the HD isn't initially accessed during the installer until you choose an install location (at which point it's mount point is verified).
Regarding the battery, your full charge capacity is going to bounce around the first couple of months, usually anywhere from 250-400 mAh. I noticed sporadic reporting until I reached the 50 cycle mark (or around 6 months based on usage). That being said, I don't see any problems or cause for alarm with the information you've reported.

Mac Pro stuck on gray screen after installing software for a new keyboard

I am having a huge issue with my very important work computer! For a few weeks, my Mac has been freezing on the gray screen during start up. Since I had two external hard drives plugged in, I would unplug one of them and the Mac would always restart correctly once one was unplugged. Well today I was installing software for a new keyboard and the mac prompted me to restart. Once I restarted, the gray screen came up again and no matter what I did it would not start up correctly again. I tried unplugging everything except the keyboard and monitor and nothing works. I tried ejecting the crash-causing CD with the keyboard using all of the commands I found on this forum board and nothing worked. I saw forums about manually ejecting the CD by pushing a pin-hole but I cannot find that pinhole anywhere! Then again, the CD might not even be the problem but since the computer gave me the gray screen of death right after using the CD I am thinking that it is the problem. I use this computer for editing a TV show and creating websites so there is a ton of files on it and I need to get it up and running again ASAP. Any suggestions would be appreciated and I am sure by now you can tell that I am not a Mac expert so please dumb it down for me. Thank you!!

I would start by breaking your thoughts and sentences out from one long paragraph.
Start at the basics.
Always have backups.
One at least that is a spare boot system you can use.
Clone your system. SuperDuper does a great job for only $29
Boot from another hard drive or last OS X DVD
Repair your drive with Apple Disk Utility along with 3rd party disk maintenance and repair
Hold Option key until the boot manager, then hold mouse to open optical drive.
You can hold mouse on startup and it will eject also.
Hold and continue to hold Shift key during startup to repair the boot drive in minimal fashion.
What device and driver? hint: never use CD, just go online as the CD is usually out of date anyway.
Fill in Mac OS X version and more about hardware would help in posts and in your profile signature.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/harddrives/index.html#d12aug2010
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior

Dual 1Ghz PowerMac G4 gray screen after booting

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