[BWSchultz]

So I had the dreaded kernel panic this morning on my G5 tower (10.3.7).

I haven't had time to troubleshoot much yet with all the different boot modes (I had to go to work). But I was wondering if a kernel panic could be caused by a bad superdrive. I've heard RAM is the typical cause. I say this because it first crashed when reading a DVD and now it won't start at all. I tried putting in the Apple Hardware Test disc and it failed to read in Startup Manager mode. It just popped open again after trying to read it for a minute. I don't see any visible scratches to prevent it from reading.

I'm going to try starting in single user mode and running the file system check when I go home for lunch. Any other suggestions?

[Big Mac]

Your drive may well be the culprit, especially since you said it isn't functioning with a boot CD. You'll still want to check the Panic.log to see if you can gleam anything from it.