Start up problem.....flashing file icon
Problem:
1) few days ago I configured computer for ethernet link between crt imac and powerbook.
2) Now when I start up on the crt only, I get a flashing globe on a square which turns to a flashing file with a question mark in it. And the start up never goes any further.
3) Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this. thx
raleric
You'll need an OS CD to boot the old machine. There's some problem with the system folder which may or may not have anything to do with your recent configurations. It may be as simple as booting from CD, resetting the hard drive as startup disk, and going from there.
Another issue may be that you set your old machine to automatically connect to the newer at startup. This is an option when setting up file sharing. What happens if the other machine is ON before you start the older one?
Similar Messages
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Flashing File Icon with Question Mark Upon Start-Up
Today when I went to use my computer (which was already on) it went blank and then came up with a gray screen with a flashing file icon with a question mark in the middle of it. I have already troubleshot things with several forums online and nothing has worked. I have tried to restart in Safe mode, single user mode, verbose mode, and tried to get on using my option key which got me to an internet login screen finally. I tried to log in and eventually got to an apply.com/support screen with -1007f underneath. I am not 100% which operating system I am on. I know that it is Mac OS X and pretty recent. Please respond if you can help!
Reset the SMC and PRAM
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
About NVRAM and PRAM
To boot from DVD:
Press C during startup
Start up from a bootable CD, DVD, or USB thumb drive (such as OS X install media). -
Flashing file icon w/ question mark at start up
My MacBook had been working fine on Tiger since I bought it last august, and a few months ago I installed Leopard, which also worked great except for safari freezing up every once in a while. But today when I tried to start it up and the blue screen appeared, it stayed like that for about ten seconds, and then a flashing file icon with a question mark appeared. I have no idea what it means, I can't make it startup. I've turned it on and off a few times, hoping for the best, but nothing. This computer is not even a year old, any help?
Thanks in advance.Welcome to the Apple boards:
Your first hint that something was wrong was when Safari started freezing.
You may have a bad HD or at least one that is going bad.
Boot into the Leopard DVD and in the menu select Utilities and disk utility and repair HD and permissions.
See if that helps.
You may need more powerful tools such as DiskWarrior to repair the drive if it's flaky.
If the computer is less than a year old, you may be able to get it fixed at a local Apple store. -
White screen with flashing file icon with question mark mean
What does this mean. We are getting a white screen with flashing file icon with question mark inside the file.
It almost certainly means it can't find a bootable volume (one with OS X on it).
Which means most likely you will have to find your original system installation DVD and install it. Then you should figure out what caused the problem.
Read this to diagnose it before resorting to reinstalling the OS:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
Excerpt:
Additional steps
If your Mac still starts to a flashing question mark, follow the steps below. If any step resolves the issue, you don't need to continue to the next one.
Select your Mac OS X startup disk with Startup Manager by restarting and holding the Option key. After your Mac starts up, restart again to verify that the flashing question mark does not appear.
If the issue persists, insert your Mac OS X installation disc. Be sure to either use the disc that came with your Mac, or, if you installed a later Mac OS X version from disc, use the newer disc.
MacBook Air note: On a MacBook Air, there are two options for starting up from Mac OS X media: Either connect a MacBook Air SuperDrive to the MacBook Air via the USB port and restart the computer, holding down the C key during startup, or use Remote Install Mac OS X to startup from a system software DVD that's located on a partner computer. Once started up from Mac OS X media, skip to step 3.
Restart the computer, then hold the C key during startup.
From the Utilities menu, choose Disk Utility. Don't click Continue.
Select your Mac OS X disk (named "Macintosh HD" by default) in the left side of the Disk Utility window.
Click the First Aid tab.
Click Repair Disk to verify and repair any issues with your Mac OS X startup disk.
After repairing the disk, try to start up normally.
Important: If Disk Utility finds issues it cannot repair, you may need to back up as much of your data as possible (or use Time Machine to back up to a different disk), then erase the disk and reinstall Mac OS X. You should back up important files and data before erasing a drive. Erasing deletes everything on the hard disk (including things on your desktop). Also, you can install Mac OS X onto an external disk, start from the external disk, and use Migration Assistant to transfer items from your usual internal Mac OS X startup disk to the external disk, then erase the internal disk and reinstall Mac OS X.
If the issue persists, and Disk Utility didn't find any irreparable issues, quit Disk Utility, quit the Installer, select your disk when prompted, and restart.
If the issue continues, reset PRAM. Note: After resetting PRAM, if the computer starts up normally, reselect the startup disk in the Startup Disk preferences.
If none of these steps resolve the issue, start up from the Mac OS X Installation disc and reinstall Mac OS X. -
Flashing File icon with '?' does NOT mean your HDD is shot!
A week ago my computer failed and started up showing the flashing file icon with the '?' at startup. I ran all the diagnostics that every forum told me to. I even reset the PRAM. So I went to the mac store and they told me it was probably the HDD but that it could be just the SATA cable but there was no way to tell unless I had another HDD. So I went out and bought a 500GB for $65 and installed it. Sure enough the problem was only my SATA cable. Apple sold it and installed it for only $32. They also installed OS X for free.
I'm currently having the same problem. Flashing ? folder..troubleshooting..etc. According to everything I've read, it seems like my HDD is shot. When I boot from my OSX disc, I can't detect the HDD to install, restore, or anything. Yet, I've taken the hard drive out and it spins normally when I boot or launch the OSX disc. Do you still think it could just be the SATA cable?
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Got a white screen with flashing file icon
Why do I have a white screen with flashing file icon with question mark inside?
It means your iMac cannot located a valid system to boot.
Insert the CD that came with the iMac and allow it to boot. Once it gets the point where it's offering to install the OS, go to the top menu and choose diskutility. Perform a repair on the main drive "Macintosh HD". -
This morning my IMAC 24 Mid 2007 model was having a number of kernel attacks, I tunred it off and now all I get is either a grey screen, blue screen or a flashing file icon against a white background - what should I do to fix this?
Spring06 wrote:
By kernel attacks i mean the spinning ball _ I always thought that was software.
that's not a kernel panic then. I didn't know what you were talking about because there is no such thing as a kernel attack.
You should still do what I told you because your hard drive is not being recognized. -
When I open my mac book there is a file icon with a question mark that flashes all the time and I can't get onto the desktop or into the system - help, please!
Hi croyde;
May I welcome you to the Apple Discussion Forums.
It is admirable that you had so much faith in your MB but as you now know backups are critical.
May I ask do you have any idea as to how full your hard drive might have been? If you had the hard drive too full that can cause file corruption. Usually the file corruption is in the directories because they are being changed so frequently.
Having said all of that, file corruption can just happen for no apparent reason. It is not a common occurrence but it is possible.
If you could not boot nor perform a safe boot that indicates the corruption on your hard drive was in a most critical position.
The best suggestion I can give you is to develop a backup plan for the future.
I certainly hope you do not let this episode sour you completely on your MB.
Allan -
Startup problem flashing folder icon with a question mark
Hello All,
My macbook (Intel Core Duo) suddenly stopped working. Ater I push the powerbutton, I hear a clicking noise(about 1/second) coming it seems, from the cd-rom drive. Then after about 20 seconds, the clicking noise goes away and I get a flashing folder icon with a question mark (?) in it. And it just sits there for ever. I tried all the troubleshooting tricks mentioned in the user's guide, like taking out the battery and pressing the power key for 5 seconds, pressing command and control keys while pushing the power button e.t.c. I also ran the Apple Hardware Test program and it mentioned there was no problem with hardware. When I try to install the operating system with Mac OS X CD1, I go through the steps and there is no destination volume (my Macintosh HD is not seen) to install on. I appreciate any help on this matter. Thanks a bunch.Chances are if you do not see your MacBook's HD then your HD has crashed and you will need to contact Apple (or take to an Apple Store or reseller) to have it replaced.
I hope it's still under warranty and I hope you have been backing up to another device.
This happened to me about a month ago and Apple replaced my HD and I had back ups (although I wasn't backing up religiously) so I didn't loose everything. When I picked up my MacBook with it's new HD, I also bought a new firewire external drive and back up nightly.
Good Luck - Call Apple. -
I have tried numerous times to restart my macbook pro to get to the startup manager. And even when holding down the option key, it will just take me back to the flashing file with a question mark in it. If anyone can help, I'd sincerely appreciate it.
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks without erasing 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. 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.
Repair
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless. -
I Have a 2008 MacBook, I don't recall what system is is running but I believe it's previous to Lion.
My SuperDrive died so I bought a USB drive thinking it would work and it didn't. I found online a trick that edited a boot file (library/system/systemconfiguration/com.apple.boot.plist)
NOw when I reboot my machine it cycles through: apple icon, file folder w/ ? Mark on it and a .
how can i fix this? I bought this refurbished from Mac store and it came loaded with no disc. Even If I had the disc, the SuperDrive is dead.The only other place left is the search field below the Loop Browser, but that was empty in your screenshot, so I did not mention it.
but when I checked a 4/4 song, my loops were there. So that's encouraging.
If your other songs have a different measure, you can simply switch between time signatures back and forth, to show more loops. GarageBAnd '11 will only show the loops meant for the time signature you have selected, but you cancan add them nevertheless, if you temporarily switch to another time signature. -
IPhone Snyc Problems - Corrupted files, icons won't stay put
My iPhone/iTunes is acting very screwy. I'll try to be brief.
For a while now every time I synced I would get an error saying three particular .mp3 files could not be copied because they were corrupted (although they play fine in iTunes). I would delete and reinstall those files in iTunes and I would still get the error message every sync. At the same time my iPhone hard drive was gradually filling up with content classified as "Other" to the point where I barely had room for a few songs and a movie before the iPhone was full.
So I did a complete wipe-and-reinstall of my iPhone. I thought it would fix things but now whenever I sync the home screen icons are acting goofy. No matter where I put the "Voice Memos" icon, after every sync it re-appears on my home screen. And the Weather icon is completely missing from the home screens, including the extra "overflow" home screens that you can only see in iTunes (although the app still shows up under a Spotlight search so I know its there). Also, now when I sync my music I get three NEW files that iTunes claims are corrupted and can't be synced--although the files play fine in iTunes. (Not the same three files as it was claiming before).
I've wasted a day and a half already trying to get my iPhone and iTunes to play nice. I'm about ready to chuck the iPhone out the window. Any help our suggestions on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.Thanks for the tips. Rebooting doesn't work, have tried that.
Restoring the iPhone - ahhh what a lovely process apple have come up with here... Given I'm abroad, web access is transient at best via wifi. And I can't use the data connection with my chosen NZ provider as the phone won't stay unlocked!
Is there a way to restore the phone WITHOUT a web connection? Itunes insists it must download the software - which is a 250MB download on a platform which doesn't support resumable downloads (What is this, 1998!?)
I'm loath to do a hard restore (Turn Off, Hold Home Button down for 10 seconds, incase this breaks the phone even more).
I'll definately be having words with my local apple store when I get back - I've never ever had this much trouble doing something as simple as an unlock before. -
White screen, showing a flashing file icon with question mark??
Having issues with the above, please help
Flashing ? mark means it can't find the Disk it thinks it's supposed to boot from, or the Disk is muxed badly.
If 10.7.0 or later...
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partitirion & use Disk Utility from there. -
Making a button to reset a flash file
Is it possible to make some kind of clickable object that resets a flash file? Say you're in a game and your character gets killed. By clicking on a button you you're taken back to the start of the flash file and all the variable reset to their starting positions. Basically I just want to make a button that reloads the flash file the same as hitting the reload button on your browser (except that it just reloads the flash file and not the entire web page).
you can use:
yourbutton.onRelease=function(){
loadMovieNum("thisswf.swf",0); -
Flash file entered in dreamweaver
I have created a site with a dark background in Dreamweaver
and have added a flash (SWF) file into the page. However when the
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the table background dark blue, but this has not made any
difference.
Does anyone know a way of fixing this so that the white
square does not flash up? To see what it does you can look at a
sample of part of the site here: www.billmather.co.uk/portraits.htm
Thank you for any help!I have created a site with a dark background in Dreamweaver
and have added a flash (SWF) file into the page. However when the
page is accessed through a browser, a white square flashes up
before it starts loading the flash file. I have tried adding a dark
blue square image as background for the table and have also made
the table background dark blue, but this has not made any
difference.
Does anyone know a way of fixing this so that the white
square does not flash up? To see what it does you can look at a
sample of part of the site here: www.billmather.co.uk/portraits.htm
Thank you for any help!
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