IMac just won't start up!

I'm running out of ideas here, fellas.
My first-generation iMac G5 won't start up. I turn it on and it only goes up to the screen with the gray Apple logo. It never gets to the point of the spinning gear. After a while, the fan makes a constant loud sound.
I have read similar posts but I have a more complicated situation: even before this start-up problem, my iMac's internal optical drive had died out, so I've been using an external one.
So far I've done the following (with peripherals removed):
Reset PRAM
Reset SMU
I've also tried doing the following with the external drive:
Hardware Test
Run Mac OS X Install CD (Both original and Tiger)
Nothing going, and my warranty's out.
Help?

Might be worth trying a new PRAM battery, alternativeman. It is a CR2032 lithum button battery - used in many calculators, remote controls, etc etc and available from any electronics part store (and many other places too) for a couple of dollars (or from an Apple dealer for about $50).
Very easy to replace on this model. See http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/imacG5allModelsBackupBattery.pdf
Cheers
Rod

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Here's what I did. (bold text represents what the computer did after what I did)
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