Gray Screen Of Death - am i doing something wrong?

[Bayview05]

Got my second gray screen of death today, last one was 7 months ago...
Well Ive tried the usual remedies, and by this point I am fully up for a erase and install BUT

The mini won't boot from the install disc; it wont go into single user mode; I cant force eject the disc. Absolutely nothing works. I have a totally blank screen this time (i believe last time there was a wheel) so is my hard drive fried or am i doing something wrong? two simple questions;

When do I hold the keys? Before I hit the power? Before the chime? After the chime?
How long should I hold the keys before I expect a response?

The last tidbit of info is; the first install disc is in there, and every time i turn it on, the mac makes two soft, low beeps, spins the disc for a second or two, then goes silent. I believe (like last time) that this problem stemmed from iTunes.

I'm running 10.5.4 on a 2007 Mini.
Any help is appreciated.

 

[Bayview05]

Bump. Also, I have realized the Mac is not detecting any external items such as the keyboard and mouse...is this a hardware issue?

 

[Tower-Union]

Hmmm usually any beeping other then the usual chime is a bad thing. . . If your holding down the buttons, start holding down before you start up (just to be on the safe side). You should get a response within, say 30 seconds? Again, playing it longer to be safe. Try holding down the option key before turning it on, you should get a grey screen with a picture of your HD and a picture of the DVD, so you can choose which one to boot off of.