EMac won't start from optical drive

For no apparent reason, my eMac stopped recognizing the ethernet connection. So, after reading about this problem on the forums, I tried two suggestions: resetting the NVRAM and zapping the PRAM. This fixed the ethernet problem.
But, I now have a new problem. The eMac won't start up from the optical drive [hold C key during startup nor choosing disc in startup control]. The startup routine gets to the pale gray apple, but the little rotating spokes do not appear. Instead the gray apple seems to jump about a quarter inch to the right and it seems like a square image tries to appear. The routine freezes at this point and and the optical drive spins down. I have to unplug the eMac, and then restart from power button. At this point it starts up fine from the internal drive.
I tried zapping the PRAM again. I also removed the battery. There is no accessible PMU/CUDA button that I can find. At this point, I've run out of ideas.

Thanks for the further suggestions.
I tried the fsck and it reported no problems. I had my doubts that this was a source because the problem of not booting from superdrive came AFTER the NVRAM reset, which is fundamentally a hardware modification. I boot periodically from Panther install disc 1 to do a repair disc and permissions routine. When I couldn't do this after the NVRAM reset, I could only conclude that this tweek had some direct effect on the Mac's firmware-based start-up routines.
There is nothing physically wrong with the install discs, they work perfectly in my other emac as well as my two G4 towers. So, I'm still at a loss as to what to do next. I can't reload the OS. And, I can do any hardware diagnostics. So I guess it's a decision of whether or not to spend the big $$ for Apple repair. These are classroom macs, and we have no tech support or $$.

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EMac won't start from optical drive

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