TS1365 What does it mean when my Macbook pro displays a question mark at startup, and won't boot?
My MacBook Pro won't start up. It displays a Question Mark for a while, and you can hear the HDD spinning, as well as some clicks, but nothing happens. It started after I accepted and began a recommended upgrade download and install. I started the upgrade install, rebooted, and walked away. An hour later, it displayed the progress bar as about 50% complete for the install. 24 hrs later, it was still at the same status. Several hours later, still no progress, so I hit the on/off button, shutting down the computer. After that, it would not restart...it gives the start-up chime, I hear the HDD spinning, and also hear some ominous "click click" sounds. Then a question mark pops onto the screen, and that's all. Any suggestions?
It means that it cannot find certain startup files. In your case it's probably because you interrupted the installation or the installation failed and files were corrupted or lost. Do the following:
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.
Similar Messages
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What does it mean when my macbook pro says startup disk is full?
When im on my macbook pro a message keeps poping up that says my startup disk is full.
First, reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To really see everything, you have to run it as root.
First, back up all data if you haven't already done so. No matter what happens, you should be able to restore your system to the state it was in at the time of that backup.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
After installing ODS in the Applications folder, drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. When you're done with it, quit it and also quit Terminal. -
http://firecore.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/large-500px/wysiwyg_imageuplo ad/144498/IMG11.56.29_09-04-2012.jpg
What does it mean when my Apple TV displays the iTunes logo with a USB cable icon?You need to connect to iTunes via micro usb and restore
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4367 -
What does it mean when my MacBook only turns on when the charger is connected?
I just came home vacation with my laptop fully charged and when I went to go turn it on today it wouldn't unless the charger was in. Then I removed the charger and the computer shut down. What does this mean?
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number: DP-ASMB016-3889-210
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB016
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 0
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 0
Health Information:
Cycle count: 752
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 9727
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed: No
AC Charger Information:
Connected: Yes
Charging: No -
When i opened my computer this morning, a window was there saying that there was a second user using my computer and had changed the name ... what does the mean?
ok, thanks Grant Bennet-Alder .. so this could have been my phone or my ipad I assume.
even though i have not seen this before, and had had all three for a couple of years now . but, maybe if I understand this right, my iphone could have been using wifi instead of cellular?
Is this what you mean?
again, thank you so much.
Melissa -
Macbook Pro Late 2011 Question Mark on Startup
My Macbook Pro has started displaying a question mark folder icon on startup. I have been through recovery and various other steps but it seems as though the hard drive simply isn't recognised by the computer.
It worked one minute then when I opened it the next, it had locked up. I restarted the computer and it happened.
If it is my HDD that is knackered, how likely is it that I will be able to retrieve my files, and how would I go about doing it if at all possible?
Thanks!The question mark typically indicates a problem with the Mac OS. The computer is literally asking you for a boot drive. The hard drive could be fine. Or, it could be a mix of hardware and software.
Do you have the Apple Hardware Test Disc? With your model, it is probably combined with the software restore disc. There will be instructions in very small print telling you to hold the "D" key at startup. If your computer passes the hardware test, you can boot from this DVD as if you are going to do a clean install of the OS, but run Disk Utility to see if it can repair the OS and get you back to a bootable state.
Do you have an AppleCare disc? This usually has a lite version of TechTool Pro (which typically provides a more comprehensive diagnostic than Disk Utility).
Do you have a bootable backup drive (USB or Firewire or Thunderbolt)? If this is current, you could not only run tests on the internal drive, but continue to work until the issues wih the internal drive are resolved.
Target Disk Mode can be used if you have another Mac with the right port (FireWire and/or Thunderbolt). This basically puts the laptop into a disk only mode. As such, it can be connected to another computer for diagnostics.
Oh, and just incase you're not already familiar with this, you can power down the MacBook Pro at any time by pressing and holding the power key (it usually takes about 10 seconds). And, if you have more than one bootable drive connected (this includes a boot DVD or boot CD in the DVD-ROM drive), you can hold the option key at startup for a menu of bootable drives.
When the question mark creeps up on me, I usually go through troubleshooting the startup process as listed. Although, I use Carbon Copy Cloner to keep a daily backup of my boot drive so that I always have a backup boot drive that isn't more than 24 hours old It really helps avoid down time.
Report back on what works for you in your situation.
-Warren -
My MacBook made a clicking sound. I turned it off for 5 minutes, then restarted it. Now all I get is a folder with a ? on it. Is my battery fried?
That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
Put your install DVD into the optical drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
When it does start up, you'llsee a panel asking you to choose your language. Just press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions.
If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead. -
its' been happening a year now maybe?
i have a macbook pro 17" from 2008 or 9.
been a great computer but little things are going now....
for some reason my firewire ports don't like to work and randomly tell me my external drives are disconnected. my firewire 800 doesn't work at all..
my lcd is getting dim.
and the latest thing is my computer will freeze when you're doing something simple like googling something and it will stay frozen until you smack it on teh lower corner next to teh trackpad on the right hand side.
more than annoying.
what can i do?
i was going to try to repair this one, but it seems like it would be more cost efficient to just get a new one...
OH and my keyboard gets more than hot now
AND i can't, for whatever reason, burn any dvds or cds in my drive.. it gives me some random error..
my $h*t$ jacked up.
HELP!Why did you put up with all those issues for a year?
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What does this mean? (pic) macbook pro
So I've decided to update to Yosemite, and now I keep getting this:
I've already installed it, but it still comes up. Can anyone let me know please? thank youDownloading this may help, if you have not alrady.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572 -
what does it mean when i turn on my mini wi fi i pad and it shws a microphone and lightening coming out from it and nothing else is able to be brought up??
I think that you are seeing the lightning bolt and the lightning connector on the screen. That means that you have to plug the iPad into a wall socket using the power adapter becuse the battery is too low to charge using your computer.
Look at the photos on this website and not the one under the Connect to Power heading.
Charge the battery in your iPad - Apple Support -
What does it means when you turn on the macbook and a file with a "?" mark flashes?
What does it means when you turn on the macbook and a file with a "?" mark flashes?
It usually means some system files are missing or corrupted. Reinstalling OS X is the fix:
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/. -
What does it mean when my Ipod shows me an itunes icon but doesn't let me go to my home screen AND when I plug it into my Macbook it tells me my Ipod is in recovery mode AND will not be restored!?!?!?! HELP!!!
. . . sparse bundle could not be accessed (error -1)
-
I have 7 lights on my macbook. What does it mean when the first 5 light up when I click the button?
Run an Apple Hardware Test (extended version):
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
Ciao. -
I am having trouble with a Mac book Pro 17 inch late 2008 Notebook.
When I turn it on and booted up it goes to desktop and everything is fine for about 20 minutes then after 20 minutes the screening starts rapidly flashing and flickering and everything on the screen locks up including the mouse becomes frozen.
What does it mean when this happens? Is it an issue with the monitor screen or is it some other internal hardware issue?Run an Apple Hardware Test (extended version):
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
Ciao. -
What does it mean when I click on my wifi name and it show I'm on my wifi, but the network keeps thinking and the ipad says, Safari cannot open this page because it is not connected to the internet. ?
When you click on the WiFi network name, have you also provided the password for accessing the network? You should get a dialogue box asking you for the security information the first time you connect.
If you are not able to connect, you might want to go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset network settings.
Then go back to Settings > WiFi and select your network name again and make sure the security information is now entered correctly.
If you still cannot connect, power down the router, wait a few minutes, power up the router, with the iPad powered down the whole time, and after the router has had several minutes to stabilize power up the iPad. See if it now connects correctly.
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