Flashing '?' folder icon during boot up

This problem is mostly a minor annoyance. The Mac eventually boots up.
When booting up, a folder displaying a '?' is displayed. This icon is then replaced with a folder displaying what looks like Mac OS classic. The icons swap back and forth a few times. This happens for a short while then the G4 Macbook boots up and runs fine.
Was wondering how to fix this. Again, not an emergency just something I felt needed looking into.
Thank you =)
Macbook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.4)

Try opening Startup Disk in System Preferences, select your startup volume from the icon list, then click on the Restart button.

Similar Messages

Mac Mini - Flashing Folder Icon / No boot / Loud fans

I recently got my Mac Mini back after 8 months of it being 'elsewhere' (someone had it, tried to gain access, failed because I have filevault).
When I first got it back yesterday I turned it on, booted and then logged in, noticed no sound, and system was saying there was no sound card. The computer wasn't lagging or freezing whatsoever, so I reset it and still no sound.
I open it up and what do you know, someones opened it (I assume to get to the HDD) and had unclipped the sound card ribbon. Reseated that and put it back together, turn it on and finally a chime, but then nothing, White screen, and fans turn on full blast. I reset it, same thing. Reset it about 10 times, only thing I noticed was half the time my mouse cursor would show and let me move the cursor around.
So I take it apart again, check all connections, restart, same symptoms.
Pull it apart again and try installing 1 RAM chip at a time, same symptoms.
I tried booting it with resetting PRAM, NVRAM, I tried starting holding option, pressing c, everything, and nothing happens! Same symptoms. I tried holding down power for 10 seconds, hear a long beep, then chime, same symptoms!
So I take it apart again, take out hard drive, check connections (all ok), put it back in, same symptoms.
Anyway I got angry so i turned it on and left it doing it's White screen business. Come back 45 minutes later, flashing folder icon with '?'
I reboot, wait 15 again, same folder icon, loud fan, nothing else.
This doesn't make sense, HDD was fine 5 minutes before, no noises at all, no lag, no errors. I didn't touch the hard drive previously to the problem, and now nothing is helping. I've had the hard drive replaced 2 years ago due to near failure, but saved all data by cloning the disk, the HDD isn't old!
I just bought an external HDD enclosure, should arrive soon, and a new HDD, issue is this disk is filevaulted, I'm scared my data is going to be lost for good.
What can I do? I've lost my OS X disc, but judging by the computer being unresponsive to other commands at boot I doubt it would boot a CD anyway.
Please help.
Thanks

Whew, what a bad ride.
Does it also have Firmware password protection in Mac OS X ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
It would block usage of all the startup keys, like C, N, T, D, CMD+s, CMD+Option+p+r, CMD +v, Option, and Shift, as well as booting from anything but the Hard Drive.
Force Removing Password Protection
1) Add or remove DIMMs to change the total amount of RAM in the computer.
2) Then, the PRAM must be reset 3 times. (Command + Option + P + R).
http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwarepasswordprotection.php
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

IMac G5 won't boot, flashing folder icon, disk not found

Hi fellow Mac users,
My mother's G5 iMac suddenly stopped booting after no significant event. Here is some information :
- When the Mac boots up, I get a flashing folder icon.
- When running the extended Apple Hardware Test (from the original Tiger DVD), I get no error, even the hard drive (Mass Storage) seems to be fine.
- When I boot on the Leopard DVD, the hard drive doesn't show up in disk utility.
I think the hard drive is broken, do you agree or is there something else that I am missing ? I am confused because the test says nothing about the hard drive.
Thank you for your help

@ Klaus1 :
Thanks. I tried but everything is fine on this side, the first three LEDs are On and the last is Off as expected.
But the article is about iMacs that display nothing.
@ mrbear235 :
Pressing cmd+R does nothing. I get a grey screen and the computer eventually reboots after a while.
The computer seems fine appart from the fact that there is no hard drive detected. But shouldn't the Apple Hardware Test say something about it ?

Flashing folder icon ? mark after upgrade or boot loop.

Hi folks. I upgraded my 2011 Mac Mini 2.3Ghz to Mountain Lion last week and it has been a big disaster. First reboot after install it gave me the flashing folder icon with ? mark. I power cycled and it seemed fine. Next reboot, same thing with the folder blinking. Hard reboots put me into a boot loop eventually. I did a clean install after having problems with that as well and now i'm in the same boat. It has booted normally once or twice but mostly just boot loops. I do have an SSD installed but this was done at an Apple Certified Micro Center and I had absolutely no problems with Lion with multiple installs done. Can I get back to Lion or is this a fix? I have no access to the Lion installer DMG as suggested in many walkthroughs that I have found to build Lion Recovery media and I'm not sure what to do at this point. I DO have the same exact mac mini at work which is thankfully still on Lion if that helps at all and access to the original mac mini but I don't think that helps at this point. I'm really ****** I can tell you that. Help? Thanks.

Can I get back to Lion or is this a fix?
The startup disk may need repairing. Instead of reverting to Lion, use Lion Recovery

What does a flashing folder icon with a "?" inside mean?

What does a flashing folder icon with a "?" inside mean?

Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by one or more of these:
a. Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
b. Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
c. Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
d. The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Note that the information I have provided is what Apple recommends, If other users suggest different solutions than found here, then be sure what they recommend does not impact on your warranty, if any, or ability to get continuing Apple service.
Please don't start removing drives or changing cables unless you know what you are doing and have exhausted other non-invasive alternatives outlined here. If you perform any work yourself that is unapproved by Apple, then you will void any warranty you may have and lose all further Apple Support.
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.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD. Simply boot from the Recovery HD to perform the above.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
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 Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
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.

Hi . i have Intel based iMac. i erased whole hard disk. now it flashes folder icon with question mark... i have no internet or orginal dvd.... i want to clean install any mac osx..friend got mac book pro and osx in dmg format . what are my options?

hi . i have Intel based iMac. i erased whole hard disk. now it flashes folder icon with question mark... i have no internet or orginal dvd.... i want to clean install any mac osx..friend got mac book pro and osx in dmg format . what are my options?

On your friend's computer with an internet connection, log into the Mac App Store with your ID and download Yosemite from the Purchases section of the Mac App Store. The make a bootable USB install media using
http://liondiskmaker.com/
Then boot from that on your computer and install
You need an internet connection to install via Recovery mode

Flashing Folder icon with Question Mark

While trying Garage Band, I saved a project 'the long way' so as to open it via the Media Browser. Big mistake. Enter rainbow ball of ****.
I tried to force quit because all I was hearing was a grinding away like 'crickets' says my daughter. Could be the Hard Drive.
Now I shut it down and when I reboot, it gives me nothing but a gray screen with ? in a flashing folder icon.
Help!
Using 10.6.5, possibly 10.6.6. (Whichever one came before the Apple App Store application.)
There is 70 Gig left available in a Drive that I believe is 384G. 300 something, I recall.
This is a late 2006 Macbook, with the RAM maxed out..

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 hard drive data 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.
Once it has finished booting and you are at the Install screen launch Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then select the First Aid Tab run Repair Disk and 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.

Help ! Flashing folder icon with question mark when starting up

Hi, I have tried to restore my macbook pro 15 (2012 model with Yosemite OS X) to factory settings and wipe out the hard drive but on restarting it I now just get a blank screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark on it. Any help/advice anyone I would be very grateful for ! Thanks, Mark

Something didn't install properly.
Try these in order testing your system after each to see if it's back to normal:
1. a. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
    b. Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
2. Restart the computer in Safe Mode, then restart again, normally. If this doesn't help, then:
     Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the
     COMMAND and R keys until the Utilities 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.
3. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the Utilities 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. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
4. Reinstall Yosemite: Reboot from the Recovery HD. Select Reinstall OS X from the Utilities menu, 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.
5. Reinstall Yosemite from Scratch:
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
How to Clean Install OS X Yosemite
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

MacBook won't start - shows flashing folder icon with question mark

When I attempted a Spotlight search, my MacBook froze. I shut it down, and when I start again I get the sound, the blue screen, and then a flashing folder icon with a question mark. I tried starting with Option pressed down; didn't work, and now I don't even get the flashing folder icon, just the blue screen. Any suggestions?

The flashing folder with question mark means the computer can't find a working OS on the computer. This may mean your hard drive has failed.
Try holding the Shift key while starting up the machine. This puts the machine into Safe Mode.
If you have your install discs, insert Install Disc 1 and start up the computer while holding down the C key. When the Installer has loaded, choose a language. From the Utilities menu, choose *Disk Utility*. Does your hard drive show up here? If so, click on its icon (the one with manufacturer name & capacity, NOT "Macintosh HD"), and then click on the *Repair Disk* button.
If booting in Safe mode doesn't help or you don't have your install discs, you need to bring the computer to an Apple store and have the folks there look. If Disk Utility doesn't list your hard drive, it has very likely failed and will need to be replaced. If your machine is out of warranty, you're better off replacing it yourself, as it's very easy to do.
~Lyssa

I restarted my computer, but the screen only shows a flashing folder icon with a question mark. What to do?

I restarted my computer, but the screen only shows a flashing folder icon with a question mark. What to do?

It means that the system boot directory can't be found.
See this support article for suggested actions
Also see this discussion.

What does a white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it mean?, what does a white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it mean?

My computer seemed locked up, nothing would open. I had to force quiy everthing. I tried to normally shut it down and it wouldnt shut down. I held the on off power switch. When I tried to turn it back on It stays tuck on the white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it . Has my hard drive gone bad?

Reboot the computer holding the option key down, you will get a selection of your OS X internal boot drive or the perhaps the disk you stuck in.
You can choose what you can boot into.
If it's the hard drive and it's there, then select that and head to System Preferences and change the startup disk to the hard drive, you shoudl be fine.
If only to disk, then select that and run Disk Utility > Repair, If your drive doesn't appear on the left, it's likely dead.
Repair the drive and reboot holding the Shift key down, see if that fixes things some more and reboot again normally.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Flashing folder icons with question mark

After reading through the forums I've found a few discussions and users that have similar problems as me but haven't seen anything that deals directly with my issues.
After upgrading to Leopard last night, it ran sluggishly for about 15 minutes. I got impatient and decided to restart. While trying to restart it froze, so I just shut my powerbook down. When I tried to boot back up I got the "flashing folder icons with question mark", I've since found out that it isn't finding any type of drive to boot off of. I reset the pram, tried to reboot with the same result. Tried to boot up using cmd-s but still got nothing but flashing folders. Booted up from the Leopard install disc to try and do an archive and install and it said it couldn't upgrade because it couldn't find tiger on my machine. So I booted from the Tiger install discs to try and re-install tiger again. Tiger cant find my HD to install on; I'm thinking this may be due to Leopards install. I ran disk utility and it couldn't complete the verifying process. I got this "Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit."
After work I'm going to try to boot up in target mode to pull any data i can and try erase my HD and install from there.
To me it seems like a HD issue. Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks in advanced.
-Chance

Chank wrote:
After reading through the forums I've found a few discussions and users that have similar problems as me but haven't seen anything that deals directly with my issues.
After upgrading to Leopard last night, it ran sluggishly for about 15 minutes. I got impatient and decided to restart.
The "sluggishness" is perfectly normal. It's well-known and it is not an issue.
You should have waited for spotlight to finish indexing.
You may have broken some links by forcing a shutdown while things were still being setup.
Which install method did you use, upgrade, archive or erase?

Hard disk not mounted...flashing folder icon

Ok,
I was inserting a cd when my MBP freaked out. It is about 6 months old...first the screen went to the default background and everything disappeared, then the grey spinny thing went on and stayed on for ages.
Subsequent start up attempts lead to a flashing folder icon with a question mark over it
Eventually I managed to get the cd out of the superdrive, and insert the osx dvd to boot into os x. When i got there there was no hard drives recognised, and the installer displays the message; this cannot be installed here or something of that nature, giving me the options to restart.
In disk utitlity my hard disk is not shown on the left pane, only the dvd drive.
I have tried booting up in many different modes etc, but none have worked as it always goes back to the flashing folder icon.
Does anyone have any experience with this problem? If I cannot resolve it today I guess I will have to send it off to get the hard drive replaced. Obviously that is the worst outcome as I will lose all my stuff since my last backup (quite a long time ago)...
Thanks for reading and for any comments/suggestions.

If you drive fails to appear at all in Disk Utilty then you're probably out of luck. I suggest you try resetting PRAM and NVRAM…
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
… and the System Management Controller…
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319
… however I wouldn't think either of these will ressurect your drive.

Flashing folder icon with a (?) in the middle. Can I save my mac?

     This happend a few months ago and I have just recently purchased a new 2012 Intel iMac but still have my old one laying around and it would be nice to have the two of them working together.
     It's a 2006 Intel iMac, I had to force a restart by holding down the power button. When it booted up is when I saw the flashing folder icon witth the (?) in the middle.
     I started up the computer with the install disk for OSX Leopard and held down whatever button it was to bring up the menu to install the OS. I got to the point where you're asked to select the HDD location but there's nothing there to indicate there's a HDD to select. If it can't see the HDD does that mean the HDD is dead?
     If the computer doesn't see the HDD and or if the HDD is not dead, is there anyway to recover the data from it? I suspect I already know the answer to this and no, I do not have a back up. Now, if there is no way to recover the data and the HDD is dead, can I get the HDD replaced?

... I got to the point where you're asked to select the HDD location but there's nothing there to indicate there's a HDD to select. If it can't see the HDD does that mean the HDD is dead?
Most likely, yes.
You may be able to extract its data by removing the HDD and installing it in an external enclosure, but if the Mac does not even detect a hard disk it is likely to be completely inoperative, as in mechanically damaged.
Hard disks can be replaced by Apple for $400 or so, much less if you do it yourself.

Flashing folder icon on startup. Please help

My laptop won't start properly anymore after i pressed the shut down button when my laptop was running slow. When I started it up I got a flashing folder icon with a question mark.
As of now I can only get into recovery mode by selecting the recover over the internet option.
Inside the recovery mode I ran disk utility and it could not repair the errors
I got errors such as invalid node and missing links
I cannot mount the drive at all
Is there a solution to this, maybe apart from disk warrior?
Many thanks,
David
P.s I have gone in to terminal to run fsck_hsf rf /dev/disk0s2, but that could not repair either

If you are backed up, then you can run Disk Warrior to see if you make it the internal drive readable.
If you aren't backed up, get Prosoft Data Rescue, an external hard drive big enough to handle both your internal drive, and your installed operating system from http://www.macsales.com/
Then boot off the 10.6 installer disc and use the Disk Utility in the installer menus to format the external hard drive to have two partitions, one large enough to have the entirety of the internal drive, and one with at least 20 GB to install 10.6, and install Data Rescue. Once that is done, you can boot off the Data Rescue partition with the Option key at startup, and run Data Rescue to recover the internal drive to the second partition of the external drive.
If neither Disk Warrior works, nor Data Rescue works, it is time to consider how valuable the data is. If it is several thousand dollars worth, it may be worth trying http://www.drivesavers.com/ which will cost that much to try to recover from a "dead" hard drive.
Apple might offer an intermediate cost, though I would check with them how much it is before choosing between one and the other.

Flashing '?' folder icon during boot up

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