New Hard Drive: Mac Face/Question Mark on boot

I installed a new hard drive in my fathers iBook G4 1.33 GHz and installed Leopard. I instantly had problems after the installation was complete and the computer restarted. I got the Mac Face/Question Mark for a second and then it booted to the installation CD.
I used disk utilities to verify and repair the disk and permissions which both finished successfully. I tried to reboot with the same result: Mac Face/Question Mark for a second and then it booted to the installation CD. I decided to erase and reinstall Leopard. Installation complete - Restart - Mac Face/Question Mark. I decided to turn if off for the night.
I powered up in the morning with short-lived success, as I got the Leopard Welcome video. I set up the system and did some software updates, which eventually required a restart. Boom. Mac Face/Question Mark. I decided to hold the option key on my next restart to see if I could select the hard drive installation over the install CD. I was able to do so, and it booted fine to the hard drive. I continued my software updating, installed some more software like iLife '08, Firefox, Open Office, Stuffit Expander, etc. After all my installation and updating, the system operates great, except when I have to start up. I still have the Mac Face/Question Mark.
I have a theory that the hard drive jumper is set incorrectly, but I don't want to waste 45 mins. cracking the thing open to find out. Can anyone confirm? I'm open to all other theories, of course.

No jumper means Cable Select (CS). This would mean that the cable from the motherboard to the drive has a blue connector at the motherboard and a black connector on the end where the drive plugs in. The gray connector in the middle is the Slave position. Master/Slave relationship is determined by where on the cable the device is plugged in.
The CS cables and the setting was not used very often until around 2004 or 2005. Until that time all of the connectors on the cable were the same color and the Master/Slave setting was determined by the jumper on the drive.
It's very possible that you are trying to use a drive that's been setup for the newer systems as Cable Select, when actually you should force the drive to be a Master by installing a jumper on the proper pins.
Are there two deviced on the cable besides the motherboard, and are all of the connectors the same color? Or is the connector that plugs into the motherboard black? Then you are probably not looking at a CS buss.

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New Hard Drive still have Question Mark Folder

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My newest Mac just did the same "folder of death" dance. It's too late for you now, but you might consider a passport backup drive.You can get 2&3 T-bytes now fairly reasonably priced. A given with computers is they will crash, just a question of how bad and when, so you can be prepared for the next time.

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.
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New hard drive, flashing folder/question mark

I have a late 2009 macbook. I recently bought a 750gb seagate SATA hard drive. I tried cloning the current hard drive in disk utility which seemed to work fine but would not work when the hard drive was actually inside. Instead I simply got the flashing folder with the question mark inside.
I tried re-formatting it and cloning it again with 'SuperDuper' but had the same problem. I restarted the macbook and tried to reinstall Mountain Lion but then it says that the hard drive is locked.
I don't understand what could be the problem. Any ideas?

If this is Seagate's 750 GB Hybrid (XT750) model, then you should know it doesn't always work in older Macs. Suggest you go for the XT500 model which is older and will work or do not use a hybrid model. Also, some drives that support 6 Gb/s SATA interfaces will not always work in a computer that only supports 3.0 Gb/s or less drives.
EDIT:
It's critical that new drives be prepared correctly as follows:
Drive Partition and Format
1. 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 Utilities menu.
If you are preparing an external or a non-startup drive, then open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select the desired hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

New Hard Drive, Mac partition cloned and boots fine, but I can't seem to get my BOOTCAMP (windows) partition to boot! Any ideas?

Hello all!
I got a new hard drive for my Mac Book Pro and an enclosure so I could clone the old partitions on to the new drive.
So I...
Put the new hard drive in the enclosure.
Booted up off an install disk and ran disk utility.
Copied the Mac and Bootcamp partitions over to the new drive that was connected VIA USB.
Turned off the computer, took the old hard drive out and put it in the enclosure.
Put the new hard drive in the Mac Book Pro.
Booted into Mac OSX with no problem.
When I rebooted held down the option key to boot into the windows side, it didn't show up as an option.
When I went back into the Mac side, I loaded Disk Utility and saw that I had the Mac partition, the BOOTCAMP partition, and a bunch of unallocated space. When I went into the System Preferences and set the target boot drive to the BOOTCAMP partition and restarted, I got some crazy error about there not being any bootable info on it.
That's where I am at. I have found other posts with people who are having the same problem, but I have yet to find a solution that doesn't involve me buying some 3rd party software. I know it has something to do with (what is called in Microsoft world) the Master Boot Record, but I don't know how to modify that to reflect that the BOOTCAMP partition is a bootable logical drive. I remember in MS DOS land there was some command line FDSK /something command that you would run (I think it was /MBR) to reset the MBR. To me though, all of these terms are shadowy figures in the Ether.
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-Ricardo
p.s. I read somewhere to boot off the windows 7 disk and run the system repair tools. I tried that and no change.

I got it. It CAN be done. At least on 10.6
How I made it happen (for free) on Snow Leopard:
1) partition, dupe etc all that jazz that you know. Make the mac side work, which it seems we've all been able to do no issues. I used SuperDuper! It worked just fine. (Had it on a disk. I assume you could use any other free way of doing this.)
2) New hard drive running, I used bootcamp assistant to partition the new drive for a new Bootcamp. I don't know if it's necessary to make the new partition this way for some reason, but it's what the process ultimately included, so maybe try without, but it worked with.
3) Natively running original drive on the windows side. Used DirveImage XML to clone windows partition onto new drive connected externally.
4) Back on new hard drive running natively. (Sorry for all the switching.) You'll note that the new Bootcamp partition is NOT bootable at this point. It won't come up in the usual 'alt on startup' boot menu.
Download rEFInd and install on mac side. Technically this is freeware or w/e, but for the love of god, throw money at this man. He totally deserves it.
5) Restarting the computer, rEFInd's boot manager finally recognizes windows. But you'll find windows is a little messed up and still won't quite boot. Get out your Windows CD and pop it in. Do the 'alt boot' thing. Your boot menu options are now "EFI Manager," "Bootcamp," and "Windows Disk." Or some such. Holy Crap! It recognizes Windows!
6) Boot to the CD and tell it to repair the windows volume. It will. My computer also had to do a disk check next time I booted to Windows, which took for-stupid-ever, but eventually worked. (I went to bed in between.)
7) Everything is running smoothly. Plus, you get the rEFInd boot manager, which is also great.
Deets: I have a late 2010 MBP 13". Snow leopard/Windows 7 32-bit (long story) Moved from original 320GB seagate momentus to new 750GB Seagate Momentus XT.
Feel free to share/copy&paste this solution as you see useful. Cheers!

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I recently got a new hard drive for my macbook and I lost my word, powerpoint, etc applications. I have tried to download pages and keynote from the app store, but it says that my computer needs a software upgrade. Every time I try to do this, it upgrades my computer, but I still cannot get these applications. My computer is a 10.6.8, and it says that I need a 10.7.4 for the pages and keynote. I have tried to upgrade to this, but it keeps saying that i need like 10.7 first, but I don't understand why I can't just upgrade immediately to 10.7.4. Do I really need to upgrade through every step to get to where I need to be in order to get these applications? If someone could help me I would appreciate it, I need pages and keynote for my school work.

You need to either phone the Apple Store and order a download code for Lion, or purchase Mac OS X 10.8 if your computer is compatible, or install the DVD version of iWork.
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New hard drive, mac still does not work

Mac stopped working so took it to a mac store and they said its most likely the hard drive. Sent the hard drive back because it was still under warranty and they sent me a new one.
Installed new hard drive in the computer and when I turn it on I cant find the HD anywhere so that I can format it. The install disc is the only thing that shows up and when it asks where I want to have the disc installed there is nothing for me to click because the HD is not there.
Am I missing something or is the HD not the issue? Thanks

Drive Preparation
1. 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 Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
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4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
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Hard drive clicking, flashing question mark at start up

My Macbook (leopard) is making a clicking noise for about ten seconds on startup. After being stuck on the grey screen for awhile, the flashing question mark folder pops up.
I've tried running disk utility from the install disks, however the HD doesn't show up on the directory. I'm only seeing the DVD drive. Also tried starting up using the option key but nothing happens. Safe mode was unresponsive, too.
Is my HD dead? And is there any way to get any of my files off of this computer? I haven't backed up in a while, so I am kinda concerned about my iTunes library.
Just a note... About two nights ago it froze up where force quitting wouldn't even do anything. I did a hard shutdown and then everything was fine until this happened yesterday.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Message was edited by: efd856

The symptoms you describe do indeed sound like a dead hard drive. If the drive does not show up in Disk Utility, you are not going to be able to get anything off of it using Target Disk mode.
Data recovery is possible - there are companies that specialize in it - but it may not be economical. Costs tend to be between $500 and $2500 depending on the size of the drive and nature of the failure. Some companies in the USA that offer this service:
[DriveSavers|www.drivesavers.com] 800-440-1904
[Ontrack Data Recovery|www.ontrack.com] 800-872-2599
[Lazarus|www.lazarus.com] 800-341-3282
Is your iTunes music on an iPod or iPhone? You may be able to recover it using software to transfer back to a computer. Search the iPod forums for names of the software. Music purchased from the iTunes store will transfer back to an authorized computer without any problem.
Best of luck.

New hard drive randomly disappears then trying to boot

Hi community,
So my old HD in MBP 13 (mid 10) 2.4Ghz failed, bought refurbished one from HandyGeek. After I replaced it, navigated to the disk utility in the recovery mode, and could not see the new HD. I unscrewed back again, unplugged HD, cleaned it, and plugged it again. And finally it appeared in disk utility, I thought it was just random thing. After I tried to install Yosemite through internet recovery, it crashed once before minutes were left until the completion. Forced shut the Mac, turned to the recovery mode, disk utility, and again the HD was not there.. Did the same thing, unplugged cable, plugged back in and repeated the installation process. It got stuck several times afterwards, but in different process. The second one was stuck, then MBP rebooted after installation, and got stuck on process bar, and 3-5 times got stuck on the Setting Up MAC after installation. Finally it worked and I got my new HD working. Left it on the table, did some geek bench to check the score, it was a bit lower, but never mind. I closed the lid, left for 2-3hours, came back, opened lid and the folder with question mark appeared. Tried to reboot, but got the same, went to recovery mode-disk utility and HD was not visible. Unscrewed, unplugged, plugged it in and it works now again.
What can be reason of it? I read that it might be the cable itself that is faulty and needs to be replaced, or there might be other issues?
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Well i got most of my information off the old one, now I am trying to reinstall Tiger to the MacBook. Problem is I initially tried to do an archive install and the install kept failing after the second disc when it asked for the second install disc.
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New hard drive on dell inspiron 1545 no boot sector on internal hard drive

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Mr. Osprey is right, windows installation is required to boot the computer. The error "No boot sector on internal hard drive" appears when you have a new hard disk or your old hard disk has not bootable partition.
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This forum is for troubleshooting Apple Software Update for Windows, a software package for Windows designed to update Apple products that run on Windows, and not related to Microsoft Office in any way. I suggest you post Office related questions on Microsoft's own forums for their Mac products.
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New hard drive on laptop

I had to install a new hard drive, so naturally I lost all my songs; they're still on my iPod mini, and I know that I can't upload them onto the new hard drive. My question is this: if I plug my mini into my laptop and open iTunes, will it sync and download "nothing" over what I already have on my mini? (in other words, will I lose everything if I sync with an iTunes library that doesn't have anything in it?)
Also, can't find a **** phone number for tech support anywhere on this site! grr

Do not connect a full iPod to an empty iTunes!! You will erase the iPod.
These links will give you several methods of recovering whatever songs remain on your iPod; some free, some third-party software, some more comprehensive for restoring Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, etc. Read them and their associated links before deciding on a strategy that works for you. There are many various third-party software programs that will offer a more robust process, or an easier GUI. Do a Google search for them if the links below leave you wanting…
Don King Resurrected: Deleted files from hard drive (free user steps – music recovery only)
MacMuse: Computer Crashed (free user steps – music recovery only)
Copying music from iPod to computer (a primer on various methods and software)
Copying Songs from Your iPod to a Mac or PC (resource for 3rd party software)
iPodRip Software
PodUtil Software
Senuti (Mac OS X v10.3 or higher Recovery Utility)
XPlay (Software For Music Recovery &/or Cross-Platform Functionality)
XPlay Photo Browser (For recovering Photos)
Extremely Simple Method:
1 - Open iTunes
2 - Edit=>Preferences=>’Advanced/General’ tab
2a --- ‘Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library’: checked
2b --- ‘Keep iTunes Music folder organized’: checked
2c --- Click OK
3 - Attach your iPod to the PC and hold down the ‘Shift+Ctrl’ keys until the iPod is fully recognized (this will defeat the auto-sync process)
4 - If you get a dialog box to link the Library, decline this option
5 - File=>Add Folder
6 - Browse to and open ‘My Computer’ and select the iPod
7 - Click OK
8 - The music files should start to transfer back into iTunes
No Playlists, or Ratings, Last Played, & Play Count attributes will be transferred from the iPod to iTunes using this method
After recovering your song files, strongly consider developing a thorough backup strategy for just this type of situation (and many other potential disasters).
You need at least two full sets of your music, not including what is on the iPod:
-- One full set on the PC within iTunes (on internal HD or ExHD)
-- One full set on an separate external backup medium (CD/DVD/ExHD/other)
-- One (full or partial) set on the iPod
Music files on just the iPod and only one other medium is not considered having any backup.
If you cannot store your complete music files on the computer’s internal HD, then create and maintain at least two external sets (any multiple combinations of ExHDs, DVDs, CDs).
Backup both the music files and the Library database file (iTunes Library.itl). What are the iTunes Library files?
Here is a post on developing a thorough backup strategy:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=1498152

Switching music library to new hard drive

Hi.
I recently bought a new external hard drive and transferred all of my music onto it from my old external hard drive. I'd like to change the music folder location to the new hard drive. My question is this: if I change it to the new hard drive, will the playlists be lost? I exported the library, but I think if I import it after changing the folder location that there will be double the songs in the library, but only half of them will be valid and I'd rather not have to go through all my songs and delete the ones that aren't found. Or will the library not be imported at all because it's a new location?
Long and confusing question, but I've probably just made it too complicated in my head. If anyone can offer me some advice, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.

If you want to move your library to an external location, do it this way.
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How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
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New Hard drive and Window disc

I bought a dv6-6047cl before, and the hard drive is not working now. (No window disc with the laptop)
So i buy a new hard drive,after i put the new hard drive and it shows me
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER
What should i do?
Someone told me i should buy a new window 7 Home to RESTORE TO FACTORY SETTINGS. Is that right?
If yes, which CD should i buy? Can you show me the picture?
If not, what can i do?

you download the ISO then you need use the Microsoft tool to make the bootable memory stick or cd.
Use the links in my 1st post for the Microsoft tool & a guide on using it.
Once you have your boot media made you need plug in the usb stick or load the cd & then boot notebook & enter boot option menu & boot from cd or usb drive pending on what you decide use.
A very basic guide on installing windows 7 is in link below, don't follow it blindly, just use it as a rough guide as needed & think twice, do some research or ask questions if hae doubts<>problems ...
http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-7-for-Beginners
Like my post? Click Kudos (thumb+) to show appreciation.

Can I use recovery disks on a new hard drive on a dv4?

I know the hard drive is toast in my dv4. Can I use the recovery discs I made when I got the computer to load a new hard drive?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Yes you can. That is the purpose of having the recovery media.
Replace your hard disk with one that is of equal or larger capacity. That does not mean use a larger than 750 GB hard disk unless yours had one installed when delivered.
****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

New Hard Drive: Mac Face/Question Mark on boot

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