New hard drive blinking question mark in a folder

I have an iMac G51058 the hard drive is dead, so I changed for a new one. I turn the computer on, insert a 10.5 disk turn off, wait 30seconds and turn on pressing the option key. A folder with alternating Apple face and a question mark blinks forever. Any suggestions?

power off machine. Hold down the option key.  Power on machine.  continue holding down option key until you see the startup manager screen.
sometimes you need a wired keyboard for this to work.
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
Should the fail...
Try taking the battery out for 10 minutes.  Put battery back in.  Cross fingers. Power the machine back on.
How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:
eject cd
List of devices:
devalias
List of variables:
printenv

Similar Messages

  • Macbook pro not reading hard drive blinking question mark

    Just got a new replacement MacBook Pro.   Did a restore from timemachine and the Apple updates.   Opened a finder and could not find the internal hard drive.  (nothing else connectd to the laptop)   attempted to open the applications folder and got stuck with a spinning wheel.   Re=started 5 minutes later and nothing happened.
    Did a OPTION Key restart, connected to the network and did a disk util.  No internal drive displayed.
    The old laptop's HD died 4 times.  Now this new one dies right out fo the box?   Back to the Apple store tomrrow morning.  
    Any suggestions?

    Got to the Finder? From the Finder menu: Finder>Preferences. Hard Disk box checked?

  • Installed new hard drive in imac and i get folder with question mark, put in OS install disk and it does nothing? All I have is wireless key board and mouse, is this a factor?

    Installed new hard drive in imac and i get folder with question mark, put in OS install disk and it does nothing? All I have is wireless key board and mouse, is this an issue?

    Other than put disc in you don't give much info about what you've done. With the install disc inserted restart your Mac while holding the C key, that should start it up from the install disc. Should also work fine with a wireless Apple keyboard.

  • After I turned on my MacBook Pro, it displayed a blinking question mark over a folder and now I don't know what to do.

    When I turned on my Mac, the blinking question mark appeared and I went to the apple support pages and did everything on the lists.
    Nothing worked. Then I put in the installation disk to wipe the hd, but none appeared on the list. I tried putting in a different hd and that didn't work either. Also, my original hard drive is fine because I put it in a another Mac and it worked perfectly. 
    Now I am at a loss over what to do. Any solutions?

    Sound like a hardware failure / cable / connection
    Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/
    on-line https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action
    check warranty https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

  • Copying old iTunes library onto a new hard drive: special question:

    How do i do this when the music in my old iTunes library was not all in the itunes media folder (some was in downloads, shared folder, etc). Should I put these folders in the places where they were on my old hard drive (for example the "shared" folder was on the desktop) or should i just put everything into the iTunes media folder. My main goal here is to recreate my old itunes library with the playlists intact while also having all the songs recognized (none of those exclamation points because it cant locate the file). Sorry to repeat myself but I just want to make it clear because i dont want this to mess up. Should i put all my music into the itunes media folder for it to show up in the old library, or should I keep it in the folders it always was in and just place those folders in the same locations on this hard drive? Thanks for any help

    The solution you linked to looks good, but I'm a bit
    confused about if it'll work for my situation - I'll
    be putting Vista on a new drive (completely clean
    install, not an upgrade), which means that iTunes
    will be cleanly installed as well. The way I'm
    reading it, it seems the solution there needs an
    iTunes install that already interacts with the old
    library.
    Right, and the way you do this is to hold down the shift key while starting iTunes. (Note: this does not mean holding down the shift key while you click on the icon. It means holding it down immediately after that while the program is starting up.) This will bring up a dialog asking what iTunes library you want to use. Point to the old library, and you're in business.
    Let me know if this will work: I drag and drop my
    whole music folder to the new drive, then in iTunes I
    go to File --> Import and import the itl or xml file.
    I've heard this might not work because the xml file
    has pathways that refer to a specific drive letter
    which will be different.
    That's correct. You can edit the XML to fix the pathnames, but I wouldn't recommend that unless editing XML is something you do regularly.

  • Blinking question mark within a folder? can not use my broken cd drive for the systems disc?

    My optical drive is broken, so i cannot insert my system software disc. Is there another way to repair my macbook with a flashing ? within a fold upon startup?

    If you have another Mac you can you the target disk mode and have a look if you could access the hard drive from the other Mac. Could also be a hardware error on/with the drive.

  • Not booting from DVD drive | Flashing Question mark and face folder S

    Hey there! I am hoping one of you folks can help.
    I noticed my iMac running really slow.
    I could not find my OS disks, so I bought OS X Leopard
    When I tried to boot from DVD it would flash the question/face folder for about 30 seconds then reboot normal. (I was able to install the OS. Just can't boot from the disk in order to run disk utility)
    Time got away from me and now my system is REALLY slow...
    I went and bought Disk Warrior
    Same issue, only my drive spits out that disk. (I can run and burn other disks)
    I won't discuss my failed attempts at getting help from the Apple store and by having the geniuses (not) call me. I would rather not pay an arm and a leg to have an approved repair center run the disk utility for me. I've already spent $169 on the OS and $100 on Disk Warrior... PLEASE HELP

    Hey,
    No, I'm not running Snow Leopard. Running Leopard. 10.5.8
    I'm guessing the problem is either with my computer itself, or perhaps the DVD drive. Hard to tell. Maybe even something corrupt in my software?
    My problem is:
    I desperately need to run a disk utility of some sort, however am not able to make my computer use my OS disk or Disk warrior as a startup disk (either by holding down C, or by assigning it in System Utilities.)
    I was hoping someone might have a tip, or trick to get my machine to use one of these disks as the startup disk.
    Thanks!

  • Not booting from DVD drive | Flashing Question mark and face folder SOS!

    Hey there! I am hoping one of you folks can help.
    I noticed my iMac running really slow.
    I could not find my OS disks, so I bought OS X Leopard
    When I tried to boot from DVD it would flash the question/face folder for about 30 seconds then reboot normal. (I was able to install the OS. Just can't boot from the disk in order to run disk utility)
    Time got away from me and now my system is REALLY slow...
    I went and bought Disk Warrior
    Same issue, only my drive spits out that disk. (I can run and burn other disks)
    I won't discuss my failed attempts at getting help from the Apple store and by having the geniuses (not) call me. I would rather not pay an arm and a leg to have an approved repair center run the disk utility for me. I've already spent $169 on the OS and $100 on Disk Warrior... PLEASE HELP

    I think you are going in a totally wrong direction. Your profile indicates you have Leopard (10.5.X) however I don't believe that what you recently purchased. I think you purchased Snow Leopard (10.6.X), these are two totally different OS's! Unless you got extremely lucky and found someone selling 10.5.x then naturally you would have the problem you did trying to boot from it. My advice is:
    1. Look to see what version of OS X you are running (click the Apple in the upper left of this screen and then choose About this Mac) then cross check what version of the OS you recently purchased.
    2. If you are running 10.5.x then you will need to call Apple and purchase replacement discs for a nominal charge. Once received you should be able to boot from that disc and run Disk Utility from it.
    3. If you are running 10.6.x then re post (with an updated profile) so we can determine what the next step is.
    It seems like you don't know what you are doing and in an effort to save money you are probably going to spend more than taking your machine to an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
    Regards,
    Roger

  • Imac g3 os; blinking question mark, folder on boot

    Thanks for your help Nick. I did as you said.
    selected startup disk, then clicked on macintosh hd
    and clicked on restart.
    When it restarted, the blinking question mark
    inside the folder appeared.
    Am I having a possible hard ware problem of
    some kind ? Have tried shocking pram already.
    Is it bad pram battery, or maybe a
    hard drive problem ?
    Maybe one bad memory stick ?
    I am lost here. New to macs.
    Any help would be appreciated.

    Please stick to the other topic. This is in a round about way a duplicate. You will confuse yourself if others answer here.

  • Installed new hard drive, mail re-install not working properly...

    Hi - I replaced the hard drive in my laptop. Before doing that, I backed up my mail folder and my mail preferences folder to a DVD. Now, after installing OSX on the new hard drive, I've copied the file / folder onto the new drive, but mail isn't working properly. It keeps giving me the "welcome" screen instead of just starting up. It wants me to put in my email addresses, etc. Seems like there's a switch somewhere in the OS that tells it this is the first time its been run. If I go through the process, it still doesn't get my preferences right.
    Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
    The files / folders I'm copying are:
    - Home > Library > Mail
    - Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.mail.plist
    thanks,
    dave

    Problem was not with mail but with Toast and the DVD I burned using it - arggh.

  • How to copy iphoto library folder from Time machine to new hard drive

    How do I copy my iphoto library and music library from my time capsule to my new hard drive?
    I have a Macbook pro - 2.53 GHz - 4 GB memory.  I just replaced my hard drive to 500 GB and upgraded to OX 10.9.4. I created a new user account and login password for the new hard drive.  I copied my documents folder to external drive before the old hard drive failed, but I was not able to copy over my iphoto library or imusic library.  My old hard drive was regularly backed up on my time capsule (1TB).
    I used migration assistant to transfer my user account to the new hard drive (1 of 3 on the time capsule).  The data transferred successfully, but at login the login name  does not match the user folder. Nor do any of my passwords allow me to login to the transferred username/account.  When I login to the account that I set up on new hard drive I can see the userfolder migrated in but the folders do not allow entry.
    What can I do now at least to get my photos on the time capsule onto my current hard drive? Can I go into my time capsule like an external hard drive and simply copy over my iphoto library from the last back up of the old hard drive?

    You probably tried to move a user account from your TC to your computer that was already active on the computer.. this is one of the no no's that pondini lists.
    See how to migrate. http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html
    There is a huge amount of info there about transferring files.. that you must not have a user account of the same name as the one you migrate.. and how to transfer files between migrated accounts.
    He also has specific info on moving itunes and iphoto stuff here.
    Q15 http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    You might need to fix up permissions or reset the password for the account.
    There is details here..
    How to reset admin password iMac
    I have had to do that myself.. once you reset the password you will be able to login to the account.

  • The Dreaded Blinking Question Mark

    About a month ago I started having a recurring problem of the computer freezing upon waking from sleep.
    Each time I restarted it by holding the power button, and each time I would get the blinking question mark over the folder.
    I replaced the PRAM battery and it didn't fix the problem.
    I bought the latest version of Disc Warrior, ran it and it said that everything was fine. Still the problem persisted.
    Finally, I popped in the Apple utility disc and it said that there were problems with the disc, but didn't fix them.
    Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

    Welcome to Apple Discussions!
    Wake from sleep problems are on the MDD are common when USB PCI cards are installed. If you've installed such a card, try disconnecting everything from it and see if things get better.
    If your PRAM battery is more than three years old, or your computer has been unplugged from the wall for extended periods, you should replace the battery.

  • New hard drive, new drive letter, need to keep my library

    On my current setup, my OS (Windows Vista), iTunes, and all other programs are installed in drive letter C:
    I have all my music saved on drive letter F:/MP3
    In F:/MP3 there are several more folders separating the music by genre (For example F:/MP3/HipHop or F:/MP3/Rock, etc.)
    Drives D: and E: are hard drive partitions that are not needed anymore.
    This is my concern...
    I will be reformatting my current hard drive and will be doing a clean install of Windows 7 and iTunes on it. They will be on drive letter C: again.
    I will also be installing a new, hard drive with more storage and it will be drive letter D:
    I will have 2 separate hard drives in the computer, and just 1 drive letter to represent each hard drive.
    C: (150GB hard drive for Windows and programs)
    D: (1TB hard drive for storage of files, music, pictures, movies, etc.)
    I want to copy all my music from my old hard drive to the new hard drive D:/MP3 and keep the folder structure the same.
    How do I tell iTunes to look for my current library (playlists, music, etc.) in the new D:/MP3 folder instead of the old F:/MP3 folder?
    I hope this makes sense, I tried to explain it as best I could.
    Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

    You can mess around with editing the XML file, but be advised that will NOT import *Date Added*.
    I don't know if Date Added is important to you, but I add music daily to my library and do not want to lose that metadata.
    Any reason you can't just leave your content on the F: drive? You can assign drive letters in Windows however you like. They don't have to be in C, D, E order.
    You can keep using the iTunes Library.ITL from your current setup on the new Windows 7 setup.
    Just make sure Windows 7 knows the drive letter is F: BEFORE you fire up itunes the first time.
    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Change-add-or-remove-a-drive-le tter
    This iLounge article has a good explanation about moving to a new drive or system.
    If you keep your current F: drive and copy your current ITL file, you won't have to consolidate anything. You won't have to edit anything.
    http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/
    Remember to deauthorize your PC before you reformat it.

  • HT1553 I did the back up as instructed... Installed a larger hard drive and followed the restore instructions... Now I get a white screen with a folder icon and blinking question mark. When trying to set startup with new drive I get a bless tool error...

    I did the back up as instructed... Installed a larger hard drive and followed the restore instructions... Now I get a white screen with a folder icon and blinking question mark. When trying to set startup with new drive I get a bless tool error... Help!!

    If you have installed a new hard drive , you will need to have formatted it in Disk Utility correctly. This may explain your problem.
    Boot  into your 10.6 Install disk again at the top menubar > Utilities > select Disk utility and in there select your new hard drive, and select the tab Erase and choose to make the format as  Mac OS Extended Journaled. When that is finished look in the main window to make sure that the partition map scheme says GUID Partition Table.
    Now go to the Restore tab and reinstall from your backup.

  • 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

    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.)

Maybe you are looking for