Alternating HD Icon / Prohibitory sign on boot

Hello All,
I'm hoping someone can help with a rather perplexing problem I'm having, this being the second time I'm seeing it on the same computer.
I'm working on a Macbook White 2.0GHz that alternates a HD Icon and Prohibitory sign on boot -- the two switch back and forth really fast. I tested all the HW with TechTool Deluxe and also ran Memtest and the HD manufacturer's diagnostic utility with no errors. The HD has a filesystem but all the data has disappeared -- there are a few folders, but it's mostly empty. I ran Verify Disk from the OSX CD and the filesystem checked out -- I could not repair permissions because the System folder is missing.
So I wiped the drive and did a fresh install of 10.5 and updates. All is seemingly well for a few weeks.
And now it's back. With the exact same problem and the exact same symptoms. All the HW tests OK, filesystem verifies OK, but there's nothing on the drive.
I'm officially stumped.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!!

maho76 wrote:
The HDD seems to work normally via USB, though it's rather slow. I suppose that could just be a slow USB connection in my very cheap enclosure?
Exactly, the USB2 connection is the bottle neck.
I'll see if I can find a replacement SATA cable, I hope it's just that...
Though not the cheapest alternative, but the Apple store can do this and it should not break the bank.
Ciao.

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Prohibitory sign during boot, after update 20.03.2015

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Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Then re-install the OS.
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See Mac OS X: "Broken folder" icon, prohibitory sign, or kernel panic when computer starts
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106805
 Cheers, Tom

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Figured out my monitor problem; it seems to work now; however another problem appeared.
When I try booting up normally, the Apple logo appears for a brief second and then is replaced by a 'stop' sign (circle w/ line across).
I already tried reseting the nv-ram, pram, already tried booting in every single mode possible; tried booting from the 10.4 Tiger install cd - however after about 3 seconds of it reading the disk, I get a "We are hanging here..." panic.
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See Mac OS X: "Broken folder" icon, prohibitory sign, or kernel panic when computer starts
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106805
You are getting a kernal panic, which is usually caused by a hardware problem. When trying to troubleshoot problems, disconnect all external devices except your monitor, kbd & mouse. Do you experience the same problems?
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Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
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 Cheers, Tom

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See Mac OS X: "Broken folder" icon, prohibitory sign, or kernel panic when computer starts
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106805
 Cheers, Tom

Macbook 2010 won't boot - flashing question mark, prohibitory sign then Apple icon

Okay so some of this is my fault. We'll get to that later.
A few months back this Macbook my uncle gave me (without the Mac OS X Installer DVDs it came with) failed to boot - displaying the spinning gear/Apple icon/grey screen so many others have experienced.
I've done everything that could be done without the Installer DVDs - reset the PRAM, the SMC, attempt to go into Safe Mode (failed - only displays the progress bar until it fills up then back to the grey screen)
I've also done fsck -fy and it would always return to either "FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED" so I'd run it again to receive the result "The volume Impala appears to be okay", but whenever I would hit "reboot" it's like nothing ever happened.
I got a hold of a(n illegal) copy of someone else's Installer DVDs from the net - not so I could install that but so I could load DiskUtitlity from a bootable flash drive to transfer files to my external HD by the restore option in DiskUtility - worked for a bit (ran verify permissions, repair disk permissions, the whole shebang) but then failed, was only able to copy the "Applications" folder by restoring the volume to the external HD I had plugged in, and nothing else.
So when just this afternoon, I was fiddling with the prompt that displayed whenever you entered single-user mode, trying to move documents from inside the Documents folder into the Applications folder (because I thought that if I did "restore" all over again it would copy needed files into my HD like it did the last time - the /Volumes directory disappeared.
What could have caused this? I know that this is what's causing the flashing, alternating icons during attempted startup, but I swear that I didn't even think of doing anything to modify the /Volumes directory. One minute I was entering files /Volumes just to fiddle with it, then proceeded to go in deeper to cp or mv files into the /Applications directory, the next it was gone.
What should I do? I contacted the local Power Mac Center nearby to check if they're carrying the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Installer DVDs but I'm pretty sure that those things are limited now to the U.S. and the U.K.?
Please send help/advice, I'm broke and pretty much very very desperate.
Thank you for your time.

and also we have this older MacBook (2007 I think) that flashes the prohibitory sign (circle with slash going through it) whenever I try to boot it - started doing that a few days ago and I swear on both laptops that there are no peripherals that are plugged in except for the MagSafe (this older MacBook has no batteries installed since the last one shot out two years ago and we haven't had the money to replace it..)
Could the MagSafe be the problem? Because I haven't been doing anything dangerous on this older one (even cleared out some old files/videos to free up disk space) but still, it went ahead and got into a coma.
I can only access it via Safe Boot (pressing shift right after I power it up) and thankfully, its FireWire port using Target Disk Mode.
How I wish I could use Target Disk Mode on the later (2010) model, but alas, the only solution is to purchase the Installer DVD - only the Apple Reseller I contacted hasn't contacted me back yet.

MacBook doesnt boot. It shows Apple logo and spinning wheel. Soon it wont go beyond prohibitory sign with spinning wheel

I have a MacBook (Late 2008 edition) having Mac OS X 10.6.8 SnowLeopard OS installed (2 X 512GB RAM, 160 HDD). I copied some mp3 into iTunes library and soon the process got stucked. MacBook was not accepting any command/it seemed to got hanged. Carelessly, I switched the MacBook OFF by pressing the Power button. Now, when it began to boot again, all I hear was some clicking sound from the MacBook (seems HardDrive failure because the sounds seems to be from HardDrive). After few seconds, It showed flashing folder with question mark and it wont go beyond that.
Steps I tried:
1. Resetting NVRAM, PVRAM and SMC.
2. Booting in safe mode.
3. To boot from install DVD (Mac OS X 10.6.3 SnowLeopard).
4. Holding down 'option' button while booting. It shows the "Mac OS X Install DVD" icon but as I click it and press return, it again shows Apple logo with spinning wheel and little later it shows prohibitory sign with spinning wheel. This will now remain for ever and ever.
5. I bought a new 500 GB HardDrive and replaced the old one with this. Now trying to boot with DVD (Mac OS X 10.6.3 SnowLeopard) it again hows Apple logo with spinning wheel and little later it shows prohibitory sign with spinning wheel. This will remain for ever.
Any suggestions to overcome this problem will be highly appreciated and I'll be very grateful for all your help.
Thanking You.

Hi julenawang,
Welcome to Apple Support Communities.
It sounds like your MacBook has a startup issue and you aren't able to reinstall Mac OS X on a new hard disk. The article linked below has a lot of great information and suggestions that will resolve most issues like the one you described.
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
I hope this helps.
-Jason

Ran AHT_All passed. Still have prohibitory sign and issues upon boot up.

I have done ALL the tests. I have done the AHT, I have booted up from the OSX disk and so on but my Mac either hangs on the radian circle, continues on to the prohibitory sign. Should I re-install OSX. I have everything I need backed-up. What can I expect if I re-install OSX? Should I upgrade operating system?
Thanks in advance.

Here's what I'd try...
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the Erase tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase... after completion hopefully you'll be able to get a good install.

HT4790 My Mac OS Lion 10.7 FileVaulted HD does not boot, prohibitory sign, stop sign appears some minutes after boot starts. Disk Utility repair shows four error messages: Unable to bootstrap transaction group 2517: inconsistent crosscheck (the same with

My Mac OS Lion 10.7 FileVaulted HD does not boot, prohibitory sign, stop sign appears some minutes after boot starts. Disk Utility repair shows four error messages:
Unable to bootstrap transaction group 2517: inconsistent crosscheck
No valid commit checkpoint found
The volume xxxxxxxxxxxxxx(here it shows physical volume number) was found corrupt and can not be repaired.
Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map
Error: Storage system verify or repair failed.
(the same with 2518, 2519 and 2520 transaction group)
I suppose it is serious bug in Mac OS Lion managing FileVault and wonder what the help could be?

Most likely culprit is your Lacie drives which are notorious for flaky power supplies which cause just the sort of erratic behaviour that you describe. Have had similar issues myself. Lacie has been good about replacing my power converter-- twice. If you have seven of them, good luck finding the bad one or more. Like I said, the behaviour is erratic. Sometimes it'll work sometimes not. I can't comment on Samsung drives because I've never used them and have never heard anything about them. Same with Softraid. Why not just use Disk Utility. Sounds like you're ready for an external hardware raid. This will be much faster, much more reliable, and may even be cheaper than seven firewire drives. Check out G Tech, and Maxx Digital for starters.
Best of luck
Terry

IMAC starts up w/ tone, then white screen , then 1 min later grey apple - nothing else. When I boot up holding shift, no tone, white screen, grey apple, then 1 min later prohibitory sign and pinwheel ...

IMAC starts up w/ tone, then white screen, then 1 min later grey apple - nothing else.
When I boot up holding shift, no tone, white screen, grey apple, then 1 min later prohibitory sign and pinwheel ... nothing else ?

Tried disabling everything USB and FireWire and the Likes

Prohibitory sign on startup + wifi not working

A few days ago my 2011 MBP refused to boot and froze at a prohibitory sign on startup. I tried SMC resets, PRAM resets etc, but to no avail. Then I've managed to get it to boot a few times, usually after opening it, removing and fiddling about with the HD a little (yes, makes little sense to me too). But now it says Wifi: no hardware installed. I tried renewing the DHCP lease like someone suggested, but that just resulted in Wifi disappearing from the list of network connections...
Verify disk said the disk seems ok. Verify permissions, however, seems to freeze the system.
If I restart, it most likely boots into the prohibitory sign again.
Now I wonder, could these issues be related somehow, the prohibitory sign (points to a faulty HD, I gather) and the Wifi? Or could it be a software issue? I just want to know whether I should replace the HD and wifi or just get a new Mac.
Also, this is so rare that I have to share: these issues started on the day I was meant to hand in a project I've been working on for a couple of weeks (no backups of course, because why would my 4-yo laptop ever fail me?). But, it happened only after I delivered the project. Ha! And when it did boot again, I managed to do a full backup, including three years of unique family photos. Ha! again. A dark day at the satanic IT department, I expect.

maho76 wrote:
The HDD seems to work normally via USB, though it's rather slow. I suppose that could just be a slow USB connection in my very cheap enclosure?
Exactly, the USB2 connection is the bottle neck.
I'll see if I can find a replacement SATA cable, I hope it's just that...
Though not the cheapest alternative, but the Apple store can do this and it should not break the bank.
Ciao.

Power Mac G5 Showing Prohibitory Sign on Start Up?

Earlier this week my Power Mac G5 1.8 ghz dual started to show a prohibitory sign on start up. The hard drive was original to the machine (from 2004) and I wanted to upgrade it to a larger size anyhow, so I put in a new hard drive thinking that might solve the problem and give me an upgrade at the same time.
After I installed the new hard drive, I formatted it and did a restore from Time Machine of my system. When I restarted, I got the prohibitory sign again. I restarted holding down the option key to see if it found the new drive and it did. So I selected the new drive and it started up from the new drive with my restored system on it with no problem. Then I went to system preferences and made sure the new hard drive was selected as my start up disk. On restart, I got the prohibitory sign again.
Then the weirdness started. On subsequent restarts, I get the prohibitory sign intermitently whether I'm starting from the hard drive, my Leopard installation DVD, my Disk Warrior boot disk, or my old Panther installation disk. It seems to boot without any problem from the Apple Hardware test CD. I've run the extended apple hardware test and it didn't find any problems. Most of the time, I get a prohibitory sign no matter how I'm trying to boot up, but sometimes it will boot from the Leopard installation disk or the hard drive, but when it does, it freezes after running for a few minutes. I've tried swapping out the memory sticks and it's made no difference.
Is it possible this is a software problem and not a problem with the motherboard or other hardware? I sure hope so, because I love this machine. Anyone have any suggestions about what I might try next? I've read about the "hair dryer" solution, but if Apple Hardware Test didn't find any probemms with the memory or motherboard, could that still be a solution?
Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Thanks, japamac. Yep, I should have said I replaced the old hard drive with the new one. So, it now only has the one, new fresh hard drive. The new drive is a WD Caviar Blue 320gb.
I set the jumpers on the new drive for 5-6 to slow the new drive down to 1.5. I've also tried resetting the PRAM several times, and tried restarting in safe mode. Every few tries I can get it to boot from the hard drive or a boot DVD/CD (maybe once every 10 tries), but it freezes up after running for about 10 minutes. The only instance this doesn't happen is if I boot with the Apple Hardware Test CD. It didn't freeze up during the 2 hours it took to run the extended test.
Thanks for trying to help me.

Prohibitory Sign on Mac OS 10.3.9 installed onto an iMac 350MHz

Hi.
Mi name is Jose Blanco.
I have an iMac 350MHz which has the Mac OS 10.3.9.
Six mounths ago I installled a new hard drive into this computer and I installed a fresh Mac OS 10.3 onto it.
Yesterday (august, 9) this computer showed the prohibitory sign, consequently I've installed the operating system again and the computer has worked fine until today, that it showed the same issue.
Thanks for everything.
Jose Blanco

Hola Jose!
What size is the Hard Drive, and how much space is available?
How much RAM is installed, and is it original or added?
Have you run Repair Disk?
THESE ARE THE STEPS FOR USING DISK UTILITY TO REPAIR YOUR HD
1.Insert your Mac OS X CD-ROM disc or Restore DVD disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2.Once started up from CD or DVD, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from disc to access Disk Utility.
3.Click the First Aid tab.
4.Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5.Select your Mac OS X volume, if necessary.
6.Click Repair. If DU reports errors it has fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported.
7.When finished, select Quit Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
8.Select Quit Installer from the Installer menu.
9.In the resulting pop-up window, choose restart.
10.After the computer has restarted, you can eject the CD.
Have you run Repair Permissions?
TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
2.Click First Aid.
3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)
Rerun RP until the only message it reports is:
"We are using special permissions for the file or directory ./System/Library/Filesystems/cd9660.fs/cd9660.util.
New permissions are 33261"
This is a status message and not a cause for concern. You may safely ignore it.
Or these:
"We are using a special uid for the file or directory ./private/var/at/jobs. New uid is 1"
"We are using a special uid for the file or directory ./private/var/at/spool. New uid is 1"
Again, these are status messages, which appeared after Security Update 2005-001.
There may be others that you can ignore. Complete list at link below.
Spurious Permissions Errors Using:
Panther 10.3.x
When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
If neither of those corrects it, Reset The PRAM & NVRAM.
How To
1.Shut down the computer.
2.Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3.Turn on the computer.
4.Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5.Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6.Release the keys.
Good Luck!
ali b

Prohibitory sign after update 10.9.4 from 10.8.5

First I would like to say thank you ahead of time for taking the time out of your day to read this and try to help me.
I really appreciate it.
I have 2012 13" MacBook Pro Intel i5 2.5 4GB 1TB
Was running 10.8.5 flawlessly. I thought update to Mavericks because the update notification was annoying me.
Update completed successfully. Upon reboot i get the Apple logo then few seconds later the Prohibitory sign.
I tried booting to the recovery HD and doing a repair on the Macintosh HD with no avail.This is what it says.
The Macintosh HD is grey and when I click on Verify Disk this is what it says...
Verifing volume "Macintosh HD"
Checking file system
Invalid content in Journal
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume
Invalid B-tree node size
The volume could not be verified completely
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
I click repair disk then i get this:
Verifing volume "Macintosh HD"
Checking file system
Invalid content in Journal
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume
Invalid B-tree node size
The volume could not be verified completely
Invalid content in Journal
Volume repair complete
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required
Error:Disk Utility can't repair this disk...disk, and restore your backed-up files.
I also tried to reinstall the OS but the Macintosh HD does not come up when I need to choose the HD to install on. Only the recovery partition comes up.
I tried to pull out the drive and plug it into another mac and recover the data but the drive doesn't mount. I also tried doing to disk utility on that computer and I get the same message as above.
I just want to access the data, and I will do a fresh install.
Any ideas?
All help is appreciated.
Thanks
Andy P

Let me add that Mac A is the machine I am physically logged in on, and I did the check sshing from B to A in a Remote Desktop session, so the situation is not entirely symmetrical.

ITunes causing prohibitory sign?

yesterday I was using an applescript to take music off of my friends iPod, when my computer started slowing down, songs that i was playing were pausing at different times, and the script wouldnt take all songs that I told it to. So i figured that my computer was just doing too much at once so I turned the computer off. When I turned it back on the apple logo at the begining of the start up was sitting there with the progress circle spinning, and then the apple logo changed into a prohibitory sign. After reading around on the forums, i tried to using the reset-nvram, reset-all in theopen framware but nothing happened. So i looked around some more and i found the "control-S" command, not knowing what it did, i thought i would give it a shot, so I hit it during start up and i got a black screen with white text with lots of words, and numbers that didn't mean anything to me, but one thing did jump out at me and that was "com.apple.driver.iTunesphonedrive has no kernel dependency" I was wondering if iTunes could be the cause of my problem, if so, how do i get my computer to start up? Thanks.
Power Mac G4 "Sawtooth" 400 mHz Mac OS X (10.4.5)

The flashing question mark means that Firmware has been unable to find a startup volume. It searches around and evidently finally found something. By the old OS logo, I take it that you mean OS 9. But, it sounds like it is not finding OS X.
This begins to sound like some problem related to the disk or filesystem. I suggest that you boot off your install CD and use Disk Utility to repair the disk. The are instructions at Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption. See the section on repair disk.
EMAC G4 1.0 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Alternating HD Icon / Prohibitory sign on boot

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