Strange Big Firewire Icon on Startup

I am on a 24" iMac and I am randomly getting a grey screen with a big scrolling firewire icon on startup. There seems to be a pattern. I start up and the icon appears so I restart hitting the power button (keyboard and mouse don't work) 3 to 4 times and the computer boots. I have no firewire peripherals plugged in. Aaaah, help

Just to make sure there are no issues with the startup volume and give it a clean bill of health, do a Repair Disk, Repair Permissions and Check for Preference File Corruption.
Repair Disk: boot from the installation DVD, once past the language selection initial screen, run Disk Utility off the Utilities menu and do Repair Disk. If any errors appear, repeat until none. If unable to get no errors, you will need something stronger, like Disk Warrior.
Repair Permissions: boot normally, run Disk Utility off the startup volume, do a Repair Permissions. Beware, Leopard takes an awfully long time to finish this. You don't need to repeat.
Check Preference Files: get a third-party utility such as [Onyx (free)|http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html] or [MacPilot (shareware)|http://www.koingosw.com/products/macpilot.php]. If using Onyx, follow the path Verify/Preferences. If using MacPilot, follow the path Tools/Disk & Files/Verify Preferences Files Integrity.
You can also try purging all caches, user and system. Also, how old is the iMac? Cause the internal backup battery may be dead or dying, causing PRAM corruption.

Similar Messages

  • Large yellow firewire icon prevents my computer from booting up

    A big yellow firewire icon that moves around the screen like an old screen saver and the computer does not load after touching the power button.
    What might be going on with my firewire drive/card?
    Thank you.

    Your machine is booting up in Target Disk mode.  You may be able to clear this with a PRAM reset, holding down the cmd-option-P-R key combination at power on until you hear the second boot tone.  If that doesn't work, you will have to reset the non-volatile RAM in the machine.
    To reset NVRAM, you need to boot into open firmware by holding down the cmd-option-O-F key combination at power up until you get to the white OF terminal screen.  Then enter the following two commands:
    reset-nvram  <enter>
    reset-all   <enter>
    The second command will cause the machine to restart and it should some up and boot to the first available hard drive partition.

  • Target mode-never get the firewire icon?

    I have a 2005ish iMac that will not fully start up. It gets hung up at the end of the blue status bar during start up. I suspect the hard drive is completely overloaded, and when it started acting wonky I checked the hard drive and all was fine, so I dont think its hard drive failure. I am attempting to use Target mode to retrieve files then erase and reinstall. I attached the cable, which is 9 pin to 6 pin, to iMac and MacbookPro, and started the imac while holding down T key, but I never get the firewire icon. It jsut continues in its never ending "starting Mac OS X..." state. ANy help greatly appreciated!!

    On the problem machine try these diagnostics.
    Try a safe boot.
        Shutdown your machine.  Hold down the shift key.  Poweron.  Wait awhile Wait awhile while you harddrive
          is being checked.
        http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
    verify & repair your startup drive
    To verify & repair you file system on the startup drive, you will need to run disk utility from you installation DVD.
    This article  will tell you how to get to disk utility.  Once in a disk utility, you can go and attempt to recover the disk.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
    To repair your startup drive, you will need to run disk utility from your startup DVD.
    Mac OS X 10.4: About the utilities available on the Mac OS X 10.4 Install DVD
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2055
    How to run disk utility from your startup DVD.
    Insert your  startup DVD  into your reader.  Power down your machine.  Hold down to the c key.  Power on your machine.  This will bootup your startup DVD.
    This will bring you to a panel asking you for your language.  Pick your language.
    You you come to the Install Mac OS panel.  Do not install.
    Click on Utilities menu item.  This will give you a pulldown list of utilities.
    Click on the disk utility.
    You are now in disk utility.  Pick your disk.  Click on repair it should be on the lower right of the panel.
    Once the repair completes successfully, you should update your permissions.
    Verify a disk
    As an alternative, you can verify that the filesystem on the disk is correct. You will not be able to repair the file system.
    I suggest that you use disk utility to verify that your startup disk is OK. 
    Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility 
    Start up disk utility.  On the left pane view, you will see a list of all your disks.  
    Click on your startup disk.
    Click on the First Aid  Tab.
    Click on verify.  
    Hopefully your disk will verify.  If not, you have to boot from your installation DVD and run Disk Utility from there to attempt to repair your file-system.

  • How do I remove duplicate icon in Startup Manager?

    Hi,
    I had an unsuccessful attempt at upgrading my already boot camp'd MacBook Air to Mavericks. After successfully upgrading to Mavericks, Startup Manager now shows 2 Mac volumes which are actually the same volume (both icons will startup the same Mac volume ok) as well as 1 Windows volume. How do I remove one of the duplicate Mac volume icons? Disk Utility only shows the 1 Mac partition and 1 Bootcamp partition running Windows.
    Thanks

    From iTunes' menu, choose View > Show Duplicate Items.  Then choose one of each duplicate.  Control click on it and choose delete.

  • Strange battery looking icon on my IPod

    Hello, I am unable to use my IPod. When I turn it on it shows a strange disconnected battery icon. When I connect it to either an outlet or the USB port nothing happens. I know it has a charge as it has been connected to my computer, my cousin's computer and a wall outlet for more than enough time.
    After it has been connected for about a few minutes the open apple icon appears and it remains on the IPod screen until I give up. After an undetermined amount of time the screen goes blank.
    Can you help me?

    I'm just trying top determine if the battery is dead for good and if I just need to send it back.
    When I connect iPod to the computer via USB, I get a large battery icon (one bar lit)in the middle of the screen with the lightening bolt through it. However, that icon is not listed in the icon list that is available on the Apple site (or at least I couldn't find it). After several seconds it will go to the "sad" icon, then to the Apple logo, and back to the "sad".
    iPod is making some noise which sounds like the hard disk trying to work (a consistent clicking noise), but going nowhere.
    Beacuse of this, I can't "update" or "restore" the iPod because the computer doesn't recognize it as a device at all.
    Troubleshooting doesnt seem to address this secenario.
    Anyone have this same problem.
    PC   Windows XP   4Gen 20GB iPod

  • Imac G5 ALS shows grey screen with blinking folder icon on startup

    Helping a friend - her imac G5 got the blinking folder icon with question mark and grey screen and then wouldn't start. She had OS 10.4.11. I booted from install disk successfully- Disk Util said No repairs Necessary. Disk Warrior hung (never had that happen before). Performed Safe Boot. Multiple reboots were all successful.
    But a few days later, it happened again. Then I did a clean install of 10.5 and all software updates. Restored her user folder from a clone I'd made before starting. All seemed well.
    Now, the grey screen with folder question mark still occurs fairly often. If she restarts, she does get booted. (so far anyway)
    My question: what do I need to do to resolve the grey screen with blinking folder icon on startup?
    Additionally, the computer is slower than before. Does Leopard run slower on these machines than Tiger? (I'd already advised her to get more ram)
    Thanks for your help!

    The blinking folder means just that, it can't find an OS to boot to. Tray zapping the PRAM and it wouldn't hurt to run Rember and if the RAM checks out, she might want to add some, 512 is really a minimum, and Leopard should really have at least 1GB.

  • Strange Icon at startup

    I got my mac book last week and set it up as normal, but decided to tranfer the remaining information from my old imac to my new mac book via firewire. I followed all instructions however no disk images wold mount on either computer. So I ejected the disk image of macbook off my imac and shut both computers down and removed the fire lead.
    When I have started up my macbook again after an icon of a file with a question mark apeared a just keeps flashing untill the macbook turns its self off again. I have tried inserting the OSX Install disk but when I get asked to chose a volume to add to their are no choices?
    Im stuck I dont know what else to do other then to send the thing back? Is it broke?

    "agreed-running Disk Util from the Installation CD should show a HD, even if its been wiped. If it doesn't show anything, the HD is either damaged or disconnected."
    I tend to agree. I had a HD go out on me a few years ago. Luckily I had a clone on an external drive. It would never show up on the desktop. It sometimes would show through Disk Utility. After reinstalling the system a few time just to have it "lose itself" again I finally contacted the drive manufacturer (it wasn't the drive originally installed) and they had me send it in and sure enough it was toasted. Thank goodness for warranties and cloned OS's.

  • Flashing folder icon on startup. Please help

    My laptop won't start properly anymore after i pressed the shut down button when my laptop was running slow. When I started it up I got a flashing folder icon with a question mark.
    As of now I can only get into recovery mode by selecting the recover over the internet option.
    Inside the recovery mode I ran disk utility and it could not repair the errors
    I got errors such as invalid node and missing links
    I cannot mount the drive at all
    Is there a solution to this, maybe apart from disk warrior?
    Many thanks,
    David
    P.s I have gone in to terminal to run fsck_hsf rf /dev/disk0s2, but that could not repair either

    If you are backed up, then you can run Disk Warrior to see if you make it the internal drive readable.
    If you aren't backed up, get Prosoft Data Rescue, an external hard drive big enough to handle both your internal drive, and your installed operating system from http://www.macsales.com/
    Then boot off the 10.6 installer disc and use the Disk Utility in the installer menus to format the external hard drive to have two partitions, one large enough to have the entirety of the internal drive, and one with at least 20 GB to install 10.6, and install Data Rescue.  Once that is done, you can boot off the Data Rescue partition with the Option key at startup, and run Data Rescue to recover the internal drive to the second partition of the external drive.
    If neither Disk Warrior works, nor Data Rescue works, it is time to consider how valuable the data is. If it is several thousand dollars worth, it may be worth trying http://www.drivesavers.com/ which will cost that much to try to recover from a "dead" hard drive.
    Apple might offer an intermediate cost, though I would check with them how much it is before choosing between one and the other.

  • OSX 10.8.5 + Pro Tools 10: Very strange issues - Firewire audio interface

    I'm facing weird issues on my new system.
    When I received my new iMac, I firstly used Migration Assistant. It didn't work well so I did a clean install. I installed the Digi003 drivers first, then PT, then all the plugins. Everything is up to date. Interface and computer are connected with a Firewire 400/800 cable and a brand new Thunderbolt/Firewire adapter. The computer is used for music production only and the hard drive is almost empty (not much data).
    I know the Digi003 works fine as I used it with my former iMac which was a Core2Duo 3gHz with 4Go RAM running OSX 10.6.8 and PT 10.0.0. I used to set the buffer size  on 128 to record audio. It worked well.
    THE PROBLEMS ARE:
    1- DigiAudioCore does not auto-launch anymore. If want to play a song with VLC, I have to manually launch DigiAudioCore.
    2- PT stops (-6086) if I record with the buffer size set on 128. Buffer size on 256 is the minimum and PT still bugs sometimes even if there is only one track and no plugins in a 44.1kHz / 24bits session.
    3- CPU spikes too if I have just a couple of plugins engaged.
    4- I did some tests with an RME Fireface 800 and a Motu 828 MKII and I got the same issues (-6101). I still have to do a test with an USB interface.
    5- Sometimes the iMac bugs when I open the System Prefs but it works normally after a few seconds.
    I don't know what are the causes but it seems that there is a bandwidth problem caused by Thunderbolt/Firewire connection. I tried a brand new FW800 cable between the Fireface 800 and the computer but I got the same issues. Maybe the hard drive???
    So now I really need some help to solve once for all these problems. I hope I don't have a do a clean install again!!!
    Thanks in advance.
    COMPUTER SPECS
    iMac 27" bought october 2013
    Processor: i7 3.5gHz (Turbo boost 3.9gHz)
    Memory: 32Go RAM DDR3
    Hard drive: Fusion Drive 1To
    OSX: Mountain Lion 10.8.5
    INTERFACE & DAW
    Digi003 Rack+ (drivers up to date)
    Pro Tools 10.3.7

    Back up all data immediately as your boot drive may be failing.
    This diagnostic procedure will query the system log for messages that may indicate a hardware fault. It changes nothing, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
    If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator. I've tested them only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.
    Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
    syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'Channel t|GPU D|I/O|n Cause: -' | tail | open -ef
    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
    The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
    A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the command will produce no output, and the window will be empty. If the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window) has anything in it, post it — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the TextEdit window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.

  • Flashing Question Mark on Folder Icon on Startup: Not Yet Fatal

    I running into a potential problem with my White, 13" MacBook. I'm running 10.5.6 (upgraded from 10.4).
    I recently bought a new, larger capacity hard drive. I used the Applications "SuperDuper" to clone my existing drive onto the new drive. My computer runs (as far as I can tell) the same as it always did. However, whenever I startup the computer, it briefly flashes the dreaded "giant folder with a blinking question mark". However, this is quickly replaced with the Apple Logo, and the computer boots normally.
    I have repaired permissions, and verified the disk using disk utility. The disk verified with a message along the lines of "The disk appears to be ok".
    While my computer's working now, I'm concerned there might be a deeper problem, and I'd like to catch it before it becomes critical. Also, if this is something standard that happens when you replace a hard drive with a new one, I'd like to know that as well so I can stop worrying.
    If your answer is "put your old drive back in", pretend I did that and am still seeing the problem. What now?
    Possible data point, I opened the console and saw the following two lines right before the "got boot device" line
    4/29/09 5:00:07 PM kernel Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1">IOResources</string><key>IOResourceMatch</key><string ID="2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
    4/29/09 5:00:07 PM kernel AppleYukon2: 532111ab,00000000 sk98osx_dnet - CheckDictionaryEntry failed, expected vs. dictionary
    Thanks in advance for your help.

    Open Startup Disk preferences, select your startup volume from icon list, click on the Restart button.

  • Problem with internal HD upgrade- Flashing "?" over HD icon on startup

    Last weekend, I installed a Western Digital 250GB internal IDE 2.5 inch drive (WD2500BEVE) to replace the internal HD on my 15 inch G4 PB Aluminium (not sure of processor speed, but purchased new in 2004, with OSX 10.4.11). I backed up my existing HD to my friend's MacBook, as a disk image using Carbon Copy Cloner. I was very careful with the installation (using anti-static wristband etc etc). The installation appeared to go well. The newly installed internal HD could be mounted as an external HD of my friend's MacBook (using firewire Target Disk mode). Carbon Copy Cloner copied everything back to the new internal HD without any apparent problems.
    BUT THEN... when I disconnected the firewire connection and tried to start my computer on its own, the dreaded 'flashing question mark over hard drive' icon appeared.
    Can anyone suggest what the problem might be? Three things I've already excluded are:
    (1) The jumper settings on the HD are correct.
    (2) I formatted the new HD as Mac OS extended (journaled)
    (3) The problem is not with the master boot sector (i.e. the problem is not merely that the computer can see the HD but does not know how to load the system from it). My computer cannot see the HD at all -- when I insert my operating system DVDs as if to reinstall the system, my internal HD does not even appear.
    I am not panicking as I can still view the contents of my internal HD by booting it as an external HD of my friend's computer. But there seems to be a problem with my CPU communicating with my internal HD. The core of the mystery is: why can I boot my new internal HD off my friend's computer using FireWire, yet when I start my computer on its own using the operating system DVDs, the computer doesn't seem to recognise the HD whatsoever?
    Does anyone have any suggestions?

    Can we establish what model Powerbook you have? Take the battery out and look for the label.
    I have a feeling that your PB cannot recognize the 250GB drive, although I was under the impression that the older PBs that could only recognize 128GB would simply ignore the extra disk space. Perhaps the ATA specs aren't all backward compatible, although the Firewire interface can handle it.
    Other World Computing can obtusely point out which drives your model can handle, although I don't know it its 100% accurate.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/

  • Strange arrow in icon bar [N72]

    I have recently discovered a strange icon in the icon bar (next to bluetooth)
    It looks like this:
    The / has an arrow shape.
    Ik found some other topics were the Outbox and Redirecting calls were mentioned.
    I cleared all my messages, (except some files in "my folders" (if i translated it right))
    I tried to reset the redirecting options, but all I get back is "Not Allowed".
    Does it have any effect on my calls/messages?
    How do I solve this?
    I own the N72 now 2,5 Years, I see the logo first now.

    it is either something to do with gprs thats active go to packet data settings and select to when needed,or esle its a call divert you may have set up without realising
    If  i have helped at all a click on the white star below would be nice thanks.
    Now using the Lumia 1520

  • A Bouncing Safari Icon - at startup (after upgrade fron 1.2)

    A bouncing Safari icon with a spinning pinwheel at startup (after upgrade fron 1.2) and finding that safari just will not open - then forced to reboot bact into 1.2 - I wouldf like to find out what 1.3 is all about. by the way I.m also have issues with a "localized string not found" issue.
    Any one have any ideas?

    Have you looked at the locked thread at the top of the Safari help list? This I think should help you with the localised string issue you are having. Or if you are lazy....
    K Tilford, "Fix for "localized string not found" issue", 09:08pm Mar 24, 2005 CDT

  • Thousands of strange Aperture "program icons

    I recently installed Aperture 3.3 and I have it integrated with my iPhoto library.  In both libraries, and in my photos on my iPad, Aperture "program icons" appear.  Why are they there and how can I get rid of them?  I've repaired permissions on my iMac.

    It took a couple of hours, but I've gone through my libraries and deleted all these strange image files. 
    When I say that I have Aperture integrated with my iPhoto library, I mean that the two libraries are "synced" or "unified" as described  on Apple's site: http://www.apple.com/aperture/. 
    When I first opened Aperture, it asked me if I wanted to "integrate" or "unify" my iPhoto library with my Aperture library.  I clicked the appropriate button, etc. and the two libraries were unified. 
    I think you are correct, Kirby.  Could this have happened when I added  Aperture to my dock?  Might I have accidentally dragged it into iPhoto  right there on the dock?  I seem to remember that dragging it over there  didn't work initially and I had to do it twice.  If that's the case,  and I have now deleted the image files, is my problem solved?  I mean,  if they don't magically reappear, have I messed up iPhoto and Aperture? 
    And thank you for all your responses... Dealing with a techie idiot like me isn't easy.  Lots of good karma is coming your way. 
    I *think* my problem is solved, but I'll be back screaming and pulling my hair out if it's not. 

  • Strange unix exec. icons after using Optimizer 4.7.4

    I was using system optimizer X 4.7.4 then after restarting the Mac G5 strange Unix Icons appeared in the Finder? Datei0,Datei1,Datei2,Datei3 and etc thru Datei7 what does this mean? I removed them to my external hd just in case? Help? New OSX user...any ideas what this means?

    I found out it is my USB Key by Syncrosoft & Cubase SX3 after intense search they will be a fix according to the forum in Cubase.net? So anyone with this Icons this is the cause... just thought I'd Mention to my peeps here on Apple Disc.. Thanks for the reply Chief C-ya
    best Regards
    Master Yoda USA
    Power MAC G5 2.0 Dual Processor   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

Maybe you are looking for