HT1752 my imac g3 wont start

hi, i have an old imac g3 and it wont boot up. every time i start it, the power button lights up and the little jingle plays but it then goes to a grey screen with a little folder in the middle blinking from a question mark to the finder guy. whats wrong?

>but it just stay stuck with a question mark inside a folder
The blinking question mark means that the firmware could not find a valid OS on your startup disk. The likeliest possibilities are your OS has become corrupted or the harddrive has failed.
If you have a second Mac computer, you may want to try to copy over as many files you can. One way is to use target disk mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
http://lowendmac.com/misc/06/0710.html
<br>
Another way to recover any data on the harddrive, you can try removing the harddrive from your system and placing the harddrive in an external harddrive enclosure. You may be able to read the data on a second computer.
For slot loading machines... Try holding down the option key then power on. This brings up the startup manager. Click on your hd. Click on right arrow key.
Try re-installing the os.
Sometimes if volumes don't appear in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open Firmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime. Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
"The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US
How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:
eject cd
List of devices:
devalias
List of variables:
printenv
( nvram is the equivalent Mac OS X terminal command. )
Robert

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For this type of question, we need to know which iMac you have. This forum covers G3, G4, and G5 iMacs that have different hardware, and any recommendations are better handled if people know which you have. For starters, do "About this Mac" from your Apple menu and look at teh processor type.
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Are you saying you don't have a backup now? If not and the HD cannot be repaired then your only choice is expensive data recovery services. However I think when you find out the cost you will abandon it. Backup isn't something that should be done, it is something that must be done to protect your valuable data While I know this is not what you wanted to hear it's the truth. When you get your iMac repaired get an external HD and begin using Time Machine, it's built right into OS X. You can find out more about it in Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support. Next buy a second EHD and create another backup, when it comes to backup redundancy is extremely wise as backup can fail too. You can get a utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper and create a bootable clone. NEVER EVER use one EHD to create multiple backup schemes. This is a false economy and due to the relatively low prices of EHD's there is no excuse to not have redundant backup.
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Nancy Richey...
Sorry, but a iMac G3 is rather Generic in terms of all iMac (CRT) models.
A Tray Loading iMac (233-333Mhz) may indicate the HD was partitioned to close to 8GB limit when 7.8GB or less was needed.
A Slot Loading iMac (350-700Mhz) may indicate some picky memory module was installed or insufficient total memory isn't available. A HD without enough free space follows the memory thing rather close.
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IMAC G5 WONT START

Hi all, can anyone help. I have a G5 IMAC with isight (late 2006 model) which will not start up. I've tried what the manual suggests but no luck. The computer spends a fair amount of time off if this helps.
Thanks.

Hi DP,
Thanks for responding.
I've checked the power cable. Changed the outlet source. The computer stays in the off mode, black screen. I've tried to start the computer by pressing the option, command and P and R keys at the same time as depressing the power key. I've detached all cables as well as power cable for at least 30 seconds many times. The computer is completely unresponsive.
Regards,
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Try starting from your install disk and using Disk Utility
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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.
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Hi rarrieta-
A power supply failure would have the potential to damage other things like a hard drive. But according to the repair extension program guidelines a hard drive is not considered to be covered.
Miriam is right-you can mention the fact that it was working prior to the repair but they may still not want to cover it. Bummer not checking it out in the store the first time.
Did you install the drive or did Apple? Is the machine covered by AppleCare or was this all initiated under the repair extension program? If it was Apple installed and you have AppleCare the hardware will be covered.
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Hi i have an Imac G5 iSight and recently it would not start up properly. After a day or two without usage it became very slow and laggy when i tried to reuse it, so then i just manually shut it off. i then rebooted it and a flashing folder appeared (this isnt the first time ive seen the folder) then i just shut it off and let it sit there for about a day, after that i turned it on and it would send me to the greyish screen as usual with the apple logo on it with a loading bar at the bottom this time. the loading bar would barely fill up and then if would just shut itself off. Could anybody please help me with my situation?
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First, if you're running Snow Leopard, you ave an Intel-based iMac, and not a PPC based G5 iSight iMac. The late 2006 iMacs look similar to the iSight iMacs.
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Run Disk Utility to Repair the Hard Drive and Repair Disk Permissions
Place your original, came with the iMac when purchased install disk, into the optical drive slot on the iMac. Restart the computer. Immediately press and hold the C key. (If you have upgraded your OS from when you purchased your iMac, example your iMac came with OS 10.3 installed, and you're now using OS 10.5, then use the OS 10.5 Retail Install disk that you had used to upgrade your OS instead of the original, came with the iMac disk.)
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When that is done, quit Disk Utility.
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If that doesn't work, try resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
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Run the Apple Hardware Test (AHT)
See here for running AHT for Intel-based iMacs:
https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
Good luck.

TS1587 My iMac i3 wont start up.

power is on and the little gear icon is turning but then the prohibited sign (circle with a diagonal bar through it) appears and system not booting up. If I try to restart using the original discs will I lose all data/files?

iMac G5: Fails to startup (From an article at MacFixit)
Some users are reporting an issue where iMac G5s fail to properly startup -- apparently at a hardware level -- never reaching the Mac OS X startup splash screen (Apple logo with a spinning progress indicator).
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I had the same BS.
This is what i did.
Pull power chord for the wall angrily (optional).
Plug back in.
Power the thing back up whilst clicking and holding the mouse down.
This will open the cd/dvd tray.
Then put in dvd slide it shut and power down again.
Power up again whilst holding down the C key.
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HT1752 my imac g3 wont start

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