HELP - G5 won't boot at all

Last night I heard a strange beep and everything froze up. I waited, and Safari crashed and the OS froze up again. Since I hadn't restarted in nearly 3 weeks I decided to just hold the power button down to restart. Since then, I get to the grey apple screen with the progress circle and it hangs there. After about 30 seconds to a minute the fans start spinning really fast and I end up holding down the power button.
I've read througb this forum as well as several Mac forums and have tried everything people have suggested for similar problems. However, I am unable to boot from a CD, when I try to enter single user mode it the screen hangs on some code after about halfway through.
Any idea what the problem is, and any suggestions to fix it? The Apple store isn't open today due to New Years, and I desperatly need to get this working, both for my job and peace of mind. If you can't offer any suggestions, do you think that this is a hard disk crash, and if so what are the chances of being able to recover my files? Or does it sound like a memory issue, in which case how fast can it be fixed?
Any help/comments appreciated. Thanks.
G5 Dual, 512MB, No third party hardware Mac OS X (10.3)

Hi
It does not necessarily follow from what you're saying that there's a problem with the main board? From what you're describing it's possible you may have a faulty/bad RAM Module or two? Shutdown the mac and remove all the modules apart from the factory fitted ones. Try again. Go through all of the RAM Modules (if you have any more?) until you've eliminated them al. Whilst you have the side door open disconnect the IDE cable for internal optical drive. You can easily reconnect it later on. It's also possible a failing/bad graphics card is causing the problem . If you have another one handy you can eliminate that as well. Disconnect the hard drive also. Apart from the keyboard and mouse you should disconnect anything else that's externally attached.
Have you tried a PRAM reset yet?
Are you getting a boot chime at all?
Have you tried booting using the AHT Disk that your model came with yet?
Tony

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Hi @Chichiiii ,
Thank You for your inquiry.
I understand that when you power on your notebook it is unresponsive. You did state that the AC adapter is working and the battery is charging.
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Sparkles1
I work on behalf of HP
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Quote from: Supershanks on 12-May-05, 08:28:54
1) Do u have any usb cables from your case front panel or Flash card/drive or usb hubs connected to the mobo if so unplug them.
2) Switch off computer & unplug mains lead the remove a module of memory leaving the remaining 1 in slot1 (nearest CPU)
if 1 doesn't apply or doesn't give any change try 2.
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I have unplugged all IDE devices and SATA devices. All that's in there is the 1 GB of RAM (it's a 1gb stick, not 512mb), graphics card and processor, still no picture :(

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Hi there
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Hello italo_brenner,
In order to get the best and most accurate response for your question, please submit your question onto the HP commercial forums. You have posted on the consumer forum, and you're using a commercial based system. The link below will allow you to submit your question. It is possible that you might have to create another profile.
Commercial Forum
Thanks
Clicking the White Kudos star on the left is a way to say Thanks!
Clicking the 'Accept as Solution' button is a way to let others know which steps helped solve the problem!

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How is mail different than that?
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If it came with 9, get the original CD that came with it to install Mac OS 9.
If it came with Mac OS 8.6 or earlier, get a retail 9 CD which looks like
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squeakmaster, welcome to Apple Discussions.
Have you tried the following with one 512MB RAM stick:
1. Palce it in the first RAM slot. Does the Mac boot?
2. If so, remove the stick & place it in the second RAM slot. Does it boot?
3. If so, remove the stick & place it in the third RAM slot. Does it boot?
The results of this test should reveal (1) if the stick boots in one or more RAM slots, the RAM is good and (2) if it fails to boot in a RAM slot, there is a problem with that slot.
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 Cheers, Tom

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***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
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The what now?
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IMac won't boot at all

Okay, so my friend bought an Imac from someone and got no disks with it. I know nothing about Macs but am trying to help her.
It wont boot at all, sometimes I get a blank white screen, other times I get a flashing folder with a question mark.
I have tried all the tricks in the manual, resetting PRAM, resetting RMC, I cant get into single user mode, I cant get into safe mode, I cant get into the apple hardware test etc etc
I have borrowed disks off another friend who has a mac that looks exactly the same (as I said, I know nothing about macs) its a 24 inch Imac, thats all I know...
is there anything I can try? It seems to play up when it gets hot or has been used for a while - it has worked but freezes and the question mark thing appears when trying to reboot etc...
it wont read the install disk when booting up, ive tried so many diff commands like:
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Command + C
Command + option + r + p
option key
and a few others that I can't think of right now
I either get a white screen, a flashing folder with a "?" or a grey screen with the mouse cursor which I can move but theres nothing at all to click....
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The owner need the original install discs that came with the machine. The discs you borrowed will never work because the original discs are machine specific. One of you will need to call AppleCare (in the US 800-275-2273) and order a replacement set for a nominal charge.
I suspect the HD has crashed and will need to be replaced but there are some diagnostics you can do. One is attempting a restart in Safe Mode, this will clear some caches. The next thing you can try is following the instructions in Flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac but as you will see you will need the original install discs.
After you have gotten the discs you should run Apple Hardware Test in Extended Mode. If no errors appear the first time run the test 2-3 times more to be sure.
However as I originally mentioned I suspect the HD has crashed therefore making an appointment at the local Apple Store or AASP would be in order.

HELP - G5 won't boot at all

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