Would a bad optical drive cause a Mac Mini not to boot?

[NFS4]

I'm new to the Apple fold, I have had many iPods, but never a Mac computer -- I'm a PC guy at heart

Anyway, I buy used electronics in large lots and put them up on eBay individually. Yesterday, I came into possession of what looks to be a pristine Mac Mini, however it won't boot. I hooked up a generic USB keyboard and a USB mouse, plugged in the DVI to VGA connector and hooked it up to my 32" TV.

The machine will turn on, and the little white LED in the bottom right comes on, but the DVD drive keeps making this loud thunking sound. It goes "rrrr-rruu" pauses for a second, "rrrr-rruu". The fan is running, but the machine never boots. I tried to stick a disc in the drive, but it just spits it back out.

So being that I'm not a Mac guy, and that I don't know anything about the history of this machine or its problems -- could a faulty optical drive cause the machine not to boot?

I simply ask b/c I want to know if it's worth me trying to get a new/used optical drive to fix this machine and join the Apple computer fray with a system of my own, or just sell it as a broken item.

The machine has a 1.66GHz Core Duo/512/80GB

 

[Stiganator]

I would say probably not, but frankly whacky stuff can happen, I once had a lite on drive that kept a system from booting. I would guess its a power issue, the power isn't stable and its causing the drive to spin up and shut off. You're sure its the CD ROM and not the click of death on the harddisk?

 

[NFS4]

Well, I just removed the optical drive and turned it back on -- the HDD isn't even spinning at all when the machine turns on. I guess that could be my problem

Too bad I don't have any HDDs laying around -- maybe I can nab one from Best Buy, then return it later.

 

[NFS4]

Hmm, the HDD works in my desktop -- guess I'll check hte memory now....

 

[Injury]

This doesn't sound exactly right... but maybe it can't read the HD and it can't find a disc to boot from?

Is it working with a normal computer monitor?