Folder with happy faces & a question marks

My iBook G4 goes from chime to a black page and then to a grey screen with a folder with an alternating happy face & a question mark??? I have reset P-ram. I have run TechTool Pro and fixed all permissions and volumes and I have run Disk Utility and start-up disk off my 10.4 install disk. In all cases, the hard drive was recognized by Disk Utility and TechTool Pro 5. But still no proper startup or restart. I have also " reset nv-ram" and "reset all" from command line.
I have also reloaded 10.4. No change.
Any suggestion on what to try next???????
Thanks

Yes I repaired the disk as well (numerous times). I have also tried an Archive and Install. I have checked the drive for disk corruption with TechTool Pro 5. I have connected via Target mode and see the drive and ran all tests over again. I have even reinstalled 10.4.6 (install disk) with erase of the disk. Nothing seems to work. All diagnostic, repair and connections see the hard drive, but no proper start up.
Is there a possibility that the bios firmware is corrupted or a hardware problem that still allows you to see the drive??? Please note that I had only 4 gig of disk space left on 60 Gig driven (less than 10%)....Yes I know that is bad but I was out of town at the time that it went south.

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Start up stuck on folder with happy face.

So I went to use the computer and the mouse icon wasn't showing at all. So I tried hitting force quit and nothing happened. So then I turned the power off and attempted to restart. At first it was flashing with a smiley face alternating with a question mark, now it's stuck on just the smiley face. Can anyone help?
Thanks!

Do you have OS 9 (Classic) selected as the startup disk? If not, then are you able to boot into OS X?
A flashing folder with a question mark and/or a sad mac icon indicates a missing or corrupt system folder. Unfortunately, a reinstall of the system may be necessary. Try to recover any lost data by bringing into the Apple Store near your place of residence and have them target boot the laptop for you (They also may be able to further help you with your problem). They then can burn the files that you need the most to disc as a backup.
Good Luck.

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

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.

Blinking mac face and question mark at startup

i've been having problems w/ my powerbook lately, it's been freezing and the mouse has been whirring. I installed more ram and repaired discs through the installation software (disk utilities).
everything was working fine for about a day, except that the laptop kept making this whirring sound.
suddenly, my mouse pointer disappeared and wouldn't turn back on. i forced the computer to quit by holding down on the power button, but once i restarted it, an icon of a small grey folder w/ alternating between a blinking mac face and question mark came on.
i tried restarting the computer, holding down command, alt/options, "P" and "R" but the blinking face won't go away. now, the computer turns on for about half a minute, and then shuts off by itself.
can someone please help me??

Look at:http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
You may need to run fsck to try and repair the volume.
Please update your profile so we know which version of Mac OS you're running.
Joe

HT2173 i get a flashing face and question mark when switching on, but computer stays on this screen?

help please I have two other Imacs and when I switch them on I get a flasing face and question mark come up in the middle of the screen, and they continue to flash with nothing else happening apart from a loud fan noice after a while?

On what Mac running what version of OS X?

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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.
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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

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I emailed it to a few people and it looks great on their screens. However, when they print it,
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You probably used a font that is not on their system and did not embed the font in the PDF when you created it. Don't feel bad. We all have done it. Just make sure to embed your fonts in the Joboptions settings before you recreate the PDF.

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

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You may find this support article helpful:
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I see photos in the I photo library, but when I click on them to see the single picture in a larger view instead of seeing the particular picture, I get a square box with a question mark in it. It doesn't happen with all my pictures, just 80 percent, which is very frustrating since these are the most recent pictures from a vacation. This just started with the recent upgrade to I photo 6. I have ibookG4 running OSX 10.4.8

SwissCanadian
Welcome to the Mac and the Apple DIscussions.
In general, it's a good idea to create a new thread for a new query.
To your specific questions:
1. however, it drives me crazy that I can't simply add more photos to an existing roll in the library... it always creates a new folder. How do I stop iPhoto from doing this?
You can't. But you can move photos from Roll to Roll in the iPhoto Window, and this will be reflected in the Finder. Just a you can rename Rolls etc., all via the iPhoto Window.
2. Is there any way that I can retrain the programme to find the photos that I have moved?
No, sorry, the best you can do, if you cannot return things to the way they were, is to create a new library and start over. To rebuild the library: move the iPhoto Library Folder to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library Folder on your desktop and find there the Originals folder. From there drag the individual rolls to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library Folder on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
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When you rename things in the iPhoto Library Folder, or when you focus on the iPhoto Library Folder you're missing the point. You do your work in the iPhoto Window, and apart from backing up, forget about the iPhoto Library Folder. As Phillyphan points out, messing with the iPhoto Library Folder is like opening the bonnet on your car and re-arranging the wiring there. With the same results! Or as I sometimes put it, iPhoto is a photo organiser, why do you then re-organise what the organiser has done?
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TD

I uploaded photos from my camera card onto my desktop in a folder. I then moved that folder onto my dock just to make things organized, and now that I'm trying to open the folder, there is a huge question mark over it and wont let me see the photos.

I am not sure whats going on! These were photos of my best friends wedding dress, and now they are gone. I erased them off of the camera card I was using from my boyfriend (probably a dumb idea), and now I can't "re-upload" them. Now I feel like I lost them forever. Can someone help??

Shot in the dark.
Did iPhoto launch? Check iPhoto and see if they in there.
Did you put it on the right side of the dock where the stacks are? Check in Documents.
A folder with a question mark usually means the dock item is no longer connected to an application.

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Can't log in white screen with flashing file and Question mark

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Folder with happy faces & a question marks

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