Flashing ? question mark/picasso folder...nothing seems to work

Have an iBook dual USB that I have had for about 5 1/2 years now. A little over a week ago it suddenly froze while browsing the net. I could not force quit the App, and the whole machine seemed frozen except that the mouse pointer would move around the screen. So I forced it to power down by holding down the power button. When I tried to boot up after that incident, I got the infamous flashing ?/picasso folder. I tried to boot from a CD...You can hear the CD spin up but the screen stays grey and eventually goes to ?/picasso. I tried reseting the PRAM. I tried resetting in open firmware. I tried resetting the PMU with the reset button on the side. Nothing worked.
So...I left the machine unplugged with no battery over night, and the next day PRESTO! It started normally. I immediately backed up all my info. I thought that maybe because one of the little rubber "bumpers" that cushion the screen when it is closed is partially missing that maybe the mouse button was being pushed to hard causing the problem. So I was gentle with it.
Now a week later, I am having the same problem. This time I let it sit for 2 days, and it started fine. I ran the diagnostic disc that came with the 'puter, and it says that all is well. So I ran the TechTool Deluxe (with current update) that came with my Applecare. It said all was well. So I figured I would reformat the Disc and load everything from scratch. The format went fine. But when I put the software restore disc in and booted from it, it would not allow me to choose the newly formatted hard drive. So I figured, "OK, I'll try loading OS 9 first, then come back". So I rebooted with the OS 9 install disc (the one that came with the iBook), and I am back to the oh so familiar ?/picasso syndrome. Again I have tried the PRAM reset, etc. to no avail.
I have let it sit over night with no luck.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Can you please check out the list of iBook models here:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html
and tell us exactly which one it is? You can click on each model to see the exact specs for each.
Also, can you tell us which Software Restore CDs came with it (what CDs are included)? Which version of OS X came with it? Which version of OS X were you running when the trouble started and which version are you wanting to install on it eventually (if you want to upgrade the OS)?
Do you know about _Startup Manager_? You may be able to use it to start up from the CD when holding down the c key doesn't work.
Links to instructions for restoring the software can be found in this Apple Knowledge Base article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61802

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PLEASE HELP- flashing question mark in folder

Hi everyone,
last night I was just on my macbook as usual and suddenly it froze, so I turned it off. When i went to turn it back on, all that appeared was a flashing question mark in a folder.
I have tried all the suggestions on this page http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042 , but none of them worked because it didn't even recognise/find the harddrive in the disk utility section. I don't have apple care ($419 is a lot of money for a student!) but I only bought the macbook about 6 months ago, so it is still within warranty. What should I do now?
Any help is much much appreciated!
Melissa

Melissa,
I just had the same exact problem last night too. I called the apple technical service number and nothing they did helped because the hard drive wasn't found. I even got a fire wire cable and tried to hook my MacBook up to another Mac and tried the target disk mode hoping I could pull off data that I needed, but the other mac couldn't find the disk either. I'm kind of worried about losing some of my data. If you could let me know if you find any solution that would be awesome! I plan on going to the apple store this weekend to get it looked at.
-Michelle

Flashing Question Mark in Folder at Startup - Retrieving Lost Data on HD

I've had my macbook for 9 months and Thursday it started making a clicking noise. I remember accidentally opening iMovie, then all my applications slowed down. The rainbow wheel wouldn't go away and everything froze (clicking noise continued). So I shut it down manually using the power button and instead of starting up, the flashing question mark in a folder popped up. I took my computer to an Apple Store and they told me I can either get the hard drive replaced, meaning all my data would be lost, or I could contact a hard drive recovery company to try to retrieve as much of it as possible. They said it would be fairly expensive ($500-$1000)..
Does anyone have any experience with any of these companies? Do they try to fix your old hard drive (I've noticed that a number of other people have had problems with 9-month old macbooks) or do they retrieve as much data as they can and save it to a new hard drive? And how long could this process take? I am a college student and I need access to a computer as well as the information on my own laptop.

Funny I has a very similar problem with my 8 mo old MacBook on the 15th and got the same reply from the Genius at the Apple Store today.
I spoke with someone at one of those companies located in the Boston area. They could look at my computer with in the hour if it was an emergency, turn around time could be pretty quick or take up to a week. They charge $95 to look at it and then will give you a list of files they can retrieve. You can then make a decision as to whether they should go ahead and recover. The fee for them to actually recover your files is $500 at a minimum and it could be higher. They do not fix your hard drive. They said my warranty would still be valid when they were done. hope that helps...I can't decide what to do for myself, it was just pictures that I had not backed up yet. Good luck.

Flashing question mark on folder at start up...help,please

I powered down after quiting Photoshop CS3 and getting the rainbow beachball. When I powered back on I got a grey screen with a flashing question mark in a folder icon...something I've never seen. Powering off and powering back on doesn't resolve the problem. The opening chime plays, but the flashing folder icon with the question mark reappears. I have a macbook, 2GHz Intel Core Duo, 80 GB HD bought 6/06. Any suggestions or advice. Thanks.

Hello,
I too have this exact problem. This morning i went to jiggle the mouse to bring the screen back from sleep but it wouldnt. I did a hard reset, but kept giving me the flashing question mark folder. I inserted x.5 disc into the drive to do a disk repair, but couldn't find the disk. I've assumed that the HDD is dead so have ordered a new one.
I'm really kicking myself today, as I foolishly turned off Time Machine a couple of days ago as i am shuffling media around. I have learnt my lesson.
However i'll put the Macbook's HDD into an enclosure and see if i can bring it back to life/restore my data.
I'll post my results next week
This is a bit suspicious for a couple people in the same month to have the same problem.
FYI, i am running X.5.1, 80gb, 2gb RAM.

HELP PLEASE-- flashing question mark on startup, none of remedies working

I'm using my Powerbook one night, everything is working fine. I wake up, go to use it and I get the spinning color wheel; tried to close an application by force quit and I get no response, so I restart using the power button, and the flashing question mark / mac OS icon pops up.
I immediately did some research on what to do; I put the OS cd in, tried restarting holding the C key and later the X key; nothing. Tried resetting PRAM, didn’t solve the problem. Tried holding command-S to check disk/repair, didn’t work. I then held the option key to choose the location to boot off: and neither the HD nor cd showed up: just the circular arrow to re-scan, and the straight arrow to enter the selection.
I have 2 install discs: I'm not sure if they are the same or not; I may have put the wrong one in. So I tried to eject it and now it wont eject.
Firstly, how to eject the cd? I tried holding the eject button, F12, command + . , as well as the trackpad. I don’t see a place to put a pin or paperclip in like some cd drives have to force it open.
Secondly, what else can I try to get my computer working? I'm no expert, but it sounds like this might be a hardware problem aside from the HD, being that the computer is not recognizing neither HD nor cd. However, the cd I have is a copy of the OS disc I made, and it may or may not be the right install disc, or properly made copy.
How difficult is it to open up Powerbooks and replace the HD? I'd like to have it up and running as soon as possible, but most importantly I hope that my data is still safe. And no, unfortunately I hadn't backed up my data. Please advise.

Maybe the copy of that disk is not bootable. Do you have the original or can you get it?
Here's a faq to remove disks.
DALE

Flashing question mark on start up -Pram reset worked now it's back and pram doesn't work

So the other half has crashed my mid 2012 macbook pro twice in two days (watching youtube). First time I managed to get passed the flashing question mark folder icon using pram reset now this doesn't work and it just goes to that icon. Hard drive is missing in. utility so can't whipe that either
any suggestions on what has failed, it's only 1.5 years old so I'm really disappointed

A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
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 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.

Flashing Question Mark on Folder Icon on Startup: Not Yet Fatal

I running into a potential problem with my White, 13" MacBook. I'm running 10.5.6 (upgraded from 10.4).
I recently bought a new, larger capacity hard drive. I used the Applications "SuperDuper" to clone my existing drive onto the new drive. My computer runs (as far as I can tell) the same as it always did. However, whenever I startup the computer, it briefly flashes the dreaded "giant folder with a blinking question mark". However, this is quickly replaced with the Apple Logo, and the computer boots normally.
I have repaired permissions, and verified the disk using disk utility. The disk verified with a message along the lines of "The disk appears to be ok".
While my computer's working now, I'm concerned there might be a deeper problem, and I'd like to catch it before it becomes critical. Also, if this is something standard that happens when you replace a hard drive with a new one, I'd like to know that as well so I can stop worrying.
If your answer is "put your old drive back in", pretend I did that and am still seeing the problem. What now?
Possible data point, I opened the console and saw the following two lines right before the "got boot device" line
4/29/09 5:00:07 PM kernel Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1">IOResources</string><key>IOResourceMatch</key><string ID="2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
4/29/09 5:00:07 PM kernel AppleYukon2: 532111ab,00000000 sk98osx_dnet - CheckDictionaryEntry failed, expected vs. dictionary
Thanks in advance for your help.

Open Startup Disk preferences, select your startup volume from icon list, click on the Restart button.

Flashing question mark and folder icon

Hi
I got the dreaded flashing folder/question mark icon a couple of days ago I used a friends computer to read the information in these forums and eventually managed to get my iMac to start up again. I have a very recent Time Machine back up, so am not worried about losing anything. During the numerous re-start attempts I decided to **** with it and do a re-install of the software, but the HD icon wasn't showing up as an option. If thats what I have to do then so be it.
A lot of the posts talked about a Apple Hardware test, which involves a re-start. If I do that I am afraid that I wont be able to start again
Any suggestions about what my best move would be?
Thanks in advance
By the way, what causes this to happens? Is it a hard or soft ware issue?
Message was edited by: Tony Hague

It sounds like you may have an intermittent issue with that hard drive. I would get it replaced--especially if it's under warranty.
Dave M.
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SE600DV won't do anything but flash Question Mark/MacSmile Folder

I just acquired an iMac SE600DV-Graphite. it 'powers up' but won't 'start up.' The screen flashes a question mark and that MacSmiley filefolder face. What is wrong and how do I fix it?

Well the flashing ? means it can't see an OS to start from. Either the HD is bad, corrupted or gone. See if it will boot up with an install CD of OS 9. Don't attempt OS X until you check the firmware. It should be 4.1.9.
For available upgrades:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117
If it won't see the CD-ROM try an external FireWire.
Good Luck.
Richard

Flashing question mark in folder at startup

I just got the hard drive replaced in November at the Apple store (I'm really loving the care plan now!) and ever since then on startup I've been getting the folder with a question mark for a brief second and then it goes to the normal startup screen with the grey apple and spinning cog. The hard drive isn't making any strange sounds and I haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary. What could this be and is it something serious? Thanks!

Hello Travis,
I doubt that it is anything serious. It may help to look in here to rectify the issue though...
Black Apple > System Preferences > Start up Disk.
Check to make sure that the computer is trying to boot up from OS X 10.5.6. on the internal hard drive of that Mac.
Regards.
Ian.

Flashing Question Mark atop Folder at Startup

I know this means the system cannot find the hard disk, which makes sense since it makes a bit of a racket as it attempts to boot. I was wondering if there are any tips or tricks to temporarily jumpstart it.
My main goal at this point is to recover some documents that I worked on all morning. (I tried to target the PowerBook to my iMac to no avail.)
I was thinking about checking the HD connection to see if it became unseated, but unlike iBooks, I'm not sure I can get to it. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Hi Jon:
Welcome to Discussions.
Your computer cannot find a startup disk, is right.
Questions:
Did you have a startup disk selected?
When was the last time you were able to boot successfully, and have you done anything, made any changes (such as upgrading RAM etc.)?
Try zapping the PRAM (Hold down CommandOption+PR while you hit the Power button. Keep holding until you hear 3 chimes. If this does now work go to the next.
Hold down the option button while you hit the Power button. If there is a startup drive or drives, it should show up, and you can select your HDD.
If that does not work start up from your install disk while holding down the "C" key. If you are able to start successfully, go to the Intaller menu and select Disk Utility. In the first column see if you internal HDD appears. If it does select it then run Repair Disk. After that run Repair Permission. Quit Disk Utility, and select a startup disk. Then restart.

Flashing Question Mark Folder after Clean Install in Target Disk Mode

I have an old iBook G4 with a failing optical drive and the need to reformat the hard drive and re-install OS 10.5.4. Since the optical drive is failing and unpredictable, I figured I'd do everything in target disk mode.
So I mounted the hard drive of the iBook to my Mac Pro via Firewire in target disk mode. I was able to successfully format the hard drive of the iBook, zeroing out all the data with 7 passes, and I was also able to successfully install OS 10.5.4 from my original Install DVD, again in target disk mode.
After the install was complete, I went through all the registration process and User Account setup and the iBook booted fine albeit still in target disk mode. So I shut down the Mac Pro, turned off the iBook and unplugged the Firewire cable. My Mac Pro booted up just fine afterward. But the iBook now gives me the flashing question mark/finder folder.
I know this means that the iBook is having trouble located a startup volume, or that the startup volume is corrupt or missing data. How can this be, though, after a reformat and clean install? Did I do something wrong in target disk mode? Or did I neglect to do something necessary?
Thanks for anyone's help on this.

Thanks, Niel.
I don't see APM as an option in Disk Utility when booting from my Mac Pro. I only have Mac OS Extended (Journaled), Mac OS Extended, Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive), MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT.
How do I get my Mac Pro to repartition the iBook properly in target disk mode?

TS1440 Flashing question mark, cancel, apple, and folder symbol.

My computer has been acting weird for the longest time, I used to have a done of room on it and one day it disappeared. So I started deleting stuff off of it, big apps and what not so I could have more space, I would gain little bit of space but then a second later it goes back to "Zero KG" so I'm thinking I should restart my computer.. So I turn it off, then turn it on, and flashing symbols come up. After multiple times of turning it on and off, I put in my startup disk, but I can't get past the choosing the start up disk because it says I have zero KG on the disk.. So I take the disc out and it goes back to the flashing question mark/apple/folder symbol..

Hello,
Try holding the Option key at startup to see if you can boot off the Install Disc to repair the drive, or the c key.
"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 the 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 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.)
We need to clear some really big files off of it, like Movies, or I suspect some huge logs from something going wrong. 0 KB on the drive can ruin many files on there.

G4 Won't Boot Up and Shows The Flashing Question Mark Folder Thing

Ok so I bought a Quicksilver G4 from this guy and he said that he took is info off it and now it won't boot up. So I have a Tiger Disk and I tried the to boot from the disk by pushing C down while it was booting and it still goes to that Flashing Question Mark and Folder thing. What should I do? Should I take it in or is there something I can do without taking it in?

Hi! It should boot from the install disc by holding down the "c" key at startup with the disc already inserted as long as it's a retail disc and not one for another model of computer. If it won't boot from a retail install disc then you have hardware problems. Tom

Flashing ? question mark/picasso folder...nothing seems to work

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