Booting from the disk...Flashing folder with a ? mark

I just used my Macbook Pro yesterday with no issues but today when I turned it on I got the Flashing folder with a question mark on it. I did search the forums and found out what it meant. I have tried a number of things to get my MBP to boot up and nothing is working so far. I was wondering if I should try to insert the disk that came with my laptop to see if that will work. I have an older MBP still running Leopard.

DVX100Shooter,
boot your MacBook Pro from its grey Mac OS X Install DVD by holding down the C key as it starts up. When the desktop appears, select Utilities from the menu bar, and from there run Disk Utility. On the left-hand side of the Disk Utility window, select your internal disk’s boot partition (typically called “Macintosh HD”). On the right-hand side, press the Verify Disk button if it’s not greyed out; if it is greyed out, or if it reports that errors were found, press the Repair Disk button. Once the verification/repair is completed, exit Disk Utility and select Restart from the Apple menu to restart in normal mode. Does it let you get to your login screen now?

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Mac doesn't boot from start volume - blinking folder with question mark

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So I started from the installation DVD. On the "Choose Startup Disk" Menu there appears only the DVD and network. In Terminal by using "df" i only see my external Hard Disk, the DVD, and some /private/var folders. By listing the "/Volumes" directory only the external disk and the DVD appear.
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For me it looks like the Hard Drive with my system is dead. Does anybody has another idea what I can try?

unfortunately I can't start the single user mode. It is always booting from the installation DVD. I tried mouse clicked at boot to eject it, but it doesn't work. Also I can't come to the Startup Volume menu by holding the option key. I always come to the installation menu. There I can't eject the disk from Disk Utility, because it is working on it. I also can't eject it using the eject key on the keyboard in the Startup Disk menu. From the Terminal I can't access my Hard Disk from /Volumes and therefore also can't access my user's home directory.

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HT1366 How to fix Flashing Folder with Question Mark on Mac

How to fix Flashing Folder with Question Mark on Mac

RichardEL is probably correct. I’ll go through your questions.
> there is no Mac OS partition, I assume it would be directly underneath the HD on the left?
I have not seen this particular condition where the hardware disk icon appears but the system volume that is supposed to be below it does not. The System Disk partition would be below the HD icon indented to the right. It is usually called “Macintosh HD” unless you renamed it.
> when I go into disk utility my HD appears on the left, but I can repair or verify it
Odd. It appears but you cannot manipulate it with Disk Utility.
> The S.M.A.R.T status reads verified
If it did not say Verified then it would indicate a problem. Saying Verified does not rule out problems but I think it indicates it is still breathing.
> Is the HD deceased?
If you booted the Recovery Partition (Boot, Command-R), which it sounds like you did, then at least part of the disk is still breathing. If it took a long time to boot then that may have been a Network Recovery boot which would indicate the disk is very sick or dead.
> [If I] restore from time machine [will] everything will be back as it was before?
Yes. That is the beauty of Time Machine. All your data, applications, and system preferences will be as they were as of the last backup.
> I was thinking of erasing the HD, would this be of any help or do I just need a new one?
Given what you reported from the Disk Utility steps you took it is unclear to me if there will be a way to repair the current volume, if you can erase and install from scratch or if you need a new disk. Before proceeding it may be useful to have an expert at an Apple store look at it for you. They may be able to revive it without a clean install or new disk.
As was the case above, it could be a good disk with a bad cable in which case a new disk is not going to help. To test this you can purchase an inexpensive external enclosure, remove the internal disk, place it in the enclosure, plug it in and then use Boot-Option to attempt to boot from the now external disk. Here are links to the screwdrivers and enclosure you would need.
$5 Toolkit: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/
$22 USB 3.0 enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5BU3W/
If you attempt a clean install, use the Partition tab to repartition the disk, selecting one partition and with “Options…” electing a GUID partition. Then use the Erase tab, select “Security Options…” and set it to write a single pass of zeros. This will write to every sector to map out bad blocks. (If you have an SSD do not write a pass of zeros.)
If you do need to replace it I recommend an new inexpensive (~$100) and super-fast hybrid SSHD drive that has an 8 GB SSD cache that makes the data fly. Google “Seagate 1 TB hybrid SSHD”.

Flashing folder with question mark comes up at startup?

it was working fine 3 days ago i try start it up and a Flashing folder with question mark.
It has mountain lion i try to boot to recovery Part but when i hold the Option key nonthing show up.
If some can tell me what else i can.

restart holding command R if it can not find a Recovery partition it will do a Internet Recovery.
Run diskUtility "repair disk" from the recovery.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

Flashing folder with question mark on start up + many other issues

About 6 months ago I first encountered the flashing folder with question mark on startup. I fixed the issue myself by unplugging the mouse and keyboard and rebooting. I also did the cmd S fsck -fy before that and all was well.
The other day I had the flashing folder again...I got it going a couple of times but it happened again. Right now I seem to be in deep trouble. Please read the following:
1. I booted up from the leopard dvd and no hard drive was there to run a disk utility on
2. Booted up again from the dvd and hard drive was there. Ran the disk utility and everything was fine...for about 5 minutes. Then the computer froze and I had to hard power down. Rebooted to the flashing folder.
3. Did command s and fsck but at the end I get the message failed to issue comm reset after 3 attempts.....failing....
4. I powered down, vacuumed out the vents, sprayed compressed air to make sure it wasn't over heating from dust buildup as I read somewhere.
5. Booted up...worked for about 5 minutes again.
6. Now I can't get to the hard drive from the install dvd at all...I tried 100 times. Cmd s won't work at all!! So it looks like I am out of options. Does anyone have ny radical solutions that i can try to fix this. There are some very important things on my hard drive that I would be very upset about loosing.
Please reply

Sorry to bear bad news, but most likely the drive is already dead or dying. I hope you backed up everything when the first symptoms appeared.
There are data recovery services, but might be very expensive.
EDIT: Some (a few) people have had success putting the drive (sealed very well in a plastic baggy) in the freezer overnight and then quickly putting it in an external enclosure and getting the data off it that way.
Message was edited by: WZZZ

Flashing folder with question mark at Startup

Here is what I know so far.
- The computer was powered off by pushing the power button without shutting down.
- The computer was then restarted and it was coming into the white screen with the Apple logo in the middle, but i noticed that it was skewed slightly (like someone took a 4:3 ratio screen and stretched it to a 16:9) and then it would show a circle slash icon and then the flashing folder with a question mark on it.
- It would not come up in single user mode (Command + S) and it said that there was an error loading kernel 'mach_kernel'
- It would not come up in safe mode (Shift)(The flashing folder came up again)
- I reset the PRAM (Command + Option + p + r) and it seemed to fix the problem with the stretched screen but did not help the boot situation (still got flashing folder)
- I did the start up where you can select the hard drive to boot with, it owed the HD and i selected it, but then i got the flashing folder with question mark.
- It would not come up in Verbose Mode (Command V) Error loading Kernel again.
- I bought a FireWire cable and hooked it to another MacBook Pro, and booted the faulty Mac into Target Disk Mode, the FireWire logo came up on the screen and bounced around like all forums said that it would, but the drive would not show up on my host. I checked the System Profiler on the host and it did acknowledge the Target Disk Mode was there, but the drive of the target would not show up on the host. I restarted the host, nothing. I checked all of the connections, nothing. I replugged all of the connections, nothing. I even reversed the FireWire cable, nothing.
- I have DiskWarrior 4 if i can get the drive to show up in TDM, but nothing so far.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for your help guys. I managed to get the computer started by holding down C at the Start Up with the Install Disc 1 in the computer. The disc was really kindof unnecessary, as the newest version of Mac OS X (10.4.10) became available via the hard drive.
I then found out that the battery was not installed, so I reset the management system by removing the A/C power, the battery and pushing the power button for 5 seconds, and then reconnecting everything. It did not help, the battery is bad i guess, so I am going to call AppleCare and get a new battery.
Thanks for your help.

Flashing Folder with Question Mark after Trackpad 1.0 Update

My machine won't boot after installing this update. I get the flashing folder with question mark and can't even boot from the Install DVD either... I just get a frozen spinney wheel at the Apple Logo screen. I've tried resetting the PRAM and everything else that a Googling of the problem suggests. This update bricked my Macbook!!!!
Anybody else having this problem? Anybody have any suggestions or am I stuck with going to see a "genius"?

I've not seen any other posts about it causing problems, worked fine here. You've tried resetting the PRAM the only other thing you could try is:
Boot holding down Apple/S and don't let go until you see scrolling text.
When that stops and you see a root#: prompt enter
fsck -fy
Let it run through all the checks and repairs.
If it fails first time, at any time, or finds and fixes a fault - run the command again and keep doing so (some fixes can take several passes) until it says "Appears to be OK" then enter
reboot

Flashing folder with question mark, apple logo, and do not enter symbol

someone please help.
i just took my imac to the apple centre and they erased everyhting and reset everything, and now it has just asked me to restart it so i did and now im stuck on flashing apple logo, flashing folder with quesiton mark inside, and a "do not enter" sort of symbol.
please please please help, i cant go back to apple as i spent so much money already!

Lion and Mtn Lion don't come on disks (the USB flash, AFAIK, is no longer available). You could boot into the recovery mode and reinstall. Details in Recovery and About Lion Recovery. Also, see the Internet Recovery.

Flashing folder with question mark (MacMini)

Hi there,
I diagnose my Mac Mini (1.83Ghz, Intel Mac) and know that the HDD is failing, so I decide to change the HDD before the HDD totally fail.
But after I change the new HDD, and trying to install the OS back to the new HDD, I get a flashing folder icon with question mark in it, when I boot it up and press on the C key to boot from CD. So I decide to take the new HDD back out, put in an external enclosure to make sure that the new HDD is not a bad one, and I can read fine with it inside the enclosure, put it back in the Mac Mini, still the same old flashing icon.
What happen? Could someone help me please?
Thanks!

Hi Everyone,
Just for future reference for anyone who encounter this same problem, the reason that I go the flashing folder with question mark is first of all, the MacMini doesn't recognize the new hard drive. No doubt about that since the hard drive has no OS and not formatted yet. Second of all, it's because I don't have the correct Installer CD put in. I didn't know if there's any difference in the Installer CD between PowerPC MacMini and Intel MacMini, but obviously there is, since the Intel MacMini doesn't recognize the PowerPC Installer CD.
After putting the correct Installer CD in, everything works just the way it should.
Thanks for all your help, everyone!
- NyCCD

Flashing folder with question mark only on sartup.

Flashing folder with question mark only on sartup. Won't recognise ANY startup key commands (tried different keyboards) and won't recognise OSX startup disk. Any ideas??

The first thing I'd do is look at the silver side of the SL installation disc and check for finger prints or scratches and gently clean the disc with a lint free cloth. Also, instead of formatting the hard drive it would be worth deleting the partition(s) and repartitioning.

Flashing folder with question mark on screen

flashing folder with question mark on screen

This is the first time I have joined the support forum for MacBook - I tried the after Power Off - then while you turn it back on again your hold the "Command + R" - This has worked for some people - this was obtained on YouTube - see www.youtube.com/watch?v=flv2ebQMMtE. This however, did not work for me. I remember having a problem with my PC a few years ago - when I experienced something like this on it. I fixed it by taking out the battery. I was going to check the cable between the hard drive and the motherboard to make sure it was secure. I removed the Battery on my MacBook - blew it off, and put it back in again and surprisingly it booted up normally. Thanked the Lord for the quick fix. Back to Normal.

When i boot i get a flashing folder with a question mark. disk utility doesnt work or read my harddrives to boot with. i installed a new SSD and its not reading that either. i have a macbook pro 2011, any help?

So I came to this problem a while ago. M ycomputer basically froze so I was forced to shut down by holding the button down. When I started it up I got the flashing folder with a question mark. I started it up holding down the command and r keys which brought me to disk utility. Although my computer doesn't read that I have a hard drive to start it up. When I click on the disk utility app, I cannot verify or repair anything either. The buttons won't allow me to click on them. It also shows "Mac OSX Base System" which shows I have files and what not saved. I had been told that I need a new hard drive so I bought and manually installed a OWC SSD 240GB drive and when i booted the computer up it booted up yo the operating system fine with all my files and what not on there. After about twenty minutes, it froze again. I forced a shut down, restarted and the same thing happened. I am not able to choose my SSD to boot up, although thats probably because it doesn't have an operating system installed on it??
i have a Macbook Pro 13" 2011
any help would be great, I'm overall confused.

ryansaint11,
this isn’t Apple support; this is a user-to-user forum. We’re just fellow users of Apple products here.
If you want to boot from your SSD, then you should put the SSD where your HDD currently is, and put the HDD into the optical bay. (That setup will also get you the best performance.) At the moment, you’re still booting from your HDD. Note that you will need to format your SSD in Disk Utility [with the “Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)” format] so that you can install OS X onto it.
Since you have an Early 2011 model, it might or might not have originally come with grey installation DVDs. You will be able to find out whether it did or not by trying to use OS X Internet Recovery to install OS X onto your SSD. If it does not work, or if the installed OS turns out to be Snow Leopard, then it will have originally come with the DVDs, and you should purchase a replacement pair of DVDs from Apple or iFixit; those discs will have your MacBook Pro’s Apple Hardware Test and its iLife apps. If the installed OS turns out to be Lion, then it will not originally have come with the grey installation DVDs, and your Apple Hardware Test will be installed along with Lion, and your iLife apps will be downloadable from the Mac App Store.

Booting system from an external drive; Folder with Question Mark

Hello all. I am trying to setup an external USB hard drive as a bootable device for my Tiger install. This is on a Core Duo Mac Mini. I have successfully partitioned it using GUID into two partitions; A small 5gb partition for the minimal OSX install, and the remainder for data. I installed OSX onto it via my included Tiger discs that came with the Mini, no problems. However, when I try to boot from it I get a Folder icon with a question mark in the center. I can boot the Mini normally and browse the external partition. It shows no problems. Disk Utility also shows no errors on the drive. What have I missed?
For any who are curious, my goal here is to use NetRestore to make a backup image of my main Mini hard disk. Then by booting to the external USB drive, I will be able to restore the backup image (stored on the data partition of the external drive as well) to the internal Mini hard disk.
Mac Mini Core Dio Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Just letting everyone know that I am still unresolved on this one. I have tried it all; Zero-overwrite erased the external drive before partitioning it, used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the boot disk, you name it. Every situation leads to the same result; no ability to boot from the USB drive, It just acts like it can't read it. Are there "undocumented" problems booting from USB on Intel macs?

Wont Boot or Install New OS - Flashing Folder with Question Mark

I was trying to upgrade the OS. It downloaded all files. Asked for restart and then went into this mode of displaying flashing folder with "?". Tried to boot from original install CD by pressing down C key but again it gives flashing folder with "?". If I boot with D key even then it gives flashing folder with "?"
Should I try to replace the hard drive?
The CD I was trying to install from MAC OS X Install Disc 1 (10.4.8)
Thanks

Thanks for the reply.
It is an Intel processor. 2.16 Core 2 Duo.
I believe it originally came with Tiger pre-installed - it was purchased around early to mid 2007. However, it was then used by my son who went to a boarding school where they installed 10.5 I believe. And they "locked it down" with parental controls etc. Perhaps that is part of the issue.
I had logged into admin and was doing an OS Update (dont recall exact function). It downloaded bunch of stuff and then asked for reboot. On reboot it got stuck on the flashing folder.
The CD/DVD I am using is an Apple CD which says
For Mac Computers
Mac OS X Install Disc 1
Mac OS Version 10.4.8
Copyright 2007.
I assume these are the original CD/DVDs that came with MacBook Pro.
Thanks

Booting from the disk...Flashing folder with a ? mark

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