[ourisman]

Just got back last night from a week's trip away from my G5 2.0 duelie. The computer doesn't want to startup from the hard drive. I press the "power" button, get the chime, and wait. I don't hear the normal hard drive sounds that I'd normally hear during startup.

A second symptom: the screen stays dark (Apple 20" cinema).

I'd like to try to startup from the CD and use the Hardware Test ... but HOW CAN I OPEN THE CD DRAWER?

Any help would be welcome. I'll be calling AppleCare, but unfortunatly am going on another 4-day trip this morning. A quick fix asap would be very welcome!

[voyageur]

This is probably a video problem a number of us are having.
See my thread and this thread.

There are also long threads on the Apple Forums about this. A number of fixes have been tried. We are awaiting a new video card, which is on backorder. In the meantime what worked for us is to switch from an ADC display to an old VGA display, using the DVI to VGA adapter that came with the G5. The video signal is working fine with the VGA port on the card.

[ourisman]

Thanks for the suggestion. I took the G5 into my Apple Store. The guy at the Genius Bar plugged a VGA monitor into the Mac, and it worked fine. Then, with the VGA monitor attached, he booted into some kind of terminal mode and reset the video via a software command. Once again I had a signal on my 20" Cinema!

I had the option of leaving the G5 there for a video card replacement ... or taking it home with the hope that the problem would not recur. Took my chances on the second option... So far, so good