Dual G5 late 2004. Some problems with fan and freeze and now can't start

Question

I just purchased a late 2004 Dual 2.5 Gig, with PCI-x and 1 gig ethernet. 1 Gig of what I presume to be factory ram and blue toothe. Connected to a new 23" Apple display.
The problems I have been having pale to where I stand now. I am stuck and can't move forward. At this point, the computer is off. When I try to turn it on, it does little to nothing and gradually the fan speed increases until the computer sounds like it wants to take off. The screen either stays dark, or sometimes I see the ? briefly, and then the grey screen with logo and that is where it stops. Currently I can't get past a lot of fan noise??
Can I get this thing started?? I have tried both starting from CD and hard drive. No luck.
This whole mess started yesterday and has continually gotten worse. Those details I can get into if needed, but for now, what can I do to see the screen and start over.
I just bought the machine, and I was doing a clean install that was acting funny. Hard drive sleep mode would cause the machine to not wake up. Specifically it was the monitor that would not wake up. The keyboard and the computer would still respond when I adjusted the volume. The screen was black.
I narrowed the problem to drive sleep, or monitor sleep by using the energy saver preferences. Just the monitor sleeping wasn't the probem. The computer would wake up. But if the hard drive went to sleep, then I could never get the screen back and the computer acted dormant. The only thing I could get was the volume sound from the computer and lights on the keyboard.
I ran Techtool Pro 4.1.2 ( i think ) and it reported possibe problems on the hard drive with the volume. I made the changes hoping that would fix the problem? No.
I decided to flush it all and start over with the install cd, make sure firmware was good, reformat the drive, and then install the System. But instead, I got caught is this loop of death that I can't get out of.
It had a kernal panic the first day I turned it on, but that was the last one. (dark screen with white message) The computer ran rather sluggish at times. I was shocked at times. Very slow finder response.
So? Suggestions? I have searched Apple support and tried anything I can think of. This is my first G5, but I have had some exposure to OSX beginning around 10.2. I am at my wits end and would greatly appreciate some input. For now I have to get some sleep.
Is my battery bad? It just won't start?
Thank you for any help you can provide, or links to articles!!

Answer 1

Hi Lawson, and a Warm Welcome to the Power Mac G5 Forum!
You could try a PMU/SMU reset
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300341
Use the second procedure if you have a button as shown in the photo - use the first method if you don't. You may not have to remove the intake fan assembly to get at the button. Observe static precautions and make sure to press the button once only.
Then try to start up on the CD/DVD.
If it fires up ok you could then proceed with the 10.4 install as before, and then combo update to 10.4.8
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1048comboupdateppc.html
I would connect only a display, wired keyboard and mouse to start with - and disable any of the sleep, etc. Options in Energy Saver.
You may wish to use the Disk Utility on the 10.4 retail disc(under Utilities in the menu) to Erase and zero(select Security Options) the drive before the install.
The kernel panic and other problems could have been caused by a corrupted system on the boot drive, or by hardware problems, such as RAM, video card, battery, etc. Some of the hardware stuff is linked-to further down the post here
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3084827&#3084827
However, try the PMU/SMU reset and erase/install first, and post again with details if you still have problems.