After restart i see flashing between  old classic symbol and question mark

hi,
i just shut down my g4 ibook by holding down the power button as it had frozen. when i done that i wiped the keyboard with a cloth. when it restarted i get a small symbol (a square 2-tone blue face, not sure if it's the classic 9 symbol) and a question mark flashing in the middle of my screen.
how can i restart my machine normally please?

Hi John,
Flashing question mark when starting up can mean several things. One, your iBook can't locate a System Folder to boot from or the hard disk is failing.
Try starting up while holding down the Option key. That normally would prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select your startup disk.
If that doesn't help, ditto for Niel's suggestion.
More help when you see a A flashing question mark appear when you start your Mac
Carolyn

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