Question mark folder at startup, safe boot not working

Last night my iMac froze up, Force Quit didn't work, and I used the Power button to shut it off. When trying to restart, it was getting stuck at the grey Apple.
I tried unplugging the peripherals and restarting; zapping the PRAM and restarting; safe boot and restarting. Safe boot did it.
I then ended up going through those steps a few more times as my iMac starting freezing up again. One of those times I changed all my applications in the dock that were set to launch at login to not do so, wondering if that was somehow causing a problem. I also took a folder of recent items I'd created, mostly a LOT of PDFs of newspaper articles, burned it to a DVD and deleted the folder to free up more memory if that was part of the problem (I'm running out). I then restarted from the Apple menu and it shut down through safe boot and then restarted without safe boot and did so just fine. I ran Disk Utility and very few if any permissions needed repairing. And it was operating OK for a bit and then froze up again.
Now I'm getting the question mark folder at startup and safe boot isn't working. What should I be trying next? Lion Recovery with Command-R? I'm relatively new to Lion, but it had been working OK for me for a while now.
What other things should I try? Would Target Disk mode possibly work from the MacBook I'm using now, which doesn't have Lion installed?

The question mark folder usually means that the
firmware could either not find a valid operating
system to boot, or, it could not find a hard disk
with an operating system on it.
Have you tried booting to Lion Recovery? If
you can, then go into Disk Utility and do a
Repair Disk on your OSX volume. If the
OSX volume is not showing up, you may need
to do a reformat and re-install.
Since it is a 24" iMac (from your description) it was
a pre-Lion Mac. If you still have the original install
disks, try booting with it and use Disk Utility from it
to see if the hard drive is working.
Try this first before making a road trip.

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Question mark folder on restart but boots fine on cold startup.

I'm having an issue with restarting my macbook. Every time I *restart* from the OS, I get a question mark folder flashing. When I start from a cold boot, however, I boot into my drive just fine.
I have a MacBook Pro 13" late 2012 and I've replaced the HDD with an SSD. The SSD is a Kingston 240 gb. I can provide more information if necessary.
Please help! It's an avoidable issue but it bothers me and I'd like to have it fixed.

jchung1029 wrote:
After much research, I've found the solution.
My SSD is a Kingston V300 240gb SSD. For some reason, it has trouble with restarts but a firmware update fixed the issue. Do NOT reset the NVRAM/PRAM as it will keep your Mac from successfully booting into your drive. I had to wipe the drive and start over as the Disc Repair utility did not work either.
Thank you all that responded!
urgh that sounds a little icky. Are PRAM resets still broken?
Do you know if this is an issue with specific Mac models or generally with this disk model & Macs. I'd be contacting the vendors to see if it can be exchanged or refunded, I'd be concerned it could alter how other startup actions behave too, like target disk mode (hold T), the boot picker (hold alt), single user mode (cmd + s)… Without these troubleshooting becomes much harder.

Start Up Issue - Question mark folder flashes, then computer boots.

This is more of an annoyance than anything as the issue has not stopped my computer from booting. I haven't been able to find anything about this in support forums or online.
When I boot my macbook, the question mark folder thing flashes once, and then the apple logo comes up and the computer boots OK. However, it does take a few extra seconds to boot with this whole folder issue, anyone know what would cause that? I was thinking wrong start up volume but since it boots and thats the only volume (I checked and it's correct) I'm stumped. Any ideas would help.
Ben
Macbook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hello Ben.
Try deselecting and reselecting the startup volume and then restart.

Question mark folder on startup, Question mark folder on startup?

Have startup problem with question mark folder flashing on startup. How do I fix it?

Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
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 the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

OS X Insall crashed halfway. Now getting question mark folder on startup

I was in the process of wiping my wife's old MacBook so that I could give it to my daughter. I inserted my Tiger install disc and proceeded to erase and install (didn't need wife's old data and I wanted the system to be fresh). Unfortunately, the process froze-up halfway and now I cannot start the MacBook. I get the flashing question mark folder.
I tried repeating the process again, but when the install process begins, it scans the CD for file integrity. When it does this, it says that there's a problem and that the disc needs to be cleaned. I've cleaned it to the point of being able to eat off it, but it's still not working.
The CD drive in the machine has always been flaky so I'm wondering if it's the drive rather than the disc. Is there a way to install OS X from a firewire drive or another mac tethered to the MacBook? I have a Powerbook, an iMac and a LaCie firewire drive that I could use.
Thanks for any help!
.g

Sure, use either Mac... but it all depends if your old MacBook will boot into Firewire target disk mode.
If it does just pop in the DVD (in the good DVD drive) and install. I'd suggest a reformat also, under the circumstances.
To use FireWire target disk mode
1. Make sure that the target computer is turned off. If you are using a PowerBook or iBook as the target computer, you should also plug in its AC power adapter.
2. Use a FireWire cable to connect the target computer to a host computer. The host computer does not need to be turned off.
3. Start up the target computer and immediately press and hold down the T key until the FireWire icon appears. The hard disk of the target computer should become available to the host computer and will likely appear on desktop. (If the target computer is running Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you can also open System Preferences, choose Startup Disk, and click Target Disk Mode. Then restart the computer and it will start up in Target Disk Mode.)
4. When you are finished copying files, drag the target computer's hard disk icon to the Trash or select Put Away from the File menu (Mac OS 9) or Eject from the File menu (Mac OS X).
5. Press the target computer's power button to turn it off.
6. Unplug the FireWire cable.
If the target computer's hard disk does not become available to the host computer, check the cable connections and restart the host computer.
-mj
Message was edited by: macjack

After upgrading HD, "question mark" folder on startup

Hi,
I recently upgraded my Macbook Pro Core Duo 15" harddrive. Everything went fine and still is. The only problem is the following : when turning on the computer, the infamous "question mark" folder will show up, blinking. Nothing else will happen... Unless I turn it on while holding the option key (ALT). In that case, the new HD shows up and I can select it : the boot sequence then goes on as usual. And everything else is fine. The HD was correctly formated (I have two GUID partition on it). I did not made a new install of Leopard : I cloned my old HD on the new one before installing it.
Any idea how I can get ride of the question mark? How I can get the computer to boot without having to hold de ALT key and then chose the internal HD installed in it?
Thanks a lot.
P.

Well, that was as fast as it was efficient. Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction. Everything work just fine now.

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)

Question mark folder at startup

When I start up my computer, there is a question mark folder at the start and then it pops to the apple icon. I was wondering if anyone else has this problem and is it a software or hardware problem?

That symbolises no set startup disc, its often a tricky one to fix, but your mac starts up so be grateful my mate with a black macbook had to have the whole hard disk re-imbersed, if the problem is bugging to such an extent its driving you insane the only things i can think of are: Re-Install Mac OSX, Do a hardware test ( insert disk 1 and hold D on startup) or goto system preferences>startup disk and make sure the hard disk osx is installed on is set as the very first it looks for.
Hope i helped
bob
2.3Ghz Macbook White_Late 2006 Mac OS X (10.4.3) I build comps for a living and have a custom P2 in my room

Keyboard Not Working and Question Mark Folder on Startup

I've got a question for a Mac Genius: What is the cause of my keyboard not working and a grayscreen coming up on startup? I'll give you a little background. I have a 1.83Ghz Macbook that is two years old now...almost exactly. I came back from work yesterday and it was in a semi-frozen state. Two apps were frozen but the finder was still alive. Within 10 seconds of trying to navigate through the Finder, it froze too. I went ahead and tried to restart it, but nothing happened. I held down the power button and it shut off. When I tried to start it back up a gray screen comes up. It makes the chiming sound but goes no where. After about half a minute the folder with the question mark will appear. The first few times I tried it, it seemed like the optical drive was trying really hard to work, but it doesn't try so hard anymore. None of the keys work and the Caps Lock and Num Lock don't light, so I can't use any of the keyboard commands to work my way around (resetting PRAM/using startup disks). The CD is stuck in it because I can't force eject it. I believe the trackpad is also not working, but I couldn't be sure.
Previously I had noticed that when I came back from work I would find Mozilla Firefox using tons of the CPU when it wasn't really doing anything. This heated up the computer and made the fans spin at crazy speeds(6000RPM). I will try the Hard drive in another computer tonight probably because I'm pretty sure that's not the problem, but I would like to be sure.
Any ideas would be helpful! I'm just about to tear it open and see if anything has been physically fried.

I went ahead and tried to eject the CD with an external mouse but it didn't work. What I ended up doing is swapping my hard drive into my friend's computer and discovered that that was the only problem. It appears that my HDD was totally fried because after I booted off of the start-up cd, the HDD was nowhere to be found within disk utility. My computer starts up fine and the keyboard works fine when I have someone else's HDD in mine. I'm really surprised that the Macbook needs a good HDD to operate it's trackpad and keyboard. Thank you for your help! Although now I have a new question; is there any way to salvage the data trapped on my old HDD? Cheers!

How do you fix the question mark folder on startup?

My mac keeps showing a question mark when I turn it on.I am not able to even able to run a hardware test.I think this problem happend when my friend tried to update my computer.Any Solutions???

It sounds as if your drives partition structure and/or volume structure may have been fatally damaged. Assuming that is the case you will have to boot from another drive to effect repairs and recovery. If your mini is in warranty or covered under Applecare by far your best option is taking your mini to the nearest Apple Store or Apple Approved Service Provider. (Be sure and phone ahead for an appointment and save yourself a long wait in line until they can work you in.)

Question Mark/Folder on startup

I have an Imac G3 with 10.3.9 installed. I've used it occasionally over the last year or so but have recently bought a Mac Book Air and was hoping to connect it to the internet via ethernet to transfer all my music - but this time when I turned it on I just got a grey screen with a small folder and a flashing question mark.
After doing some research I've tried to use the start up disks which seems to work initially but then when it gets to the point where you have to select a location there are no possible options to select. I can't start in safe mode or using Command-S - nothing happens. When I start holding the option key I get a blue screen that has one arrow looping round and one arrow pointint to the right but neither does anything when I click on it.
I'm resigned to the fact that the computer is dead but is there any way to rescue all my music (I had previously tried to hook it up to various cloud options but none were compatible with 10.3.9 so it isn't backed up anywhere)? I was going to try chatting to someone in Apple support but the system doesn't recognise the serial number on the bottom of my machine so it won't let me in to talk to anyone or book a call.
Thanks!

Your best move would be to pull the hd out of the machine. An attach to an adapter & see if you can read the data off the drive. The machine is 15 to 11 years old. I've seen reports that hd's only last three to five years on the average.
Extract the harddrive. Attach the 'bare' harddrive to the adapter. Attach the adapter to a Mac. Try reading the data. Run a household fan on the harddrive.
examples:
http://www.cablewholesale.com/products/usb-firewire/usb-2.0-products/product-40u 2-01000.php?utm_source=Nextag&utm_medium=cpc&zmam=54972865&zmas=1&zmac=4&zmap=4 4 77
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=32765 54&CatId=3770
Check out this site
iMac HDD Upgrade Guide (Slot-Loading) Visual Installation Guide - slot loading iMac Hard Drive
http://wn.com/How_to_Disassemble_an_Apple_iMac_G3
All the tray loading iMac g3's, models a-d, are constructed the same.
While this article deals with adding memory, you should see the pram battery on the logic board when you get to step 17.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43012
You should skip steps 17 to 20. Look for the pram battery instead.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43013
Here is a good disassembly page:
http://www.macopz.com/columns/imacrepair/disassembly.html
The second article in this series has information on replacing the battery:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2584291
How To Upgrade Your iMac
http://www.djonmac.com/

Question-mark folder upon startup? what's going on!?

hello users,
when i turn on my IMAC, instead of booting up, it gives me a screen with a blinking folder with a question mark. i don't need to save any data, i just need to boot up and do an erase and install with leopard. how can i do this? any help is appreciated, thanks.

Power on the Mac. Immediately after turning on the power, hold down the option key.
Continue holding the key. Eventually, the screen will turn blue, and a number of disk icons will appear. (equal to the number of disks in your system, including any indserted CDs) There will be an additional image of an arrow (pointing to the right.)
If any disks have what the system considers to be valid bootable OS's installed, the OS logo (either the OSX logo, the windows logo, or the OS9 logo) will be superimposed on the disk icon.
Click on the OS of choice, then click the arrow.
The system should boot to the chosen drive and OS.

G4 ibook question mark folder on startup

Put a logic board and new hard drive in g4 1.33 12inch ibook. Trying to load tiger ,I get a folder with a question mark on the screen. What does that mean ?

Is it 10.4.0? If so, it's too early to work.
Do you have the original system discs that came with the iBook when it was new? It should include Mac OS X 10.4.2.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/stats/ibook_g4_1.33_12.html

Flashing Question Mark At Start Up/ Disk Utility Not Working

I am having the old flashing question mark in a file show up when I try to start my computer. I went through a lot of the forums and I have attempted the Disk Utility. When I put the 10.3 install disk in and restart it takes me to the opening screen. If go to disk utility and start it and I have three options: 734.6 MB Pioneer DVD, Session 1, and Mac OSX Install Disk all with a CD icon by them. Not sure which one to pick. Even when I select any though, it does not give me the option to push the repair disk button. It is never available. Anyone know what to do here?

Exactly this happened to me two weeks ago. Unfortunately in my case it was a result of hard disk failure - my heads had burnt out and I had total data loss (I was fortunately backed up recently).
I would suggest taking your mac to a reputable computer firm, preferably Apple who can diagnose hard disk failure immediately. If that is the case you will need a replacement HD, which might be a good opportunity to expand HD size on your system (prices are always coming down; I took the opportunity to go from 60 to 120GB, for £140).
If you are not backed up and ABSOLUTELY NEED YOUR DATA then do NOT give your machine to Apple there and then however; despite assurances, you may never see your HD again, and at any rate once it has been removed it should be handled extremely carefully to prevent platter damage and compromising future data retrieval. It may not be treated with proper respect whilst a replacement is being fitted. Therefore take it to a data retrieval specialist first, who may also replace the HD for you anyway, at similar or lower cost. The cost of data retrieval is very variable but is generally about £500 if an 'invasive procedure' (HD repair) is necessary.
I hope this isn't your situation, but as I say these were exactly the symptoms of my HD failure 2 weeks ago.
Fulvio

Satellite - randomly the arrow keys, question mark key and z key will not work

Sometime the arrow keys, question mark and z key work fine (like now) and sometimes they just don't work at all (like a minute ago). I will just be typing and they will work and then just stop working, then work again. They either all work or all do not work. This has been happening since about a week after I got the computer. It is so annoying. Can you please help me fix this problem? I have a Satellite T135-S1309.
Many thanks.

Hi,
I've posted recently about keyboard problem, and have tried everything as everybody else, finally and oddly :-) the solution for my problem was to reconnect little flat cable that connects keyboard and MB :-D shown in step 10 on the following link:
http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba-Satellite-X205/take-apart-laptop-2.htm
..so maybe your keyboard somehow strangely detached itself from mother-board just a bit and started creating all sorts of strange problems as mine... one cable line was without contact because flat cable was not attached properly anymore and mentioned keys stop working... I have also downloaded keyboard tester software that helped me find all keys and combination of keys that stop working ... so guys, try that and good luck!

Question mark folder at startup, safe boot not working

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