Flashing question mark/software install disc problem

Hello,
I'm getting the flashing question mark at reboot. I've followed these steps:
a. Insert the Software Install disc that came with your Mac.
b. Restart the computer and immediately press and hold the C key to start up from the disc.
c. When you see the Installer screen, choose Open Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
d. Select your hard disk volume in the left pane, click the First Aid tab, and then click Repair Disk.
e. When it's finished, restart your computer.
HOWEVER, when I restart my computer it STILL reads/loads from the install disc (as opposed to just booting from my hard drive). It's like a endless loop I can't get out of. Am I doing something wrong?
Any suggestions?
- Davey

Here's Apple doc.#106178 on Startup Manager.
Or restart while holding down the "X" key to bring you to your OS.
Cheers!
DALE

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Flashing question mark & lost install disc

Our IMac has a flashing question mark for over a year and I cannot find the install disk to try and repair it. The computer is no longer under warranty, was purchased in 2006 and was wondering how I would be able to get ahold of a new install disk. Could I just purchase a newer disk like leopard (an upgrade) to repair the computer? (would this even work?) or if I took it to the apple store would i be charged an arm and leg for having no warranty? would it be best to take it to an apple store or would geek squad be able to help? (would have to drive over an hour to an apple store, 10 mins to a best buy)

HI,
You can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. They will ask for the model and serial number.
A flashing question mark on startup can mean several things. One the startup disk is failing, or failed, or your Mac can't find a system folder to boot from.
Try booting while holding down the Option key. Normally that will prompt the Startup Manager window, you would select your startup disk and click Restart.
If that doesn't work, try booting in Safe Mode
What is Safe Mode
As for Leopard, your Mac would have to meet the Mac OS X Leopard minimum requirements as stated here. http://support.apple.com/kb/SP517
Carolyn

Boots to flashing question mark folder and disc utility cannot locate internal hard drive

Bottling my MacBook Pro I end up with a flashing question mark folder. I reboot holding the option key to select discs and there were no options at all. I plug in an Ethernet cable and it shows a internet recovery option. I click and it downloaded a temporary recovery mode. From there I open disc utility but it doesn't find any internal hard drives. I reset the pram and I still get the flashing question mark folder. Thinking it was my internal hard drive that failed I bought and replaced the internal hd with a new one and repeated all the processes and still no internal hard drive was found. I'm stuck with the flashing question mark folder. Therefore I've concluded that it was my MacBook pros internal hard drive CABLE that had failed. Does anyone know of any other possible problems that is causing this for my MacBook Pro or know of any solutions? Or is replacing my internal hd cable the only solution? Please help!

It was the internal HD cable. I replaced it and now my MacBook Pro works

Question mark + MacOsX install disc +

I have some iMac G3 600, 256 ram,
Somehow when I tried to update 10.3.1 something went wrong.
I connected it to my eMac 1.42 MacOsX 10.4.7, first I tried to repair it using Disk Utility, it started to clicking....then I turn it off.
Then I erased the iMac G3 (connected via Ethernet).
Then I put in the Install disk 1, booted using C key, but I only get a question mark.
I need help please,
Thank you

Hi PanchoLopez!
Why are you connecting to the eMac, to install 10.3.x, on the iMac?
Do the Panther install disks look like THESE?
ali b

I have replaced my ibook hard drive but when I start up I get a folder with a flashing question mark. I have tried installing the OSX disk using the "C" key but can't get any further than the flashing "?." What do I do? What is the problem?

I have replaced my ibook hard drive but when I start up I get a folder with a flashing question mark. I have tried installing the OSX disk using the "C" key but can't get any further than the flashing "?." What do I do? What is the problem?

Which iBook do you have?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1772?viewlocale=en_US
Which version of the OS is installed, and which version are you trying to install?
You could try starting up with Startup Manager and see if it will allow you to select the OS X install disc as the startup disk. If so, maybe you can proceed from there. I would recommend repairing the hard drive first since you are evidently having a bit of a problem with it.

Hi guys, problem with grey screen and flashing question mark. on top of it while in utility, i'm unable to verify, verify disc permission or repair disc0 which is obviously my main hd. any ideas where to go from here? tried to reistall osx but no luck.

hi guys, problem with grey screen and flashing question mark. should be straight forward affair but on top of it while in disc utility, i'm unable to verify, verify disc permission, repair or even erase disc0 which is obviously my main hd. any ideas where to go from here? tried to reinstall osx but no luck, stucked when asked to chose location to install osx. would really apreciate any kind of help with this cause i'm quite new mac user. ty

If you don't have a backup, read this:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1689

Flashing Question Mark Folder - Cannot Eject Disc - Problem Startup

My Macbook will not start up. I get a flashing question mark folder and will not startup.
Also, I have a dvd inside that will not eject.
Any suggestions?

You will need to reinstall OS X. Try this:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X 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 Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) 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. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.
If your drive cannot be repaired then you will have to reformat the drive and install OS X from scratch.
To eject the DVD press CTRL-E while booted from the installer disc or hold the mouse button down while the computer is booting from the installer disc.

Hi having some problems. flashing question mark!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi iv been having some problems with my mac i was unable to start it up which had the new os x operating system was on it. it had a dreaded flashing question mark on startup. So i did the hold down option key start up manager thing. no luck it couldn't find the disk. So i looked on disk utility and got the message
Invalid B-tree node size
Volume check failed.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.
disk would not repair. so intalled again on my other hard disk to get it up and running again. its sorted now but cannot get the old data off the original hard disk. it is still showing up on disk utillity but carnt do anything with it.
hmmmmmmmm should of backed it all up me thinks...
do you think i could retrive data on this?
can anyone help me out on what to do i dont have a clue.
cheers Jamie
Message was edited by: jamie8286

Hi Jamie, It sounds like the directory is corrupted or your HD is going bad.
Did you check the system profiler and see if the S.M.A.R.T passed. Do you have TechTool or Disk Warrior? There are some programs out there that will allow you extract information from a dieing drive.
The flashing question mark is telling you that it cannot find a functional operating system. And disk utility will only repair drives with a bootable OS.
I know you said you did but, did you boot _from the install disc_ and run disc repair?
I'll see what software for recovery there is for free.....

Flashing question mark, trying to reinstall Tiger but no volume found to install it too.

I was installing updates to this mid 2004 iBook I bought and upon restart I just got tr flashing question mark folder. I tired booting from the OS disc to install, but it tells me there is no volume to install the software too. WTh? It was just working fine 20 minutes ago. It sounds like the HHD engaged but the computer isnt seeing it. Is the hard drive gone or what?

Hello, it sounds like the hard drive has gone to me, the question mark icon you described would be Mac OS X not finding a volume to boot from. It does suggest a replacement hard drive is required, however I have G4 14" iBook that has a problem with a chip on the logic board. A common problem now with old used iBooks. The chip solder becomes departed from the board and eventually effects the iBook's ability to read the hard drive. I am not suggesting this is your fault here, but it's worth being aware of. I personally would replace the hard drive fist and with all luck it will resolve your problem.
Good Luck

Flashing question mark/will not read disc.

So, I've seen other discussions here and tried to apply them to my own problem, but nothing seems to work so far. If anyone can offer any help, this would be great.
I was updating routine software and it asked if I wanted to restart now. I chose yes and it shut down, restarted to the flashing question mark. I tried restarting by holding down the power and c key many times. I know I need to install Mac OS X Install Disc 1, but my Macbook is not reading the disc. I tried putting in disc 2 as well but it doesn't recognise this one either.
Thanks.

Hi,
Hold the option key on startup. If a boot manager doesn't appear there may be hardware issues.
If a boot manager appears but you can't see a CD icon there may be a problem with your optical drive (or media).
Good Luck!

Installed new hard drive and flashing question mark appears

I bought a new hard drive for my macbook pro (mid 2009) because my original harddrive bit the dust... I purchased it off of amazon which states that its specifically for macbooks and the reviews appeared to back it up. I saw a lot of people with great reviews of the same model of macbook that I have so I figured it was the best solution.. I connected the new hard drive but I am getting the dreaded flashing folder/question mark. Is this normal before re-installing the OS x? Heres the problem, I am out of town on business and do not have the original OSx disc on hand. So my question is, is the flashing question mark normal upon installing a new harddrive? and if so, is there away to install the OSx onto the new harddrive without the disc?
my macbook was running mavericks before the harddrive went to poo, however I did try to re-install mavericks before i ultimately realized that I needed to new harddrive. I noticed that rebooting my mac with command+r would give me the option to reinstall mavericks without a disc or anything. the next question I have is, would this still be do-able on the new harddrive? I tried the command+R option on the new harddrive but nothing happens.
Can someone help me out here, I am getting a little desperate as I have gone over a week without my mac and theres so crucial things I need to get done! Luckily I have all my stuff backed up on an external hard drive, I just need to get the mac running again. Thanks for taking time to read!

1. Yes, it is normal. If there's no OS on the drive, there's nothing to take the computer past that point.
2. No, there's no way on that Mac model. You need to use an existing system(see #4).
3. Not on that Mac model; it doesn't have the Internet Recovery system, and there isn't a recovery partition on the new drive.
4. If the backup drive contains a bootable clone of any compatible OS, or a Time Machine backup created from Mac OS X 10.8 or newer, connect it and restart the computer with the Option key held down. If it doesn't contain either, you can't.
(105476)

Flashing question mark no discs

before i begin i am typing this in on a phone so excuse any obvious typos and terrible punctuation i only got my macbook about three months ago and after installing windows neither windows or mac will boot and a flashing question mark sits on the screen during boot. According to google running repair on my mac disc should fix this however as i've mentioned before my macbook did not have a mac os x disc with it and i am still waiting for apple to send me one. Is there anything i can do to fix this or do i have to wait however long until apple gets me those discs. On a side note i have about 10 different distributions of linux i use on my pc if any of those can aid in fixing my macbook -thank you, Aescyr

That question mark poses a very serious problem: it can't find your hard drive, or any bootable device.
In other words, eithe you hard drive is disconnected from you computer, or your hard drive just completely died. Hopefully it's disconnected, but most of the times when this happens, it is the latter.
Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait for those discs, because you will need to boot your computer from the disc, and run Disk Utility. If Disk Utility does not find your hard drive, then it's dead.
If you have no time to wait for the discs to arrive, then get to an Apple Store. They will determine if the hard drive is dead or not, and issue a hard drive replacement since it is under warranty. Just remember, your data at this point is pretty much gone, unless you have a backup from Time Machine or something similar. (I use SuperDuper!)

Cannot install 10.5 on G5 iMac - flashing question mark

I have an iMac G5 that I am trying to install OSX 10.5 on. I get a flashing question mark and mac face folder after booting to that disk.
I was able to boot with my 10.4 disk, go into disk utilities, and erase the hard drive as per the instructions here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2311038&tstart=0
Any reason why 10.5 will not install?

rswurth wrote:
This disk came with another iMac (Intel) that I bought for parts.
A grey Leopard system restore disc can't be used on any Mac other than the one that it was bundled with when new. See here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1976068
You need to find a retail Leopard install DVD (black with a big X on it) if you want Leopard on your G5.

Problem during clean instaltion of mavericks - flashing question mark

hi to all,
I have a macbook pro late 2012, and i tried to make a clean install of Mavericks by a usb pen drive, everything was well until after the reboot.
It apears only a flashing question mark.. i already try everyting on the apple support tutorial (http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440) but I couldn´t solve the problem..
can anyone help me

Reïterating:
You booted the Startup Manager by holding down the Option key after the initial bong.
The only disk that you could see is the USB drive.
Is this correct?
If so it sounds like your internal disk died.
A way to double check:
Can you boot the recovery partition (Boot Command-R) and run Disk Utility?
If you click on the upper left icon does the S.M.A.R.T. status report "Verified"?
If you click on the Macintosh HD icon and Repair Disk does it finish with a green OK message?
If it passes these tests then the disk is not dead.
If it appers to be dead, take it to an Apple Store for a free diagnosis and estimate of repairs. Has it been less than a year since you purchased it or is it covered by AppleCare? If so they will replace the disk for free.
Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/
Post back if you want instructions on replacing it youself (not a difficut procedure).

Flashing question mark, keeps forgetting start up disc

The first time I got the flashing question mark I zapped the pram and it worked for a while. Then got stuck on whirling disc when waking up. I shut it down and it forgot the start up disc again. Zapping pram didn't work this time so I resent PMU and it started. I've been trying to back up ibook data before I take it in to see what's up. My hard drive is very noisy and I suspect it's about to go. Is it possible that the whold problem is the hard drive? It's logic board had been replaced some time ago. Screen is bright and when it works everything works well, just noisy hard drive. And, how many times can you zap the pram or reset pmu before real damage is done?
Thanks folks,
Connie

Connie, is this an iBook or an eMac? (You've posted in the iBook G3 Forum.)
Whichever, as long as it is running OS X 10.2 or better, I would suggest that you 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.
You will see your normal desktop. Once completely started up in Safe Mode, restart normally into OS X (hold down the x key as the startup chime is ending), and go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Click on the top hard drive icon in the left sidebar and, if you are running OS X 10.3 or later, 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.
Check to make sure that your OS X installation is selected as your startup disk, and see if it is remembered now.
Maybe a little hard drive maintenance will help things out.

Flashing question mark/software install disc problem

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