Finder logo and question mark

So I read a discussion on here where somebody described a problem where their mac began start-up but froze on a gray screen and a picture of a folder that flashed between the finder icon and a question mark. Apparently this screen is supposed to go away in several minutes, but I have this same problem and my screen stays locked on that icon and doesn't start up. I've left it running for at least half an hour, but the screen stays on the icon. Is there any way to get around this screen so my computer starts up normally?

kingdamek-
Greetings and welcome to the Apple boards.
This document on how to resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance should have some helpful information.
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

Similar Messages

HELP MY iBOOK G4 WONT BOOT I GET FOLDER WITH FINDER LOGO AND QUESTION MARK

HELP I have an iBook G4 and it frose so I shut it down by pressing power button and then it would kind of start up I would get a chime and a gray screen would come on for one second and the switch to another gray screen with a folder in the middle the has a finder logo that switches off between a question mark. But the funny thing is i started up yesterday and after four trys it worked then it froze again and i had to turnit off again it did the same thing i would just boot drom the leopard cds but they are missing. And its not like this was an on going problem it use to work fine.

Do you have the restore disks that came with the iBookG4? Without the Leopard disk, or the restore disks that came with your iBook, it's going to be difficult to trouble shoot.
Usually the "question mark folder" means your Mac can't find a System Folder to boot from. Make sure the iBook is shut down. Press the power button, insert the restore disk and hold down the C key all at the same time. Keep holding down the C key until you see the Apple logo. An Installer window will open. Select English, but DO NOT proceed with any installations. Instead, from the Menu Bar, click Utilities/Startup Disk. When the Startup Disk window opens, select MacintoshHD 10.x.x in the window and then click Restart. If the drive is functioning properly, it should boot back up from the internal disk.
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

My iMac wont go past the grey screen with Apple Logo and question mark a caution mark

My iMac wont go past the grey screen with Apple Logo and question mark a caution mark

You may find this support article helpful:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Ciao.

Quicktime logo and question mark in Firefox

If anybody can help with this I would be very gratefull. When I am using Firefox (latest version) on my Macbook Pro and I navigate to any website that requires the quicktime plugin all I get is the quicktime logo and a question mark, I am running quicktime 7.1.3. There is no problem using these sites with safari. I assume it is specific to this user account because I have a 2nd user account on Mac OSX and when I log into the 2nd user account Firefox works perfectly. I have dragged firefox to the trash and re-installed it, I have tried deleting preferences in my library folder ~/library/preferences, and looked for files in ~/library/application support but anything I have deleted hasn't made a difference. This is just a small niggle to me as I would rather use Firefox than safari however Firefox just won't play any quicktime files within any web page unless I log into my 2nd user account on OSX which just isn't practical. Once again any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Kevin.....
Powermac G4 AGP Graphics, Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)
Powermac G4 AGP Graphics, Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Safari in Mac appears to exit the quicktime download prematurely. Unable to ID a root cause. Similar operation using Firefox allows the file to continue download and then A/V controls appear when complete. Check answers by Quicktime Kirk regarding setting a play 'flag' in such a way that allows the audio to start prior to the file being downloaded. I'm not sure where to check or adjust that quicktime parameter in iweb but other smart people probably have the answer.

Flashing "Finder Folder" and Question Mark on start up...

I've been following the discussions on the question mark issue and yes, I have gone to the Apple sight and read all of the solutions and tried them. The machine is a G3 iBook 700mhz. I have reset PRAM, tried all the startup button pushing and even control C with the... That's the problem: it won't accept any discs including the original 9.2 restore disc and even a retail Panther set I bought. It just spits them out when the unit gongs. My trusty iMac G3 400mhz did this a few months ago but at least I got to the Disc Utility icon, although I couldn't get passed it. I was able to use the target mode , however, and empty the hard drive. I haven't tried doing this on the iBook, becaause I don't care about the crap that's on there. I mainly use the iBook for wireless surfing and I have pulled the Airport Card, additional Ram and even disconnected the keyboard. Is the hadrive simply dead? Thanking all you Mac people in advance,
Sev

I take it that you mean you have tried ALL the steps in the following Apple Knowledge Base article?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
There is another way to repair the hard drive (if it works). Try booting into Safe Mode. This will take quite awhile longer than a normal startup because it does a file check and repair of the hard disk.
If this works you will see your normal desktop. Once completely started up in Safe Mode, try to restart normally, and go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Click on the top hard drive icon in the left sidebar and note the S.M.A.R.T. status at the bottom right of the pane. What does it say?
Select the named boot volume in the left sidebar, ("Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). What is the hard drive capacity and how much space remains available on it? Repair permissions on it.
See if you are able to do some hard drive maintenance to help things out.
Good luck.

QuickTime Logo and question mark on iWeb site!

Hi All
I have a podcast page hosted at an external URL. I have got the RSS feeds working, and linking to itunes, but the media file, dispite being in the correct folder does not display on the page. Is there a line of code I need to change.
If so I think I may have a solution to hosting blogs and podcasts external to .mac.

http://www.belmonthousestud.com/podcasts/Media/WhoopyB.m4v
File not found error.
Notice that when iWeb publishes to a folder it stores in a different folder structure than when published to .Mac.
The syntax for your upload would be:
podcasts/Media/WhoopyB.m4v
A folder named "podcasts" and inside it a folder named "Media" and that is where you need to upload the WhoopyB.m4v file.
Many Web hosts also use a folder named "Media" and that can cause issues.
You should be able to manually drag the file to a new folder you make inside the podcasts folder or upload the file to that folder if it already exists.

QT logo with Question Mark and Blank screen sound ok on training videos

I suddenly had all sort of problems (before 10.4.9) with QT logo and Question Marks throughout all browsers and also suddenly unable to continue training programs using files such as "avibasicmono.htm" and "introbasicmono.htm" .
finally think I have solved the QT logo by replacing Flash 9.0 with the old 8.022.
I could now also see current issues of magazines again on a site www.picturebusiness.uk.com (weird naming).
however I am not able to see the training videos at all but I hear the AVI files
Macosx 10.4.9 Quicktime 7.1.3 (removed 7.1.5 to try that option did not work)
will stay with what works until I hear more...

www.picturebusiness.uk.com uses Flash Media.
Tell us more info about the AVI's. Are they found at that Site?
Give us a link.

Restart and flashing finder with a question mark

Hi,
My mac just died and now i am using my sisters computer. I was typing up some documents and listening to music. The computer then proceeded to freeze which brought up the spinning beachball. After a few minutes of waiting for the computer to do its thing, nothing occured to i did a hard start up. Upon restart i came to a dark grey screen and a flashing finder logo and a question mark. i waited some more and got nothing. Ive managed to lose my rescue disc and im not quite sure what to do. is there anything i can do before i resort to apple services?

Oh that's not good. Is the other Mac also PowerPC based? I'm not sure about "compatibility" with those since I've never used an Intel-based Mac yet. At least, don't own one.
The Target Disk Mode-enabled computer should automatically show up as an external drive, whether it is bootable or not.
If it doesn't, then there must be some serious damage to the data on the drive, since it isn't being recognized by the other Mac.
I think your next step would be to use DiskWarrior if you have it, or borrow it from someone who does. It works wonders. I don't have it, but a colleague does, and I used it on a failing drive, and wow. I was able to save my data. I was able to successfully boot once after the repair, but on second boot, it failed again. So at least I was able to get my things off of the drive.
That would be the most important thing right now.
Also, because a drive doesn't boot (and Mac doesn't recognize it) doesn't necessarily mean the drive is bad. It just can't find the "commands" and data to let it start up and run the things on your drive. This is from experience. I have had a drive that would never boot, but the drive was fine. I had to reformat it thought and start from scratch in that instance. But the drive was not damaged. It had a bad block or partition in it.

Quick Time Logo with Question Mark

I have an iMac and my QuickTime doesn't work. It comes up with a question mark in the middle of the blue 'Q' logo. What am I to do?

Dear Boomer,
1. Why is it when I quote your original with all the bells and whistles it looks like this?
2. Is it a classic vs mac cat difference?
3. Is it your learned self vs my newbieness?
4. Is it my little olde blueberry slot CRT?
5. am I just unworthy...hangs head and cries.
All the best,
Irene
gwyzzzz,
To The Apple Discussion Boards!
QuickTimeKirk did provide a straight answer to the
original poster's question. Apparently you need more
detailed instructions, so here it
is..........
At the top right of this site you will see Search
Discussions.
In the blank search window w/the magnifying glass in
the left corner type Quicktime and
question mark.
You will then find several troubleshooting solutions
pertaining to your issue for you to try out.
Since this particular question is posted hundreds of
times, there will be possibly thousands of
different solutions to filter through in your search.
Hopefully, you will find the right one just in time
before going to your place in France.
Good luck!
P.S. I do not own any Apple Stock. Wish I did jump
on it before the price shot up.
slot 350 mhz iMac 320 RAM Mac OS 9.2.x verizon dsl

Quicktime logo with question mark appears instead of flash content

since updating my system yesterday to OS x 10.4.11 i have been unable to view flash content with _all browsers_. *Quicktime logo with question mark* appears instead. Spent 4 hours trying every fix suggested by Mac forums worldwide - with no result. Took the computer to the apple store where they actually took 60 euros off me for NOT fixing the problem. Still cannot view any flash content. Any help would be appreciated
Mac book Pro 2 Ghz Intel Core Duo

These are the downloads and the settings you need in order to view/hear pretty much everything that the net can throw at you: The setup described below has proved repeatedly successful on both PPC and Intel macs, but nothing in life carries a guarantee!
It is known to work in the great majority of cases with Safari 3.0.4, QT 7.3 and OS 10.4.11.
Assuming you already run Tiger versions OS 10.4.9 or above (this has not yet been verified with Leopard) and have Quicktime 7.2 or above, and are using Safari 2 or 3, download and install (or re-install even if you already had them) the latest versions, suitable for your flavor of Mac, of:
RealPlayer 10 for Mac from http://forms.real.com/real/player/blackjack.html?platform2=Mac%20OS%20X&product= RealPlayer%2010&proc=g3&lang=&show_list=0&src=macjack
Flip4Mac WMV Player from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx (Windows Media Player for the Mac is no longer supported, even by Microsoft)
Perian from http://perian.org/
Adobe FlashPlayer from http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1ProdVersion=ShockwaveFlash
(You can check here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/about/ to see which version you should install for your Mac and OS.)
In Quicktime Preferences, under advanced, UNcheck Enable Flash, and under Mime settings/Miscellananeous only check Quicktime HTML (QHTM).
In Macintosh HD/Library/Quicktime/ delete any files relating to DivX (Perian already has them).
Now go to Safari Preferences/Security, and tick the boxes under Web Content (all 4 of them).
Lastly open Audio Midi Setup (which you will find in the Utilities Folder of your Applications Folder) and click on Audio Devices. Make sure that both Audio Input and Audio Output, under Format, are set to 44100 Hz.
Important: Now repair permissions and restart.
The world should now be your oyster!

I need to reinstall my operating system for 10.5 after seeing a file folder and question mark flashing on my start up screen. Can anyone help me with this?

I need to reinstall my operating system for 10.5 after seeing a file folder and question mark flashing on my start up screen. Can anyone help me with this?

Hello,
That means it can find the Hard Drive, or can't find the things needed for booting.
See if DU even sees it.
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, 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 at top of the screen. (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 First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)

Alternating mac face and question mark after i tried to install OS X 10.3

I have a Powerbook G4 and I tried to update my operating sytem from 10.2.8 to 10.3 but it froze. After I restarted it I got an alternating mac face and question mark. It just ejects the CDs I try to put into it except for the installation disk for OS X 10.1.3. When I put that one in a smiling mac computer come up then all this type comes across the screen, something about kernels and panic.
Please help me, I've got a project due soon.

Could someone please help me,
when i open my power book g4, an alternating Mac face and question mark appears, and no matter what I do it is still there.
it only changes when I insert the installtion CD of MAC OS X 10.3, but after the Apple logo appears, the screen went white and sometimes just blue, and it just won't work. Then after restarting, the alternating Mac face and question mark still appear.
i also tried the hardware test, after doing both of the tests, the result is consistently "passed". But after restarting, the same problem happens.
what should i do?
please help me
thanx in advanced

Blue et white face and question mark flashing when i open my mac

BLUE ET WHITE FACE AND QUESTION MARK FLASHING WHEN I OPEN MY MAC POWER G5 HELP

That means that it can't find an OS to boot. You might try booting off the CD that came with the system and running Disk Utility on the Hard Drive.

What does a white screen with a file folder and question mark indicate?

what does a white screen with a file folder and question mark indicate upon start up?

That the computer can't find a useable boot volume.
Boot from your grey installer DVD disc 1 (hold down the C key on startup or hold down Alt/option on start and choose the installer disc).
OK the language page (if present). From the installer screen, go to the menu bar and choose Disk Utility; depending on the OS version it may be in the Utilities menu or Tools menu.
In DU, select your internal drive in the sidebar (the top item with the makers name and serial no.). Run Repair Disk (not Disk permissions). If problems are reported as repaired, run it again until you get a message in green "the volume seems to be OK".
If it says it can't repair the disc, you may need heavier guns such as DiskWarrior or TechTool to attempt a rescue.
Hope you have backups; retrieving data from adead drive can be expensive and tricky.

Image ofFFolder withslternating face profile and question mark on screen

Can't use my Powerbook because of alternating face and question mark on screen.
What's wrong and how doI fix this?

That means that your system can't find anything to boot from. Do you have the original OS X discs that came with your system? Find the one that says in small print on the label 'AHT Version x.x'. Insert it and reboot holding the option key down. Choose the Apple hardware test, click the arrow to the right, and follow directions. Choose the extended test. What does it tell you?
If it gives you an indication your hard drive isn't present, you can insert the first OS X disc, and reboot holding the C key down, which will cause the system to boot from the OS X disc. Choose utilities from the menu bar, and disk utility. If it sees the hard drive, try a repair disk.
Please post back what you find.

Finder logo and question mark

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for