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

Similar Messages

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!

Got the flashing question mark and mac folder on startup.

I've seen other questions on here about it. It happened after the last Safari update. Safari and Quicktime were the last updates I did. I have gone through all of the steps that I've read on here to no avail. (Safe Mode, Holding "x", Reset the PRAM, Checked the PRAM Battery) I tried starting up holding the option key...and no startup disks show up. It wont boot up in single use mode, so I cant try fsck... I ran Disk Utilities from the startup disk and it says my hard drive is not mounted. Is there a way i can mount it? Am i screwed?

It sounds like you have already tried to run Disk Utility so you're now at the stage of trying to rescue your data using the various utilities aBrody mentioned, or trying to repair your directory with Diskwarrior. Some prefer to rescue their files before trying other utilities in case using the repair utilities makes things worse. Rescuing has the downside that you have to have an empty drive to which to rescue items. Some rescue software packages have versions you can try for free which will look at your drive and say if they think they can do anything with it before you buy. The advantage to repair is if it works it will restore your old drive and you don't have to reassemble the whole thing from bits and pieces of rescued files, and repairing doesn't require a second hard drive. You will have to decide on how to approach this. Typically people will try Diskwarrior and if that doesn't work they will go with a rescue package. The big downside is that each software package will set you back $80-$100. (Item for consideration, you can get a backup drive for just over $100 and save yourself a lot of hassle in the future.)
Personally I'd download one of the trial versions and let it have a look. If it can't see things then (and maybe I'm wrong and others will chime in) your chances of getting anything to see the drive are remote.
Oh, there's also a package called Techtool Pro. DW is generally considered premier in repairing directories, but TTP can do some things DW can't. Ideally a person would have TTP, DW and a recue package, but as you're seeing that can add up fast.

Flashing Question mark and Finder Folder at Start UP!

Hi there,
I just installed a new processor with upgraded firmware with mac os 9.1 as my OS. Well I have a start up tone but thats it. I have used a cd to choose which disk I want my computer to start up from but now I only get a start up tone and a gray screen during boot up. I have tried to reset my PRAM more than 4 times and it hasn't done anything. I have also reset the processor but that hasn't done anything either. I don't wish to do a clean installation because I don't want to reinstall my old 450 mhz processor. It would be great if I could have some help. thanks

Hi, DC502. If I understand you correctly, you have been able to boot to a CD with the new processor installed — is that correct? If so, what OS version is on the CD, and is the same version on your hard drive? Does the new processor (what make and speed is it, by the way?) have any minimum OS or hardware requirements, and have you checked to make sure you are meeting them? What firmware update did you apply?
If you aren't able to boot even to a CD, check the processor upgrade to make sure it is solidly seated, not crooked or uneven in its slot. Reset the CUDA after every internal hardware change. Perform all testing with all external devices except monitor, keyboard and mouse disconnected from the computer.
Please post back with further details if these ideas don't help.

Flashing Question Mark in a Folder

Hello All:
I have an iMac 24" (Model A1225; Mid 2007) running 10.7.3. The CPU will rarely boot up and will boot up with the Flashing Question Mark in a folder most of the time. I can start up from a OS DVD (Snow Leopard) or Lion on a Flashdrive, but the HDD will not appear when I attempt a reinstall. I was able to boot up once from my Lion Flashdrive and reinstall 10.7.3 with a normal restart. The HDD checkout fine using disk utility and I repaired my disk permissions. The CPU seemed fine and this morning the Flashing Question Mark is back.
I can start up the Target disk mode and I will see the FireWire icon, but the HDD will not appear on the desktop of the host CPU. I have a new iMac on order, but do you think it is wise to pull my data from the HDD via the Target disk mode or my Time Capsule? I guess I am not sure if it is the logic board or a bad HD.
Thanks in advance,
Irv

It sounds more like a failing drive or a drive in need of repair. Have you tried repairing it?
Repair the Hard Drive - Lion
Boot from your Lion Recovery HD. When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
If the drive is repairable then you will need to reinstall Lion:
Reinstalling Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.
If none of this works then I would definitely backup your data, but not with Time Machine. I would make a backup to a separate drive, not the Time Capsule, using Carbon Copy Cloner.

Reset Password - System does not boot from DVD

My System: Macbook Pro - 2Ghz Intel Core Duo - OS X - 10.6.8
Hi everyone,
i forgot my password. So i want to boot from install DVD to reset the password. Unfortunately my macbook pro does not boot from DVD (10.6.3).
I press c all the time...but sometimes the macbook pro throws the DVD out...and sometimes nothing happens.
The DVD drive is working fine...
Any other idea?
Thanks in advance.
Fabian

So when you boot holding option it shows a padlock with a password field? Is that correct?
In that case we're talking about the firmware password, which you can't reset via the install disk. There is only one way to do this, I'm not certain if one is allowed to divulge that information publicly - might want to try googling "reset firmware password"

I Mac is not reading from DVD drive. Disk will insert, then some noises but after a few seconds, nothing.

I Mac is not reading from DVD drive. Disk will insert, then some noises but after a few seconds, nothing. I am trying to install Broterh printer disks. Any ideas? I am on Mavericks.

Reset the NVRAM/PRAM and Reset the SMC, then try again.

I,m getting a flashing question mark in a folder on startup

When i started up earlier i verified disk and it said i should restart and hold command and r and then repair disk using disk utility which i did and then restarted using the usual startup disk. Since then every time i turn my imac mid 2011 on 10.9.4 mavs on i get a flashing question mark in a folder. I have over 800 gb of movies id like to transfer to ext hard drive before i try anything else preferably...ive read online reinstalling the osx may wipe everything so i thought id ask the experts before trying anything else.

OK, this is a little different then we started out trying to solve...the erasing of swap and other files has damaged the Mac OS X pretty seriously since we don't know all of what was removed.
If you have the Seagate external drive and it has not been formatted, and you want it to be a Mac OS X drive, attach the Seagate, restart holding the Command and R keys, go to Utilities and open Disk Utility. When that opens, select the Seagate from the drives shown in the left sidebar of the DU window. In the main window, choose Partition from the buttons across the top, center of the window pane. If you want more than one partition, select how many you want, or just keep the default of one. Name the drive (partition), keep the default format as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled), and the default partition table as GUID. Apply that to erase and format the Seagate drive.
When that is finished, still using Disk Utility, select Restore as the function you want to do. Now drag the internal drive (Macintosh HD, typically) to the Source box in the main window of DU, and drag the name you have given the Seagate external to the Destination box in the main window of DU. Look things over to be sure you have done this correctly, the internal drive contents is the source material and the external drive is where you want to put it...what you are about to do is clone the internal drive to the external drive. If all is correct, Restore.
That will take some time since you have a lot of material to copy. When it is done, you should have an exact copy of your internal drive and its contents, i.e., your movies.
Now that you have an exact copy of your contents, you can do what you need to do with the internal drive, such as erase the drive and reinstall Lion or whatever you want to install. After doing so you can copy your movies back if you want, but DO NOT do a restore as that will mess up the operating system.

My compaq cq62-214nr will not boot from a usb flash drive

I have a Compaq CQ62-214 NR Notebook. When I enter the bios boot options screen with F9 there is a blank space where Boot from USB/Flash Drive should be. If I enter the bios setup and move usb flash drive up to the first option above Notebook hardrive and Internal CD/DVD Rom ,save the changes to the BIOS then Reboot. Enter the boot options screen again the blank line moves up to the first choice slot but still is blank. If I press enter over that black option the computer does not boot from the OS I have install on the usb flash drive it just starts its normal windows boot screen. YES I have upgraded the BIOS to the lates version F.37
Can somone tell me what is wrong.

Try booting into the one time boot menu.
Step 1: As soon as you turn on the computer on the hp invent screen keep tapping F9 key.
Step 2: you will get boot otions such as hard drive, optical drive, USb drive
Step 3: You can hit enter on the usb flash drive. Should boot from the os on your flash drive
*Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.
****Click the White Kudos star to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****

BIOS update, then will not boot from any drive

This old laptop, 3000 C200 8922 was acting very clunky when on wireless.
Downloaded Bios Version 63ET62WW and flashed it into the bios.
Now, even though I can get to the bios screen, and it shows the hard drive, DVD/CD drive, it will NOT boot from either.
It will also "see" a usb installed, but will not boot from it.
I have removed all power and cleared the CMOS several times and I still have nothing. Tried two different hdd's which have been in the machine and same results.
HELP!! I should have never messed with it......

hi k4pew,
One rule after a BIOS update is to Load optimize deafults after updating.
Try that go inside BIOS Hit F9 to load defaults then F10 to Save and Exit.
If not
Try turning on the computer and start hitting F1 to load the Recovery Menu and see if that will push then Try Reseting the PC.
If still the same Im afraid that the BIOS needs to be reflashed.
Im not aware of any flash tool or a your Previous BIOS Version Firmware available for download.
You can try calling Lenovo Technical Support for any options available for repair.
Im sorry to hear what happened
Regards
Solid Cruver
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Power Mac G4 400 MHz (AGP graphics) will not boot from hard drive

I have a Mac G4 400 MHz (AGP graphics) Machine Model: PowerMac 3.1 CPU Type:PowerPC G4 (2.8)
When I try to boot from the hard drive I get the folder with the flashing question Mark. The Machine will start up from the OSX 10.4 installer disk.
The system was running OSX 10.4.9 fine. I began to have problems with the hard drive, so I replaced it with an old Maxtor 5T040H4 40Gig Apple branded drive that I had sitting around.
The drive is jumpered (r50) for Master/Single.
I erased the drive in the old G4 using disk utility and wrote all zeros. I then used my store bought Tiger 10.4 install disk to install 10.4 on the drive.
After restarting I still get the flashing question mark. If I leave the Install disk in the DVD drive the system will attempt to install again.
I have zapped the PRAM, pressed the CUDA button, removed the battery and let the system sit unplugged for over and hour and it still will not boot from the hard drive.
To test the drive I removed it and put it in a Granite Digital firewire enclosure and connected it to another mac. The drive shows up and the system appears to be installed correctly.
What am I forgetting to do? Does anyone have any suggestions.
Thanks in advance.
Wesley G.

Hi! If Tom's solution doesn't work I would reboot from the install disc and then partition the drive as 1 partition instead of erasing it. Sounds like the driver on the disk is too old and installing a new partition map should write a new driver to the drive that is compatible with Tiger. Other than that it is possible that the drive has a spin delay jumper enabled and the drive isn't spinning up fast enough and the computer isn't looking long enough for the drive. Tom

How do I fix the GRAY boot-up screen with FLASHING QUESTION-mark FOLDER?

When I turn on the MacBook Pro laptop, I opened up the Safari Browser and its when the problem started. It was stuck on an loading infinite loop. I decided to force quit the application and/or turn off the mac by the Menu options, It did not work. So I did a "Hard" Shut-down and restarted the Mac, the Boot up screen stood gray for like a minute until the Flashing ? Folder icon showed up!.
My sister's laptop's warranty is expired so I wonder how can I fix it without having to spend too much money on a simple troubleshooting tip.
How can I download/create a boot-up Disk/Flash Drive so I can reset it to factory settings?
I cannot access the laptop because It's kind-of software bricked if you ask me. Also, I do not know how to check the Mac OS version outside of the "About Mac" menu. I do have another Mac which is a desktop computer with a CD drive.
I would appreciate some expertise on this issue a.s.a.p. Thank you!

Ok, now I am stuck:
Why does my Mac boot its OS from the Flash Drive instead of the INTERNAL HARD DRIVE???a
If I start up my MacBook Pro, It will have the flashing question mark folder UNLESS i plug in the OS-Boot flash drive. When I at the desktop screen and work on a program, When I unplug the Flash drive, THE OS WILL CRASH AS IF I TOOK it's soul (OS x Lion) out of the body (MacBook Pro Laptop)
this is frustrating because when I did the INTERNET RECOVERY, When I install OS x Lion, the Flash Drive only show up as an option as opposed to the HDD.
I cannot format the hard-drive in DISK UTILITY because it's grayed out. This is just frustating. I never had problems with PC Windows OS recovery but this (Mac OS).

Not Booting from DVD Solaris 10

Hi,
I am trying to install Solaris 10 on Sun 420R Sparc. I am trying to install it with DVD. But when I try to install it by using the command boot cdrom. I get the following error.
{0} ok boot cdrom - nowin
Boot device: /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:f File and args: - nowin
Bad magic number in disk label
Can't open disk label package
Can't open boot device
I have checked the DVD. I ran probe-scsi-all and it looks good.
{0} ok devalias cdrom
cdrom /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:f
{0} ok show-devs
/SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@3,0
/SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@2,0
/SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@1,0
/SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@0,0
/counter-timer@1f,1c00
/pci@1f,2000
/pci@1f,4000
/virtual-memory
/memory@0,0
/aliases
/options
/openprom
/chosen
/packages
/pci@1f,2000/scsi@1,1
/pci@1f,2000/scsi@1
/pci@1f,2000/scsi@1,1/tape
/pci@1f,2000/scsi@1,1/disk
/pci@1f,2000/scsi@1/tape
/pci@1f,2000/scsi@1/disk
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@4,1
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@4
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3
/pci@1f,4000/network@1,1
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@4,1/tape
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@4,1/disk
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@4/tape
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@4/disk
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1/tape
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1/disk
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/tape
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/flashprom@10,0
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/eeprom@14,0
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/fdthree@14,3023f0
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/ecpp@14,3043bc
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3062f8
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/su@14,3083f8
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/se@14,400000
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/sc@14,500000
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/SUNW,pll@14,504000
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/power@14,724000
/pci@1f,4000/ebus@1/auxio@14,726000
/openprom/client-services
/packages/sun-keyboard
/packages/SUNW,builtin-drivers
/packages/disk-label
/packages/obp-tftp
/packages/deblocker
/packages/terminal-emulator
{0} ok probe-scsi
Target 0
Unit 0 Disk SEAGATE ST318305LSUN18G 0340
Target 1
Unit 0 Disk SEAGATE ST318305LSUN18G 0340
Target 6
Unit 0 Removable Read Only device TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M14011007
{0} ok
Can anyone help me with this?
Thanks

The 420R first shipped in November 1999.
Initially, they all had CDROM drives and not DVD readers.
You might also get that same error
if you are inserting a DVD disk into a CD drive.
Next, the 390-0025 DVD drives had problems booting
from any DVD media with more than (I vaguely recall)
something such as 3GB of data on it.
They could read from them,
just not boot from them.
That was a peculiarity of the drive.
Recent releases of Solaris 10 fill those DVD disks.
Try your installation with CD media instead of DVD's.

Satellite P300-1A8 will not boot from disc drive

Hi,
I had a little play with start up programs, partitioning the hard drive and marking as active and deleting programs i thought i did not need.
I obviously had no idea what i was doing!
Laptop will go to toshiba screen then goes blank, i can not boot from the disc drive.
I put the hard drive into another laptop and it works fine.
I put the hard drive of that laptop in the buggered one and that works fine.
How the hell do i put the original one back with it working??
Really really stuck with this!!!!!
Any help would be appreciated.
Only thing i havent tried is the recovery disc but im not paying for one if it wont boot as itl be a waste of money.
Seems like its a compatability problem with cpu and hard drive as they dont want to be friends anymore!!
Thank you in advance

Hi!
Can you boot in the safe mode?
If you dont have a recovery disk, use the Microsoft installation disk and try to boot from it.
And you said that you cant boot from disc drive, did you tried different disks?
Maybe some are not readable or not bootable.
The best way would be a recovery disk. The installation takes a few minutes and you have a clean installation with all drivers and tools from Toshiba.
Bye

PowerBook G4 1.33 wont boot from DVD drive after upgrade

Can anyone offer some assitance. I just upgraded my PowerBook G4 1.33 from a Combo Drive to a Panasonic SuperDrive. Also upgraded to a 250GB harddrive. Got a tree error on HD and when I went to boot up Diskwarrior I could not boot from the DVD drive. It does not come up as a bootable drive. Tried Holding down "C" key "Option Key" nothing works. Can anyone tell me what's wrong? All other drive functions work perfectly.

Hi chubbs899, and a warm welcome to the forums & Macdom!
i have read says you can go in through disk utility and partition the drive but i still have yet to see anything that says something about disk utility.
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*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.*
How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/partitioningtiger.html
Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html
it gives you the option of doing "journal" format or "case sensitive, journal" format.
Don't use Case Sensitive, confuses many Apps.
i suspected jumper settings but when i read through the manual on the WD website it didnt seem to say anything about doing something specifically for apple. it had a jumper for slower transfer rate 1.5Gb/s
Yes, it needs that jumper on pins 5&6.

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

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