Hard disk in mums macbook failed, bought a new one, formatted it first. Have tried starting it with every possible key and I either get flashing question mark folder or a cursor.

Hard disk in mums macbook failed, bought a new one, used sata adapter cable to format it for mac first. Connected it and have tried starting it with every possible key combination and I either get flashing question mark folder or a cursor. A disk is stuck in it so I can't boot from OSX, and yes I have tried every option of starting to try and eject disk but none work. HELP ME!

Five ways to eject a stuck CD or DVD from the optical drive
Ejecting the stuck disc can usually be done in one of the following ways:
  1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the
      left mouse button until the disc ejects.
  2. Press the Eject button on your keyboard.
  3. Click on the Eject button in the menubar.
  4. Press COMMAND-E.
  5. If none of the above work try this: Open the Terminal application in
      your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following:
        /usr/bin/drutil eject
If this fails then try this:
Boot the computer into Single-user Mode. At the prompt enter the same command as used above. To restart the computer enter "reboot" at the prompt without quotes.
If you have a 2010 MBP or later, then you can use Internet Recovery. Start by rebooting the computer. At the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION-R keys until a Globe appears in the upper part of the screen. This process can take upwards of 15 minutes to get connected to the Apple network servers. You should eventually see the utility screen of the Recovery HD. You may now go about the process to install Mountain Lion:
Install Lion/Mountain Lion on a New HDD/SDD
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.
Partition and Format the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your external hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

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    Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
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    b. Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
    c. Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
    d. The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
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  • Flashing question mark folder but wont take system disks

    Hi there,
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    Hi,
    Through Software Update I downloaded but did not install 10.5.3.
    My Macbook is exhibiting exactly the same symptoms as yours Spike. It won't boot from the hard disk, or from CDs, and won't allow me to use target Firewire mode as the Keyboard doesn't appear to be working, the clicking noise may be have something to do with the non functioning keyboard.
    There's something strange going on here, can anybody help at all ?
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  • TS1989 My iMac G5 has flashing question mark folder, no hard drive, no DVD-drive, no target drive - help?

    A friend has 'kindly' decided to upgrade my father in law's iMac G5 and apparently found that it ceased to work following an aborted process. I have no idea what he's done but there was a Leopard DVD in the optical drive. The iMac boots to the smiley face folder but scrolls through 2 black screens and one grey screen first. A question mark appears at first then it changes to the smiley face folder with the question mark appearing occasionally.
    I cannot get the iMac to see either a hard drive or the DVD drive. No start up disc at all. I have tried starting up in target mode and the target mode sign doesn't appear on the screen nor does the hard drive show on the other mac.
    Starting up holding down either 'C', 'X' or 'R' doesn't produce any results. Starting up with 'alt' pressed down produces a screen with a padlock image followed by a white slot to write a password in and a greyish button with an arrow. None of the passwords associated with the machine have got us past this screen.
    I can also get a command line on screen by holding down the startup button, hearing a loud beeeeep (firmware update signal?) keep holding down and a white screen with very small text invites me either to write 'mac-boot' or 'shut-down'. Both commands require a password to be effective and so do not work.
    Following startup troubleshooting advice has allowed me to identify that there is both a start up button inside and an SMU  reset button. Three of the four led's come on fine and there are no problems with the starter button on the back panel.
    I'm loath to change the hard drive at this point as I'm not sure if the HD is duff or something is wrong with the hardware and that another HD would be damaged.
    Stumped.

    I'll copy what BD wrote:
    Is it a USB KB or flakey Wifi?
    < be sure to use a usb keyboard >
    Your suggestion of removing the PRAM Battery and all power & peripherals was great.
    < I didn't think of disconnecting the peripherals. Do it. >
    I think also, removing all RAM, Iif possible), then trying to start it a few times, might do it to.
    Firmware password protection in Mac OS X ...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
    It would block usage of all the startup keys, like C, N, T, D, CMD+s, CMD+Option+p+r, CMD +v, Option boot will show a lock, and Shift, as well as booting from anything but the Hard Drive.
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    1) Add or remove DIMMs to change the total amount of RAM in the computer.
    2) Then, the PRAM must be reset 3 times. (Command + Option + P + R).
    http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwarepasswordprotection.php
    Thanks BD.
    Robert

  • Flashing question mark folder on start up, macbook pro. plz help

    Hey folks,
    I know there are threads on this but since I am using my blackberry to write this message I am unable to search the forum.
    Ok. So that's what my macbook pro is doing and its also not letting insert a cd or dvd in the superdrive, seems like it just jammed up. However when I press T on the start up it brings me into a firewire mode? How can I fix my start up issue?
    Secondly I hear the left side of my macbook pro (I think that's where the hard drive is) while the computer starts up I hear it sipping and the noise it makes is like a scratching noise.
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    generally, the flashing folder mark means it can not find the startup drive.
    if you hear those kind of noises your hard drive is most likely dead. while this is almost certainly true you can try booting from the install DVD and see if the drive is visible in disk utility. if you can't insert the DVD try this. reboot and hold option at the chime. this should boot you into startup drive manager. there you should be able to insert the DVd and choose it as the startup drive. boot from the DVd and once past the language screen start disk utility from the Utilities menu at the top. see if it detects the internal drive. if it does, try repairing it. if it doesn't the drive is dead.

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