Imac g3 os; blinking question mark, folder on boot

Thanks for your help Nick. I did as you said.
selected startup disk, then clicked on macintosh hd
and clicked on restart.
When it restarted, the blinking question mark
inside the folder appeared.
Am I having a possible hard ware problem of
some kind ? Have tried shocking pram already.
Is it bad pram battery, or maybe a
hard drive problem ?
Maybe one bad memory stick ?
I am lost here. New to macs.
Any help would be appreciated.

Please stick to the other topic. This is in a round about way a duplicate. You will confuse yourself if others answer here.

Similar Messages

My iMac has a blinking question mark folder on it and won't let me boot.

I have a late 2009 27 inch iMac whos hardrive failed a while back. A couple days ago i decided to pop in a new hard drive in it, the same brand, just different capacity. I wanted to put windows on it, and tried to boot it with pressing c on the keyboard at startup but encountered a few problems.
When i power on my imac the screen is just a blank white screen for about 20-30 seconds. During this time, any devices plugged into the USB ports do not work. My mouse is not lit up, and my keyboard will not react to pressing caps lock, num lock etc. After that 20-30 second period the folder with the blinking question mark on it pops up. I tried holding C, as well as windows key and C but nothing seems to make the mac recognize i want it to boot from other devices.
The hard drive i installed is empty (obviously) So i'm not sure if its an issue with the way I installed the hard drive (pretty sure i did it right) or another issue that may involve trying to put windows on it. Also worth noting is im using a normal USB mouse, and a normal USB keyboard, not mac devices. I'm willing to put OSX on this computer if its necessary to make it work, but right now all i can get on it is that white screen and then the blinking folder. Does anybody have any idea how to fix this?

Drive Partition and Format
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, 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 Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
When formatting has completed quit Disk Utility and install OS X.

I see that i have a problem after installing my new hard drive on my macbook pro mid 2009 version. I put a new hard drive, with all of my information from my old drive installed on it, into the computer. but now have the blinking question mark folder

i see that i have a problem after installing my new hard drive on my macbook pro mid 2009 version. I put a new hard drive, with all of my information from my old drive installed on it, into the computer. but now have the blinking question mark folder. I see that it means that it isn't reading the new hard drive.
did i miss a step between transferring all of my information from my old hard drive to the new hard drive and installing the new hard drive into the computer. I believe that i installed properly. it was quite easy.
thanks for your help

It means there is no bootable system on the drive. If you still have access to the old drive, then I suggest you boot from it then clone it to the new internal drive. Use OPTION boot to boot from the Recovery HD on the old drive:
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
     1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
         button.
     2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
     3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
     4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
         to the Destination entry field.
     5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
         the Source entry field.
     6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Source means the external old drive. Destination means the new internal drive.

Blinking question mark folder upon startup on a 2 month old Pro?

Hi I had the grey screen on my macbook pro. I tried reinstalling maverick os x, but my wifi connection got interrupted and so did the download. I now have the blinking question mark folder upon start up. What can I do since I know it's probably not a hard-drive problem?

Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

Blinking question mark folder with only OS X base system left

Yesterday I turned my laptop on to see a blinking question mark folder. I searched through a lot of people questions with the same problem however mine is not the same because I only have the OS X base system left. I can't redownload the OS X lion because there is nothing to download it after I chose the option to redownload it. I see that most people have the Macintosh HD but I don't have anything like that.
disk1
Mac OS X Base System
that's all I see when I try the repair option?

Have you tried booting to your Recovery HD (if you are running Lion or Mountain Lion?) If not and if you were running Lion or Mountain Lion, then:
Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From The Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Blinking question mark folder - Please help to restore from USB

Hello,
I haven't been able to my Mac about 5 days now and I hope someone can help me.
I initially had Yosemite then using disk utility I erased the hard drive, after that I was going to install Yosemite again as a fresh copy and mac froze so I had to restart now its showing a blinking question mark folder. I was able to do an internet recovery but it was trying to install Lion.
I currently have a copy of Maverick and would like to install that. I am at this screen as show in the picture: I have selected the source as the Maverick file on
the USB and the destination as the HD; should I click restore and would that install the Maverick OS or is there another way?
Thanks
the

nazfaz wrote:
Is there a way to install Yosemite since I had downloaded it via my ID?
You have to reinstall OS X Lion, setup your account, log into the App Store with the Apple ID you used to download Yosemite and you should see it in your Purchases tab. Then you can download it and install it. What I would do is download it, quit the install and save the Install OS X Yosemite.app file out of your /Applications folder to another location so you can create a USB thumb drive installer. Then go back into /Applications and run the install app to upgrade from Lion.
Unless you have an OS X Yosemite USB thumb drive installer, you can't install Yosemite again until you do the above paragraph and upgrade.
If you have the Install OS X Yosemite.app on another Mac to create a USB thumb drive, create it and boot from it to install Yosemite.

Blinking question mark folder icon on startup (but not always!)

I recently obtained a new hard drive (Western Digital 80gb) and installed the Mac OS on a 500 mhz Cube; the DVD drive was not recognized but I removed the jumper on the drive pins rendering the disc a master and finally, the DVD drive was found so that I could perform the OS install. The problem is that if I start up the Cube after a long period of time having been OFF (e.g., 5 hours) there is the blinking question mark folder (Mac OS logo alternates with question mark). After 3-4 minutes, the startup disc is finally located. Now, if I do a cold restart a few minutes later, there is NO problem on startup. My startup issue always occurs after a longer period of time with the Cube having been OFF. There is a new battery installed, permissions are fixed, the drive checks out without problems with disc utility. What could be the problem?

Probably your PRAM battery is gone. This stores information such as your preferred startup disk. I know you said you put in a new battery but have you actually tested it? The computer being off for several hours really, really sounds like a bad battery. Also check the terminals both on the battery and in the machine aren't corroded and it is seated correctly.
[Texas Mac Man's PRAM, battery, PMU tutorial|http://www.geocities.com/texas_macman/pram.html]
[Apple's PRAM reset directions|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238]
If you have a digital multimeter you can check the condition of your present battery. It should read at least 3.2V if it is the 3.6V half-AA battery type. Ideally this should be measured while the battery is under load; added recommendation from Hans777:
I have recently found out that an exhausted battery will still indicate >3.6 V with a high internal resistance VM.
Checking incircuit: powercord disconnected press PMU reset button for >about 5 sec before measuring.
Checking outside: load the battery with a 1500 Ohm resistor when measuring.
[Resetting Cuda/PMU on Power Mac G5, Power Mac G4, Power Macintosh G3|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760]
Message was edited by: Limnos

Mbpro won't start up- get blinking question mark folder

help!!! think my macbook pro (1st gen, 17") has died- i get a blinking question mark folder when i boot up.
it's been having problems for a long while, so use it generally to record movies- which a bunch are still on there to export.
is there a resolve for this? would a new harddrive get it up and working again?
hoping i can recover the harddrive to get data, but ok without it. just want it working again if possible.
thanks for the help!

The symptom you describe is usually a HDD problem or it could be an internal cable/connection problem. If you have an external bootable HDD, employ it and see if you can access the internal HDD via Disk Utility and run First Aid.
Ciao.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
The above article may be useful.
Message was edited by: OGELTHORPE

IMac G5 iSight, flashing question mark, won't boot from CD

iMac G5 iSight, flashing question mark, won't boot from CD

Your hard drive has probably died. The ? means that the machine can't find any drive to boot to.

Blinking question mark folder, new hard drive

Okay so I've been having this problem for a couple weeks now. My computer was running a bit slowly when I was watching videos online, and it froze so I forced a shut down. It turned back on and it worked for a couple minutes, but then it froze again and when I attempted to reset it I got the scary blinking question mark. I went through all the options to fix it, but the computer could not find my hard drive. When I tried to repair disk no hard drive came up, and when I tried to re-install ios x it also could not find a hard drive. I confirmed that the hard drive had died so I purchased a new one, but now that a new one is installed I cannot re-install ios x because the computer won't read the disc. Under the utilities menu it shows that the disc is there, but it just won't re-install.
I checked on another computer and confirmed that the disc still works. I put it in my computer upon start up and got no response from the machine. Instead of getting the blinking question mark, the screen just stays gray.
My computer is a 2012 macbook pro. The disc I had to buy online because it did not come with my computer, and has OS version 10.5.2 on it.
Thanks

Hello,
A mid 2012 MBP should still be covered under AppleCare!?
Anyway, that MBP won't boot/use/run 10.5.anything, it came with...
Pre-Installed MacOS: X 10.7.3 (11D2515)
If you have an Apple Store nearby they can reinstall 10.7 or newer on it, 10.7 & up is only availble from a Download, not on Disc.

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.
Force Removing Password Protection
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

Sudden SSD un-recognition + blinking question marked folder

Dear all,
i've got a pretty strange behaviour here.
my late 2011 MacBook Pro won't boot my SSD disk (Samsung 840 Evo 750gb) anymore. restarting or powering off/on the mac will always result in no disk found (question marked blinking folder).
please note that the case is "no disk found" and not "no partitions found" as the disk recovery tool doesn't even recognise the disk (it only sees a remote disk - i.e. Internet recovery).
funny things:
1) on an earlier white MacBook, the same disk boots just fine (-> the disk is not broken + data is not corrupted + partitions seem just fine)
2) on my (currently failing) late 2011 MacBook Pro boots just fine an old hdd 5400 rpm (-> my mobo doesn't seem corrupted (?))
3) on my (currently failing) late 2011 MacBook Pro a smaller version of my 750 gb disk - i.e. the Samsung 840 Evo 250gb - doesn't boot and is not recognised by disk recovery, too. (-> it seems that only SSDs are not correctly recognised)
4) all three disks (the two SSDs and the 5400rpm HDD) just work fine on the old MacBook.
things I did:
1)NVRAM+PRAM reset,
2)disk and RAM unplug&re-plug,
3)reinstall osx mt.lion on 5400 rpm hdd when inserted in my late 2011 machine, hoping it would also set some magic flag on the mobo
4)successfully booted all disks on different machine.
I'd like to stress out how the disk has been working just fine since oct'13, and that I didn't do anything other than the usual turn-off procedure to trigger this behaviour.
anybody with similar experience or specific - and much appreciated - suggestions?
many thanks in advance to you all,
Riccardo

Dear Melophage,
Thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately, the tool says that no disk is present in the machine (which is coherent with what disk utils says).
However, I don't really understand why everything was right till two days ago and now, out of the blue, the disk is not recognised at all... Even though I know it works well as it correctly boots on an older MacBook.
any other idea?

Blinking question mark folder and no HD?

My macbook froze today and I had to restart. When I did so I got the blinking folder with a question mark.
So I put in my installer disk and it shows my dvd but no hard drive. I'm in disc utility but with no hd recognized is there anything I can do?

hi,
I am having the same problem with my MacBook. ? With a folder and no hard drive. Apparently alot of people are having the same issue. Just from scanning some replies I noticed that no one really gets the problem. One, you can't repair permissions from the boot disc if the internal hard drive has no reconizable accses point. Two, you cannot run disc warrior from a boot DVD! When you run the boot DVD, disc utility finds no hard drive, so there are no premissions to repair. Seeing i started to experience this today, and so are a few people, there must be a problem with the most recent software update. Or... Dare I say... A mac virus? I dont know anythig about viruses so that's just speculation. But to see the same problem happen all at one to so many people makes me raise an eye brow or two.im just glad I have an iPhone. Otherwise I'd be screwed! If anyone has any answers please let me know. If anyone else is experiencing the same problem please post and let people know!

IMac dropped, now flashing question mark, won't boot up

I been searching for days on this forum trying to find a solution. After I dropped my iMac it won't boot up. I get the folder question mark flashing thing. Using the installation disk, I can boot up and run disk utility. There I can see the hard drive, but I can't verify it, unmount it, or anything other than erase it. Did the hardware test at start up and says everything is fine. Tried to boot from external hard drive and view the internal hard drive but it doesn't recognize it.
All I want to do is recover some files. Tried the transfer option by holding down the T button but the firewire icon doesn't show up unless I have the install CD in or the external hard drive attached.
I can see it in System Profiler as disk1 when I boot from the external hard drive.
HELP!!!

Hi Holly
Welcome to Apple Discussions
"Ouch"
The good news is that it still boots from the Install Disk and an External HD and you may get off light if it only needs a new Internal HD.
The bad news is that there is no way for us to tell exactly which component was damaged? It could be any thing from a loose STAT connection, a busted HD or worst case the Drive Controller on the Logic board.
*It really needs to go to an Apple Store or a good Apple Service Provider to be tested and serviced.*
If your in the States see this link > http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/
If outside the States use this link > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1434?viewlocale=en_US
Dennis

Blinking Question Mark / Hard drive failure

Hi all,
Im desperately trying to fix my hard drive and I really need some advice.
The story.
I went away for holiday, left my iMac on in the office so I could access it vis VPN, and whilst away, the hard drive failed on me. I arrived back from holiday with a computer that wouldnt wake up that I had to force shut down and power up again, finding only the dreaded blinking question-mark folder.
where Im at:
Thus far, I have run Disk Utility from the Snow Leopard disk, Diskwarrior, and Data Rescue and only Disk Utility is able to see hardware installed (just hardware, no volumes).
I have a backup from December 2009 (when a power surge killed my backup drive temporarily), but I really want to use it only as a last resort. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might be able to get DiskWarrior or Data Rescue to find the hardware so it can run tests?
Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated as well—I can't think of anything else to try.
thanks in advance,
Joel

Thanks for the response, much appreciated. I came to my wits end and realized that I couldnt even erase the data using Disk Utility, so alas, looks like it's going to have to be a new hard drive for me. I purchased one a couple days ago and it arrived today. Im going to install it today (hopefully) and back up using the time machine backup i have from 6 months ago.
I dont suppose installing the old drive into an external enclosure would change anything as far as trying to fix/mount it to retrieve data?
Best,
Joel

Imac g3 os; blinking question mark, folder on boot

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