Macbook boots up with a question mark
Hi,
My Macbook suddenly began to boot up with a pale greay desktop screen colour and in the centre of the screen there is a folder with a question makr inside it. I can not progress to do anything else with it..any ideas?
Cheers CFV
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 Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
Put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD 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.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. 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.
Similar Messages
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White Macbook has folder with a question mark inside when powered on.
My brother has a white macbook given to him from a friend and when it is powered on it shows a folder icon with a question mark in the inside flashing and it doesn't boot. He has sent me on a quest to get a power adapter and a new hard drive, He thinks the hard drive is fried. Does anyone know for sure if thats the case, I just don't want to buy all that stuff to figure out that the logic board is dead or something else irreplaceable. There is no backup disks, all I have is a replacement leopard disk from apple used for my mac mini.
If it is a retail Leopard disc--black with a giant purple X on it--then yes, you could use them, with a couple of caveats. One, it would technically be a violation of the license to use that install of Leopard on more than one computer, and terms of use on this forum forbid me from encouraging such an action. And two, depending on how old this used MacBook is, your install of Leopard may pre-date manufacture of the MacBook and, as a result, not be able to boot the MacBook anyway. However, judging by the info in your signature, that is probably not a problem.
If the disc for your Mini is gray and shipped with or was meant to ship with the Mini, then no, the disc will not work.
I still encourage you to get the system discs that came with the MacBook originally, as they have the Apple Hardware Test included, and, as I suggested above, running any OS (or other Apple software) on a Mac without the discs means technically it's an unlicensed copy. -
TS2570 iMac won't boot, GSOD with Flashing Question Mark, safe/verbose mode not possible
I have an iMac 24", just over 2 years old running OS X v10.5 (Leopard). Mighty Mouse and bluetooth keyboard, no peripherals.
It slowed enormously over the last few weeks and has now ceased to boot.
On switching on I hear the chime (blank grey screen initially), the grey screen hangs for approx 30sec before the flashing folder/?mark icon appears.
There is no further progress.
Boot key combination results:
Can reset NVRAM (Option-Command-P-R)
Cannot boot to safe mode
Cannot boot to startup manager
Cannot boot to verbose mode
Cannot boot from target media (DVD etc)
Cannot boot to AHT mode
Cannot boot to single user mode
I have followed the steps here http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Disconnect, test peripheral devices and network cables - done - de-powered and rebooted. No difference.
Perform a Safe Boot- this does not work. I am familiar with the boot combinations and timings. The safe boot leads to the same flashing folder/?mark icon. I have also tried verbose, single user, AHT and startup manager with the same result.
Reset the NVRAM / PRAM - done - this worked and kicks the system into an auto-reboot after 3-5 seconds. This also demonstrates the Keyboard is fine. The subsequent boot fails at the same point via normal, safe or verbose boot instructions.
Start from your Mac OS X Install disc; use Disk Utility – I never received an OSX install disk. I have the original box with receipts etc, the only disk present is an unsealed version of iLife (yeah thanks Apple). Where would I get one?
Check your cables and power source – done - all fine.
Remove third-party RAM and internal hardware – not applicable.
Perform an Archive and Install installation of Mac OS X – how would I do this when I cannot boot the device?
Perform an Erase and Install installation of Mac OS X as a last resort – how would I do this when I cannot boot the device?
To me the problem looks like a HDD failure. I had windows (dual boot) professionally installed when I bought the iMac and since the Windows boot option is also not visible (startup manager itself does not work) I suspect the system can’t find bootable media because the HDD isn’t spinning.
An OS corruption would generally affect one or the other but presumably not both Operating Systems simultaneously.
It's hard to be certain, but I’m sure it used to make more noise.
I had a look into opening it up and troubleshooting the physical components but it’s hard to know where to start. There are no obvious ways in and I’m not a professional so decided to post a question here rather than hack it open.
I'd be grateful if you could suggest next steps here, or is it time to go dig a hole in the garden? I certainly expected more than 2yrs life from a £1200 unit.
Many Thanks,
RyanThanks for the response,
I bought the iMac new, 17th Jan 2010, all receipts intact but no extended warrenty. I declined the Applecare Plan for two reasons.
(1) The sales rep seemed very confident in the product build. In fact the main justification of the price tag was the quality of the device. I'd also never had an apple device malfunction at that stage.
(2) The incumbent EU regulations are quite fair in so much as legislation dictates electrical goods should be manufactured to function for a 'reasonable' lifetime. I would be morally uncomfortable paying for rights I theoretically already have.
I triple checked on the OS X disks you mentioned but no joy. Unusual as it may be, the box has not been used and it's contents reflect the day of purchase.
I'm happy to order the OS X v10.5 DVD and attempt a boot to the disk utility, I don't mind risking a few bucks on a potential fix. I'll need to figure out where to order the disk, the call centre is closed ATM so watch this space.
What I'd really be interested in is; (a) is there a known diagnostic routine to determine the HDD functionality and (b) it is possible to replace/upgrade the HDD? This for me is where the iMac loses ground against a conventional PC in terms of motherboard/component access. It's far superior from an asthaetics perspective while things are running smoothly and the OS is great but the first sign of a hardware malfunction and there seems little or no scope to self-medicate the device.
The disk has around 40-60 GB free space.
I don't have a second Mac, nor any friends or family with a Mac to 'borrow' for the disk utility test you mentioned. I'll hunt around this afternoon/week but my instinct tells me finding a locally accessable Mac running 3 yr old OS X might not be possible. Again, watch this space, I'll post any further developments.
In the meantime any further assistance or answers to the above questions on determining HDD status would be much appreciated. No progress has yet been made on the original issue of failing to boot.
Many Thanks
Ryan -
So I came to this problem a while ago. M ycomputer basically froze so I was forced to shut down by holding the button down. When I started it up I got the flashing folder with a question mark. I started it up holding down the command and r keys which brought me to disk utility. Although my computer doesn't read that I have a hard drive to start it up. When I click on the disk utility app, I cannot verify or repair anything either. The buttons won't allow me to click on them. It also shows "Mac OSX Base System" which shows I have files and what not saved. I had been told that I need a new hard drive so I bought and manually installed a OWC SSD 240GB drive and when i booted the computer up it booted up yo the operating system fine with all my files and what not on there. After about twenty minutes, it froze again. I forced a shut down, restarted and the same thing happened. I am not able to choose my SSD to boot up, although thats probably because it doesn't have an operating system installed on it??
i have a Macbook Pro 13" 2011
any help would be great, I'm overall confused.ryansaint11,
this isn’t Apple support; this is a user-to-user forum. We’re just fellow users of Apple products here.
If you want to boot from your SSD, then you should put the SSD where your HDD currently is, and put the HDD into the optical bay. (That setup will also get you the best performance.) At the moment, you’re still booting from your HDD. Note that you will need to format your SSD in Disk Utility [with the “Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)” format] so that you can install OS X onto it.
Since you have an Early 2011 model, it might or might not have originally come with grey installation DVDs. You will be able to find out whether it did or not by trying to use OS X Internet Recovery to install OS X onto your SSD. If it does not work, or if the installed OS turns out to be Snow Leopard, then it will have originally come with the DVDs, and you should purchase a replacement pair of DVDs from Apple or iFixit; those discs will have your MacBook Pro’s Apple Hardware Test and its iLife apps. If the installed OS turns out to be Lion, then it will not originally have come with the grey installation DVDs, and your Apple Hardware Test will be installed along with Lion, and your iLife apps will be downloadable from the Mac App Store. -
MacBook Pro won't boot at start. I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?
Read this article...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US -
pls my macbook air is not booting up,when i switch it on the apple logo blinks with a question mark in it.what do i do?, pls my macbook air is not booting up,when i switch it on the apple logo blinks with a question mark in it.what do i do?
See here > http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
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Hey ppl,my macbook is not booting and by that i mean u can hear the audio wave when its starting up,the screen goes white and then after a while there's a folder with a question mark in the middle of the screen...anyone,any ideea?!?Regards.
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 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 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. -
MacBook Air won't boot up and all I get is a folder with a question mark
My 2012 MacBook Air running mountain lion won't boot up, all I get is a grey screen and then a folder icon with a question mark in it. What can I do?
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
It's possible that your hard drive has stopped working. Do you remember what OS X version you were using?
If your Mac came with DVDs, insert the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 and hold the C key while your Mac is starting to start from the DVD. Then, choose your language, and go to the Utilities menu (on the menu bar) > Disk Utility. After that, choose "Macintosh HD" in the sidebar and repair the drive. If it couldn't be repaired, you need a new hard drive, and you can do it yourself if you want. If you don't want, take the Mac to an Apple Store or reseller.
If your Mac didn't come with DVDs, follow the same steps but holding Command, Option (Alt) and R keys while your computer is starting -
From the little research l have done, l have been convinced l may be having a dead hard drive though after having tried all the other troubleshooting tips found here, when trying to boot l get the grey screen and folder with the question mark suggesting it can not find the files neccessary to boot hence l tried booting with the disc and the message l get is that mac OS X can not be installed on this computer, though after doing the hardware check etc they all say okay. I've even tried erasing the drive and trying to instal the OS afresh with no luck. Any ideas or l must just get a new hard drive?
Pretty sure BGreg hit the nail on the head. If your hard drive was failing, you would still be able to at least attempt an install, provided your ard drive was mounting. You usually get that message when the disk is incompatible with the computer. If it is the proper disk, you might try erasing the disk (provided your info is backed up) using Disk Utility (under Utilities in the menubar) and choose the Mac OSX Extended (Journaled) format.
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First my Macbook is almost 5 yrs old and is probably on it's last leg. The other day it froze and was making some pretty loud clicking noises. I turned it off by holding down the power button and tried starting it up again. At that point the screen was just blue and the noise came back on. Then a file folder appeared in the middle of the screen with a question mark in it. Does this mean the hard drive crashed or something? We blew a hard drive once before (though it didn't happen like this) but I just wanted to check before I go to the store. If it's something that is bad then I may just be sending this one to the grave and replace it with an iPad. Any insight into this problem would be appreciated. Thanks.
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 Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
Put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD 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.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. 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. -
MacBook turns on but doesn't go to home screen, instead a folder icon with a question mark on it keeps flashing.
It means that your mac is unable to boot, try doing a safe boot http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455 first, if that does not work insert your OSX disc (the one that came with your mac) and boot to that, post back with a report.
Is your backup 'bootable' (Carbon Copy or SuperDuper) or non-'bootable' (Time Machine)
Message was edited by: Csound1 -
It started while I was using Adobe InDesign, and that program froze, then crashed. When I tried to reopen the program, the error message I received was simply "Error: 16".
I tried to take a screen shot of the error message for reference, and it gave me a message saying I couldn't because I didn't have access to the files where it would normally store the shot.
Attached to my computer at the time was my Seagate Free Agent Go-Flex for Mac backup drive.
So, I closed any open applications, and restarted my computer. But it wouldn't restart. It only displays a grey screen with a flashing icon in the middle of a folder with a question mark on it.
I have no idea what happened - I wasn't using the machine any differently than usual, and it only had a few basic applicaitons open in addition to InDesign (like Preview, Text Edit, Microsoft Word, iCal).
I have MacKeeper on my MacBook, and I keep it clean.
Does anyone out there know what this flashing icon indicates, and if there is anything I can try on my own to fix it?
Thanks.ali har wrote:
It started while I was using Adobe InDesign, and that program froze, then crashed. When I tried to reopen the program, the error message I received was simply "Error: 16".
I tried to take a screen shot of the error message for reference, and it gave me a message saying I couldn't because I didn't have access to the files where it would normally store the shot.
For the Error: 16
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/827/cpsid_82744.html
Seems a uninstall and reinstall of CS is in order.
Attached to my computer at the time was my Seagate Free Agent Go-Flex for Mac backup drive.
May or may not be a contributing factor, may have kicked in at a wrong time or running root code.
So, I closed any open applications, and restarted my computer. But it wouldn't restart. It only displays a grey screen with a flashing icon in the middle of a folder with a question mark on it.
Computer can't find a bootable volume.
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
I have MacKeeper on my MacBook, and I keep it clean.
Well that explains it, MacKeeper is almost malware.
http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/
Search the forums here for "MacKeeper" they will tell the whole story, crapware.
Disconnect all drives, follow the "Grey Screen" instructions and hold Shift key down while booting, if you get into OS X , immediatly backup your files to another drive and disconnect.
In my opinion you should first check to make sure you have a backup of your data, then just erase the entire internal drive (hold c boot off the 10.6 disk, use Disk Utility), reinstall OS X, same user name, update to 10.6.8, c boot off the 10.6 and Repair Disk (to fix a update error) install your programs and finally return files from backup into the same main user folders like before (Music, Docs, Pictures etc.)
A pain it is, but you've hosed your system and in the process you might as well rebuild everything and have a fast machine again. So happens to clear MacKrapper, uninstall CS5 and any other junk in your system at the same time. Fresh, clean, lean and mean.
Learn to Carbon Copy Cloner to a external drive that new pristine boot drive, you can hold the option key and boot from it (even update it), which is a real bacon saver when something like this happens. Also it's free to use, donations accepted.
http://www.bombich.com/
Note: if anything above I've mentioned is too complicated or your not sure, seek the services of a local computer specialist. -
On a macbook I purchased secondhand hard drive got corrupted and I started to get the flashing folder with the question mark, I purchased a new hard drive and snow lion install DVD I installed the hard drive and tried disc but kept getting blinking folder
Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We're users here and do not speak for "Apple Inc."
Power on the computer and insert the DVD immediately.
Hold down the 'C' key to boot from the Snow Leopard DVD.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
After selecting the appropriate language, if necessary, select Utilities, and Disk Utility.
You'll likely need to partition and format the new drive before it's recognized.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA161/en_US/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY .pdf
(Yes, these instructions ARE 7 years old, but the procedure is the same for installing from DVD media.) -
When turned on our Macbook flashes a folder with a question mark in the center screen, then it shuts down after a few minutes. Doea anyone have any ideas how to boot the computer back up?
CheersThat 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 Operating System data on the hard drive 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.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Just press the Return key on yourkeyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left handlist. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. 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. -
I've got a 15" white macbook which I bought about 2 years ago. It froze the other day and wouldn't respond so I shut it down. When I turn it on now it comes up with a flashing file with a question mark on it. How can I fix it? I've tried a few things i've seen online but the futhest ive got is to put the start up disk in when you makes it go to a grey screen with an apple logo and the spinning wheel which then stops spinning. Can anybody help?
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 Operating System data on the hard drive 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.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Just press the Return key on your keyboard once.It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left handlist. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. 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.
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