Startup issues question mark and disk appearing at startup.

Ok,
Here's my situation...Like a bone head I changed the startup disk from my Tiger to OS9...don't know why...well it's apperently missing so I only get the ?/disk icon. How do I get back to OS10 system preferences to undo this ****? This used for my music with iPod only.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
thanks

If your computer supports OPTION booting then restart and hold down the OPTION key after the chime until the boot manager screen appears. Select your OS X volume and click on the large right arrow button. After you startup into OS X open Startup Disk preference and set your OS X volume as the default and click on the Restart button.
If the computer doesn't support OPTION booting then restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the "X" key until the computer starts up in OS X. Then reset default with Startup Disk per above.
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Similar Messages

G5 Startup issue - question mark folder

Hello -
I am using a PowerMacG5 Dual 2.3 ghz with 1GB RAM
OS 10.4.9
No partitions or anything - just one large hard drive.
It has started having an issue on startup :
For a second, it shows the Flashing question mark folder, then starts up as normal.
Not sure how long this has been happening, or what triggered it.
It runs fine otherwise, except for not recognizing its Airport card.
Latest Repair Permissions returns only the folllowing :
Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions differ on ./private/var/log/secure.log, should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r-----
Owner and group corrected on ./private/var/log/secure.log
Permissions corrected on ./private/var/log/secure.log
Permissions repair complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
But I want to avoid this becoming a larger issue - why would it be doing this Question Mark on startup and what can anyone recommend - clean install ? upgrade to 10.4.10 ? other ideas ?
Thanks

Hi infoAP-
It sounds like it may be looking for a startup disk, doesn't find what it is looking for, and resorts back to the system drive.
Take a look at your Startup Disk preference and make sure the drive of this particular mac is selected, unless you want it to boot from something else.
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

Two issues, Question mark and Chinese

Issue #1 - When I go to a URL such as the Apple.com location, OT files such as the iPhone (drool) currently featured don't appear. Instead I get a semi transparent QT logo with a Question mark superimposed over it. Same goes for QT files that are emailed to me as attachements.
Issue #2 - When I click on the QT icon on my dock I get a small window that pops up titled "Welcome to Quick Time" and if clicked linking me to a QT promo which, consistent with issue #1 will not load. Quick Time opens but other than the name of the application in bold, all other words are in what I assume is Chinese.
These two issues seem to have cropped up simultaneously, though I can't say for sure. How do I reset the language that QT is displayed in? Particularly when I can't read any menu/toolbar items in QT?
Thanks for your help.

Thanks for your assitance Jon, unfortunately I'm no closer to resolving this. The QT and VLC are both in the Applications folder, should this not be the case?Was not referring to applications here but the browser plug-ins in the "~root > Library > Internet Plug-Ins" folder. If there is a browser plug-in conflict, this is where you would start to look for it.
As for the language issue, I checked International and found Chinese to be second under English in the list. I moved Spanish up to second to see the result and QT is now in Spanish. I moved Spanish to first position and English to second and all of my Apps etc were in Spanish including QT! I put English back on top and all are just that except QT which is still in Spanish. So evidently QT has developed a distaste for English?This seems to confirm that your problem is connected to the language list -- or rather how QT has indexed and is accessing the list. It is obviously off by one index and if QT is the only application affected, would assume it most likely the application is corrupted. Unfortunately, as embedded as it is in the current system, the best solution might be to reinstall the OS. On the other hand, if you can wait for the next upgrade, I was wondering you could get temporary relief by simply placing "English US" at the top of the list and use "English" as the second entry. At least you could read the menus.
One other question....I was planning on upgrading to Quick Time Pro, will downloading this fix my problem?No, QT Pro merely unlocks editing/saving/exporting features.
Can I delete QT and then start over with a download of QT Pro?QT Pro is not a separate application. With previous versions of QT, I might recommend removal and re-installation of QT. But with the current "tight" integrations of QT/OS I personally would worry about creating more problems than I would solve.

Blinking folder with question mark, and disk utility doesnt recognise hard drive, please help!!!

So today i was using my macbook pro and for some reason my CD/DVD drive was causing noise when i put a DVD inside it, and for some reason it did not recognise my DVD. I force ejected it using the restart and clicking, but after that my computer showed a blinking folder and question mark during start up. I restarted my computer to Recovery HD, but instead it took me to internet Recovery HD (i have mountain lion), and so i went to disk utility to repair my disk, but in the left it did not recognise my hard drive. Please help! Im not that experienced in computing!

Sounds like some sort of power issue and now your drive is not working.
You'll have to take this to Apple for repair.
You should read this if you don't have recent backups of your data off the machine.
My computer is not working, is my personal data lost?

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.

Grey folder with question mark and Disk Utility can't find HDD.

I have a 2010 MacBook Pro and for some reason the OS X does not boot up. Therefore I see the grey folder flashing. I tried booting into Recovery from holding options button but there are no available startup disks. So I installed Apple recovery on my USB and I boot up with that. I opened disk utility but it does not seem to find the hard disk. I also tried reinstalling Mac OS X and it gives me an error. Is there another bootable software except for Disk Utility that can check the HDD and see if there are any errors or is the HDD just dead?

Try the steps in this support article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Have you tried installing the original Snow Leopard installation disk and access Disk Utility from the Utilities menu?
Ciao.

Initial startup with question marked folder with a disk already inside

Initial startup with question marked folder with a disk already inside

Reinstalling Lion/Mountain 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. 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 the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
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 problem with iphoto (have a mac book pro): the icon in the dock appears with a question mark, and the application is gone!!! Can someone tell what's going on? Yesterday I had the same problem with itunes

I have a problem with iphoto (have a mac book pro): the icon in the dock appears with a question mark, and the application is gone!!! Can someone tell what's going on? Yesterday I had the same problem with itunes: I downloaded the last version (it's free), but I cannot do the same with iphoto, and more important: I need to know what is happening!!! Please help me!

Applications should not disappear all by themselves.
If they are then that coud indicate serious problems with your hard drive.
Backup everything up as quickly as possible.
Using Disk Utility verify your system disk.
Allan

Folder with Question Mark and a useless disk stuck in my disk drive!

Hello,
earlier on today my computer crashed. I have read on a couple of posts that I should try to boot the computer from the install disk. Cool. The only problem is that when my computer crashed I had a CD in the disk drive. When I try to start the computer up I see a question mark and folder, but will not respond to any commands like "eject" or even holding the mouse button.
What do I do? I'm in Korea and going back to Canada in two weeks, but I need my computer!

Hi,
The Question Mark folder implies that your MacBook can't find a System Folder to boot from. It doesn't mean the drive is bad.
Are you holding down the C key while booting? Make sure the MacBook is shut down. Now, press the power button, hold down the C key and insert the restore disk all at the same time. Keep holding down the C key until you see the Apple logo on the screen, then let go. You should see an Installer window, select English. DO not proceed with any installation.. do this. From the Menu Bar, click Utilities/Startup Disk. When that window opens, select MacintoshHD 10.x.x and click the Restart button. That will boot your Mac back up from the hard disk, not the restore disk. If this works, don't forget to eject your restore disk and store it in a safe place.
More help for the question mark: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

Startup Failure (Blinking Question Mark) and more.....

Hi,
I have a G4 iBook that has a problem, with the hard drive I think, but I want to see if anyone has run into this problem. A search of the board didn't yeild much. Anyway, what happens is if I boot the iBook up it will get to a small folder icon with a flashing question mark and mac face. I realize this is an indicator that the startup drive isn't found. If I pinch the lower left corner during a startup then the iBook boots properly. Has anyone seen this behavior before?
Thanks,
Steve

Hi love, I had this problem last october. When I bought my Mac it was an ex-display model with a new hard drive (August 2004). Last October 2006 I restarted my mac only for it to come up with the flashy finder folder / question mark. I was told that this means the Mac can't access the OS - apparently (not gospel!) this means that either your OS is being a bum or your hard drive has died, meaning that your mac can't access the OS 'cos obviously it's stored on your hard drive. I'm not sure how much of that is correct, however when I sent it off for repair, it came back with a new hard drive. I'd also like to say at this point that the Hardware test disk said my Hard Drive was OK but that when I connected my Mac to another Mac via firewire to try and retreive my data it could not access the hard disk.
Sorry to break the bad news to you but it's very very likely you'll need a new hard drive. I am suffering at the moment 'cos my hard drive died again about 3 weeks ago, I got it back 10 days ago and it's gone again now. I have a week before I finish my degree and all my assignments were on there! (Naturally the ones I'd done this week hadn't been backed up yet!)
Good luck with your Mac, let us know how it goes

New iMac, startup failure, question mark: TH00-9.000 TH0O-9.000

Hi everyone!
My new alu iMac worked for 3 weeks. Today it suddenly crashed. Now the boot process stops with a flashing question mark.
Disk Repair didn't find any harddisks to repair.
System Profiler stated "There was an error while scanning for Serial-ATA devices."
AHT reports the following error code: 4sns/1/40000000: TH00-9.000 harddisk failure.
The error appears during (or after) the main logic board test while the fans spin up.
Looking closely the space between the zeros in TH00 is significantly smaller. So maybe it's not a zero but an upper case O.

Please look over the following Apple Advice letter:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
My guess is the internal HD has crashed, this of course would be covered by your 1 year warranty so you should contact Apple immediately for repair. Please remember hard drives are not made by Apple and they do fail. Some last weeks some last 10 years, unfortunately they are very unpredictable. While this is frustrating this is why you have a warranty. If you have been using Time Machine then once the internal drive has been replaced restoring will be painless with TM.
If you have added an external HD or have a flash drive inserted in one of the USB slots that can confuse the machine so it doesn't know where the startup volume is. Try re-starting by holding down the Option key, if the machine sees start up disks it will highlight them, then choose the internal HD. Once the machine has started then go to System Preferences-Startup Disk and select the internal disk.
If that doesn't work please post back and let us know what happened. BTW you don't state where you are located but you may be covered by AppleCare. Look in your owners manual for the phone number in your area and contact Apple, you have 90 days of free telephone support.
Roger

Folder with question mark and smiling mac face at start up

After I was importing some video today, shut down G5 and on start up I get the folder with question mark and smiling mac face.
Any help?
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Boot from a drive with Disk Warrior 4, or your emergency boot drive (FW or alternate) or if you lack that, use single user mode to run fsck command. The last option would be your Tiger DVD but that may be 10.4.3 or earlier and not your best.
I say that because it seems like it was more than just needing to reset the startup disk preference and may have a corrupt directory. It shutdown smoothly and fully?
At the least, using the OPTION key and SHIFT key for Safe Boot. My recollection of trying to do both is that it won't. You can do one or the other, but not both. So running FSCK is just insurance to repair the directory.

What does a question mark and i file mean on my macbook pro

what does a question mark and i file mean on my macbook pro when i turn it on?

To be more specific, the computer is not finding a valid system when it starts up. This may result from the hard drive's physical mechanism failing, or the system on the drive being corrupted in some way.
Repairing permissions is not likely to fix this issue. Instead I would suggest booting from the system install DVD, running Disk Utility, selecting your hard drive's partition and select *Repair Disk*.
Note: if the hard drive does not show up in Disk Utility at all, it is dead and will need to be replaced. Contact Apple (800-275-2273 in the USA) and have them set up warranty service, or carry the MacBook in to an Apple retail store to have it fixed. Be sure to [make an appointment|http://www.apple.com/retail] first you you may wait a long time to speak to a Mac Genius.
If Repair Disk finds any problems and is able to correct them, you may be able to restart and everything be okay. If it is unable to correct the problems, you will need to erase and restore your hard drive.
If Repair Disk does not find any problems, I would suggest an Archive and Install as described in [this article|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1710].
Best of luck.

I have some old pagemaker files that I need to open so I have bought a G3 on ebay. It turns on OK but all that comes uo on the screen is an envelope with alternating question mark and apple logo. Any ideas?

I have some old pagemaker files that I need to open so I have bought a G3 on ebay. It turns on OK but all that comes uo on the screen is an envelope with alternating question mark and apple logo. Any ideas?

I suggest you get 9.2. You need to install the same or later version of the OS. One some computer the shipped version has extra drivers. The drivers will not be in the official release in this case 9.1. They would be in 9.2.
Mac OS 9.1 (Mac OS ROM 7.5.1) and Mac OS X 10.0.4 (4P13)
*blinking question mark*
The blinking question mark means that your mac firmware could not find a valid operating system
on one of your disk volumes.
Somethings to do to resolve the blinking question mark.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
Try holding down the option key then power on. This brings up the startup manager. Click on your hd. Click on right arrow key.
You need to figure out the level of your firmware before installing 10.2 or greater. ( The PC name for firmware is BIOS. ) Installing 10.2 with a down level firmware will most likely make your iMac unusable and difficult to fix.
What is firmware?
The firmware software receives control when you poweron your machine. It does some hardware testing and some hardware configuration then passes control to your version of Mac OS. It reside on a PROM ( program read only memory ) chip on the logic board.
Figuring out what level of firmware you have?
Open Firmware, boot into Open Firmware.
Power on your iMac while holding down command+option+o+f
The first output line contains the firmware level. Mine reads:
Apple PowerMac4,1 4.1.9f1 BootRom built on 09/14/01 at 13.18.04
Copyright 1994-2001 Apple Computer Inc.
On my machine, I have 4.1.9f1.
What firmware do you need?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117
For a slot loading iMac, this article indicates that you need to be running 9.1 or later version of Mac OS Classic.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75130
"The iMac Firmware Update 4.1.9 will only run on iMac computers with lot-loading CD or DVD drives running Mac OS 9.1 or later from a local drive. If you are using Mac OS X you must boot from a local Mac OS 9.1 or later writeable partition (not a CD, or network disk) prior to following the update instructions."
You can download the Mac OS 9 updates from the Apple site.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1387?viewlocale=en_US

When I go to turn on my laptop, it flashes a question mark and a folder picture and I'm not sure how to fix it?

at first, I was using my laptop and it started freezing and not responding. So I shut it down and then the described situation started happening as oppose to the apple symbol and starting if the laptop. After five to ten minutes, it turns off automatically. I've repeatedly tried restarting.
how can I fix it? Or should I go to a computer repair company?

The computer can't find a startup drive:
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support

Startup issues question mark and disk appearing at startup.

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