Startup beeps indicate "no good banks"

I have a Power Mac G5 tower, with a 2.3ghz dual-core processor (2005 model), and a terrabyte of disk space. When I tried to turn it on today, instead of booting up, it emitted 3 beeps, then the fan started blowing loudly, and the light would flash in 3 blinks intermittently. A little online research yielded this way of interpretting this as an indication of a hardware problem:
1 blink = no RAM installed
2 blinks = incompatible RAM types
3 blinks = no good banks
4 blinks = no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block)
5 blinks = processor is not usable
I don't really know what "banks" are in this context, or what it means for them to be or not be "good," but I opened it up to have a look. I read about how the RAM needs to be installed in the slots in mirrored pairs. In my machine, there were 1GB ram strips in the inner-most slots, so I tried moving them each to the next slot out. I also got rid of a lot of dust.
I turned it on again and this time got 2 beeps. I looked at more stuff online and then tried pressing the SMU reset button, with no change. It sounds like I should next try replacing those RAM strips, which is what I'm about to start working on next. This means going out and finding a store that sells them, etc.
In the meantime I thought I would post this and see if I get any good insight. I am in a tight spot here because (while I do have most of my important files backed up) I have a project I've been working on about 14 hours a day for the past week, which is not done yet, and which I need to present on Friday. If replacing the RAM doesn't work I guess it's the "logic board," or a "bad power supply," whatever that means -- I have yet to investigate how much time/money repairing that would involve.
So I would also be interested in learning, in the event that I cannot fix this problem *today*, is it possible to get the files I want off of the hard drive so I can work on them on a different computer? I tried starting it in target mode but apparently this is not possible when the computer is in this state.

Hello,
Banks on the G5 refers to opposing RAM slots, since you need matching RAM in opposing banks, 1 with 1, 2 with 2, etc...
4-3-2-1*1-2-3-4
If you're sure the RAM is good, try the Hair Dryer trick...
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=13240047#13240047
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15223603#15223603
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15499912#15499912
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15613068#15613068
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3270112
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16053892#16053892
No power light at all...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3692775?tstart=0
It can show on any G5, and even many other computers & electronic devices of the period.
http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/pmg5.html
http://lowendmac.com/ppc/power-macintosh-g5.html
And see this last one in particular...
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16781690#16781690
Heat gun better...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3916312?tstart=0

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HT1547 what does no good banks mean?

hello. I have a macbook pro that when i turn it on it beeps 3 times then p. i know that this means no good banks, but what does that mean? is the RAM faulty?? It is second hand, but i got it from a trusted referbisher. I cant remember if he put new RAM in, but i know he put a new hard drive in. thanks.

3 Beeps means bad RAM.
Here's what you do, open the back of your macbook and take the RAM off.
Once the RAM is off, put it back in. Make sure you push it firmly.
Turn your Macbook back on.
If the beeps are stil present,
Go back to the back of your Macbook, take the RAM off in the first bank, the one you see.
Turn on your macbook again. If the beeps disappear, turn off your macbook and take the other RAM off and move that RAM to the top bank. Turn your macbook on again, if i doesn't beep, then you have a bad RAM.
If it beeps, then your upper slot is bad.

HT1547 No good banks?

What does "no good banks" mean?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
This refers to the memory slots, so it would mean that they are damaged. However, the article is outdated, so check the beeps with this article > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5860?viewlocale=en_US
In case the memory slots are damaged, your logic board will have to be replaced, so take your Mac to any Apple Store or reseller

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In daily use: R60F, R500F, T61, T410
Collecting dust: T60
Enjoying retirement: A31p, T42p,
Non-ThinkPads: Panasonic CF-31 & CF-52, HP 8760W
Starting Thursday, 08/14/2014 I'll be away from the forums until further notice. Please do NOT send private messages since I won't be able to read them. Thank you.

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Three beeps at startup indicate 'no good banks', meaning the system can't access the RAM.
It may be that your RAM itself is bad, or that it has come unseated. It could also indicate a more serious motherboard fault which prevents the RAM being accessed, but that is unlikely.
If you have opened the mini in the past it may be that the best way to check is to do so again and ensure the RAM is properly seated by removing it and reinserting. If you replaced the original RAM and still have the original stick, try putting that back in. Also note that Macs are typically very sensitive to RAM incompatibilities, and there have been cases where systems fail as yours appears to have done for no reason other than that a RAM stick was marginal in compatibility.
If you upgraded the RAM yourself and bought the replacement stick from a source such as Crucial.com which permits unconditional exchanges, contact them and arrange to have the memory replaced.
The link to the Apple page referring to the startup error beeps is at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58442

Startup beeps indicate "no good banks"

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