Unique "flash question folder" problem, doesn't boost from either HD/drive

Hello, I am pretending to be a Mac expert to my friends (Please don't laugh at me, Cornelius, Douglas, Duane or others). One of my friends went to me with a iBook G3 with a classic flashing question folder on screen. I promised her I would fix it next day. But now I am stucked on it. I thought it would just be an OS issue. It seems it is more complicated than that. I tried to install 10.4 from DVD, by restarting while holding down "C" key. It did not boost from there. Fine, it might just be an optical drive problem. I dived into the book, replace the HD with a known-good one having OS installed. The book still won't boost. Fine, it might be the a bad connection between HD/drive to the mother board. So I threw in a good signal cable. Nothing I have done really helped the boosting issue. I think I have to bring the same non-working book back to her on Tues or Wed. So embarrassed. Maybe you guys can help me out? Thank you.

There is an article on the flashing question mark that might be helpful:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
It sounds like you might already have done more than was necessary, but it should be possible to get back in business. I'm not the one to advise you, as I am not all that experienced myself. But the more knowledgeable memebers of the forum should be able to help.
One thing--do you have all of the original install discs? If you don't, see if you can get them from your friend. You will probably need to have them on hand. Often people have to hunt for these, so you might be able to stall for a little more time while you get some answers from the forum. Also, the install discs will contain the Apple Hardware Test, which you can run and look for hardware problems.
Also, identify the iBook model more completely. Here's the article to find that out:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88039
Posting more detail will help others to advise you.
Good luck!

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What camera took these RAW photos?
Did you use any Nikon software to transfer the photos to your computer's hard disk?

Help diagnos. flashing question mark on monitor, cannot boot from CD drive

Any ideas? This is an older G3 tower which was "souped Up" wtih USB and Firewire cards, memory
Mac froze in midst of work last week. Now only get flashing question mark supermimposed on image of a floppy drive.
Tried to re install system (OS9) but cannot get ANY CD to boot from CD drive. I reboot, hold down "C" Key with CD in tray ( and i can hear the CD drive working). But the tray opens and ejects/rejects the CD).
I now suspect the problem is NOT the OS but rather a hardware issue.
Am I correct in this assumption? what else could this be?
I am trying to help an older gentleman who has no backups and has some important documents on the HD.If I can boot up, might be able to retrieve those itesm. (and get a newer Mac!)

Not the answer,Dale (thanks anyway)
I read that article.
I cannot boot from any bootable CD.
Inserted the OS install disk as well as third party bootable CD.
with CD in the CD drive tray, I restarted and held down the C key.
Mac restarted but the CD tray popped open. Would not boot from the CD.
That is why I posted query
not only do we have the flashing question mark but bootable CDs are not booting this Mac. So I can do no diagnostics, no repair, not salvage of files.
I am trying to understand where the problem lies. am guessing Hard Drive failure but why should CD also not work?

Folder missing after transferring data from external hard drive

Hello.
I have a big problem and I hope somebody can help.
I transferred 350gb from my SAMSUNG external hard disc to my new Macbook Pro, in order to format it (my external hd) and configure it for Mac as I wasn't able to delete anything off of it, which bugged me. So I did it and everything seemed ok.
Then I formatted my external hard disc and everything was erased from it.
Then, problem begins: One day after, I realized that one folder is missing from the 350gb that I transfered day before, which is very very very important for me.
I tried to recover files from my external drive with a program called StellarPhoenixMacDataRecovery and it did recover everything except for that folder! I tried to find it with Finder and I had no luck. I tried both name of the folder and also the names of the files that folder contained. No luck either. I also tried to list files in Terminal and again, no luck. For some reason, only that one particular folder (that is the most important for me!) is missing.
What could be the problem?
Folder's name contained some German letters and dashes and I was thinking if this maybe caused Mac changing its name and maybe moving it somewhere without me noticing it? Or it's hidden for some reason? Or it's gone forever?
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Hello.
I have a big problem and I hope somebody can help.
I transferred 350gb from my SAMSUNG external hard disc to my new Macbook Pro, in order to format it (my external hd) and configure it for Mac as I wasn't able to delete anything off of it, which bugged me. So I did it and everything seemed ok.
Then I formatted my external hard disc and everything was erased from it.
Then, problem begins: One day after, I realized that one folder is missing from the 350gb that I transfered day before, which is very very very important for me.
I tried to recover files from my external drive with a program called StellarPhoenixMacDataRecovery and it did recover everything except for that folder! I tried to find it with Finder and I had no luck. I tried both name of the folder and also the names of the files that folder contained. No luck either. I also tried to list files in Terminal and again, no luck. For some reason, only that one particular folder (that is the most important for me!) is missing.
What could be the problem?
Folder's name contained some German letters and dashes and I was thinking if this maybe caused Mac changing its name and maybe moving it somewhere without me noticing it? Or it's hidden for some reason? Or it's gone forever?
Please help, any idea is much appreciated.
Marijeta

Boost from external hard drive not allowed

Just bought a new Maxtor 200GB, and I did mount it in a external case, the store didn't have firewire boxes so I'm using the USB2 one.
I did copy an image of my internal hard drive to it to "clean" it, rebooting from the hard drive, BUT even though the system is seen on the hard drive it doesn't boot from it after selecting it and restart.
Today I did try to instal a clean system on it and it doesn't allow it neither.
Is it because of USB2 and I could solve it changing the box for a firewire one or is it because of a SATA disk and there's no solution? (or anyhthing else)

No problem on "hello' and "thanks"
I'm no hardware expert but it also looks like you'll need to use a SATA drive enclosure:
http://www.satasite.com/external-3-5-sata-hard-drive-enclosure.htm
-mj
[email protected]

MacBook fell, doesn't startup from DVD; hard drive remplacement necessary?

Hi, my son's MacBook fell and now it doesnt start up anymore, there's only a grey screen and a question mark.
Tried to startup from the 10.6 DVD, with C-key held down > no reaction, DVD is spit out.
Tried to startup from the 10.5 DVD (was originally bought with 10.5), and it reacts to that in that it asks for which language to use, but at the Select A Destination-window, the window stays blank: it can't find the hard drive it seems.
My brother in law says it will likely need a new hard drive. If so, what type to use and can I install it myself (once did so with a 10.3 iBook)?
From this computer I don't know the specifics (how many GB or RPM). Somebody else bought it.
thanks in advance!

>something tiny fell out as well. It went so fast, I'm not sure what it was, but I did see a tiny flat metal ring (4 mm or so)<
It's possible something associated w/ the hard drive/connector got broken when it fell. So search carefully for any other part that could have come out when you pulled the HD out, even if it's a tiny piece of broken plastic. Then could you put up a picture of that ring and what ever else you find? I'm pretty familiar w/ most parts in a MacBook and that part/s might be a clue to what got broken when it fell.
Also check the serial number and run it at:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html
The serial number is located on a sticker in the bottom of the battery well.
>(once did so with a 10.3 iBook)< Holy buckets! That's impressive and way, way harder that what's involved in replacing the HD in a MacBook!
So based on that impressive statement I'm going to say:
Depending on what kind of external you have (Is it roughly the same general size as the MacBook HD? I.E. laptop HD size.). You could pull the HD out of the external and put the MacBooks internal HD in there ( Since they're probably both SATA) and see if it spins up when you have the external plugged in an start up the computer. If they're not both SATA you'll have to buy a USB dongle. I've gotten them for as cheap as $14.
If it spins up select it and try to boot from it. If it boots there then something broke as above.
If no spinup then HD probably toast. I've been able to get these running by tapping on one that wouldn't spin but if you try that be ready to clone it immediately. If you get it to spin up that way try not to move/disturb it, see if it mounts. If so clone it immediately. So you'll need to be ready w/ Data Rescue or Super Duper and have enough space available to clone it to something.

My computer is stuck on an apple symbol or a prohibited symbol or a flashing questioned folder for hours

Hi, im not the best with computers but i have a major problem. My macbook pro shut off some how during a car trip and now whenever i try and turn it back on, it gets stuck on an apple symbol or prohibited symbol with a loading ring under neath or even a blinking folder with a question mark on it. I dont think i have mountain lion and my macbook is from 2009 i think but i got it 2012, its the one just before the new one with retina. Ive tried all the commands you hold down while turning on but they seem to do nothing. When holding down command s, it freezes on this black screen with lots of writing on it. Ive got sooooo much important work on it and i dont think its backed up and i dont want to loose years of imported stuff. Someone please help me. I will be going to the genius bar soon. On another note, i may have been downloading some dodgy applications so yeah.

Your hard drive isn't dead as far as I can tell, however because you used the machine in a moving vehicle the platters and the data it holds have been struct by the read heads from the jarring.
Your not supposed to move a hard drive while it's operating. Depsite Apple's sudden motion sensor, it only works on sudden motion enough to trigger it, so it's not perfect.
Take your machine to a local PC/Mac data recovery/software specialist in your area, then take the machine to Apple for a repalcement hard drive if it's determined it's lost.
Apple doesn't do data recovery, they will just replace your boot drive and send you packing and blame you for not making backups.
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ITunes Media Folder won't switch location from external hard drive

So for the last few years I've had my iTunes library stored on an external hard drive (a LaCie Quadra), but I'm out of space, so I got a new one (a Lacie Rugged). However, when I go to change the iTunes Media folder location to the new iTunes folder in my Rugged, it's not switching over, and in fact what's even weirder is I've just discovered no matter where I set the iTunes Media folder location to, my iTunes library will only play from the iTunes folder in my old Quadra. I've Reset it numerous times, and even set the location to the Desktop (on which I have no music), yet it still is playing from my Quadra. It's as if it's locked onto it.
Does anyone know what's going on here and how to fix it? I should note I think I did get it to switch to my Rugged for a bit, as the first time I switched the iTunes Media to my Rugged (which at the same time my Quadra was still connected) I bought a song, which is no where to be found on my Quadra. But ever since I disconnected the Quadra, this problem started. Also, to transfer my files from my Quadra to the Rugged, I connected the Quadra via Firewire 800 and the Rugged via USB, and I intend to use Firewire with my Rugged from now on. Could that affect what's going wrong here? And FYI, every time I've connected to the Rugged, it does go through the Consolidate Files process, but that hasn't done anything.
Thanks

Do you only have media on the external (which by the way is not a "library" because it is lacking many parts of a complete library), or do you have a complete iTunes folder with library files and support folders (a true library)?
If only media and you have both drives connected you need consolidate/organize media from one drive to the other. iTunes 12 for Mac: Change where your iTunes files are stored - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH19507 - more information at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/22026652#22026652 - and steps 5-8 in https://discussions.apple.com/message/24491967#24491967
If you have your entire library on the external drive, copy the iTunes folder from one drive to the other. Start iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and select the relocated iTunes folder on the new drive.

Permissions problem when copying files from external hard drive

Hi.
I have recently reinstalled leopard (wiped the hard drive clean) on my macbook pro. (10.5.4). I had used Time Machine so I have a complete backup. But I only wanted a few of the files so I didn't do a backup restore. I went into the file directory of the backup on my external hard drive and dragged the folders I wanted back over to my laptop.
But I'm in permissions **** though! When I want to copy them over I get an alert saying you may not have privilege to do this and asks for my password. I enter my password and it copies fine. But every time I want to do anything with those files (like move them, or delete them) I have to re enter a password.
So, inside of the terminal I do a "ls -al" command to see whats going on and find that everything is the same as a natively created folder except for a '@' on the permissions column. I do a "ls -al@' to see more details and I get this:
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 xenition staff 204 Jul 20 17:08 Assets
com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot 50
com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot 50
I did run repair permissions from Disk Utility and it didn't solve it. How can I resolve the permissions on these files?
Message was edited by: risingtiger

run ls -aleO on the copied files and see if there are any ACLs or flags.
BTW, another (and possibly better) way to restore files from an old TM drive is via TM interface. control-click on TM in the dock and choose "browse other TM disks" select a disk to browse and go at it. when you try to restore something you'll be prompted for a location to restore it to and maybe a password.

Moving my itunes media folder back to my computer from external hard drive

Hope someone can help me here as I've gotten myself confused.
A couple years ago I moved my Media Folder to an external hard drive. I now want to move it back but I'm doing something wrong.
Here's what I did.
Copied the Media Folder from external to computer desktop.
Moved Media Folder into the Computer's iTunes Media folder.
Changed the folder location in Preferences of iTunes to the computer's Media Folder.
It didn't work. It is still looking for songs on the external hard drive.
Thoughts?
Do I need to follow the same tutorial for moving the media folder backwards?
Why can't I just move the media files to where I want them on the computer and then change the media folder location in itunes?
Do i need to create a new folder for it to work?

Jason R. McCarty wrote:
So I don't need to follow this tutorial and create a new folder? http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
Correct, you don't need to create anew folder.
You may want to do that if you are putting the media elsewhere and don't want to simply have a folder named iTunes media floating around.
If there is already a Media folder in Music/iTunes will it make another or use that one?
It will use the one already there.
Also, what if there are duplicate files in the computer location?
After you consolidate, you will need to delete them from iTunes (if they actually show up in iTunes).
If they don't show up in Tunes, either add them to iTunes (if they are not duplicates) or delete them from the iTunes media folder.
I suggest first dumping them into a folder on your desktop before you actually trash them (in case they are not duplicates).

Incoming msg's go to both INbox AND 'Important' folder; if I delete one from either location it deletes from both.

When receiving new msg's in Thunderbird they download into both my INBOX...AND...the 'IMPORTANT' folder (sub-folder of the 'Gmail' folder). Also: quite often (nearly always) when I check my email for new msg's, I'll find that several (not necessarily all) of my SENT mailings are also showing in the 'IMPORTANT' folder.
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https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78892
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Problems Downloading iTunes Library From Portable Hard Drive

Why does it take so long to transfer iTunes songs from a portable hard drive?
Here are my stats:
Machine Name: iMac
Machine Model: PowerMac4,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 800 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.1f1
I'm downloading a 9,000 song library from the portable hard drive to an empty iTunes program. I highlighted all of the song files (Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, etc.) It took at least an hour for all of the songs to "process". Then my computer told me there is not enough room to store them all. I understand this because the list of songs I want to import is 34 gig. What I don't understand is why it has taken since midnight last night (it is now 14 1/2 hours later) and song no.6,450 of 6,800 is loading. Does it normally take this long for such a large amount of songs to transfer. Will there be any way that I can transfer the other 2,200 songs after this is done?
I also want to know if anyone knows if it makes sense for me partition the iTunes library somehow so it won't slow the computer down by being such a large file.
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4.10)
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4)
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4)
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4)

I would think you could access them directly from that drive, but I am not sure if the USB 1.1 bus speed will cause problems or not like stuttering, long pauses, aborts in the middle of songs, etc. You can certain give it a try and let us know if it works ok that way.
Also keep in mind that USB is a shared bus so it may work if the USB bus is doing nothing more than accessing the drive and your keyboard and mouse. If you start scanning in something from a USB scanner, printing to a USB printer, accessing a USB to Wifi device, etc. then you might see more issues with playback as iTunes has to share the USB connection with other things.
Patrick

After installing Yosemite beta on external drive, Mavericks doesn't startup from the internal drive

Hi,
After I installed OS X Yosemite Beta on my external hard drive, my Macbook Pro no longer recognises and boots from the Mavericks partition on my internal drive. instead, it starts up the Yosemite installer even when the external drive is not connected.
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Try this:
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Installed new hdd in MacBook Air 2008, question folder and forbidden sign in screen, what to do?

Hello
I installed new hard drive to my MacBook Air 2008 and when I try to install lion/snow leopard/ mavericks it won't show up the disk. I can't find the hard drive.
I don't now what to do. I tried everything. I spoke with a guy in macsupport here in Sweden and he said I have to buy snow leopard and install it from the original dvd in order for computer to format. My computer is old like I said its from 2008. I've never update it or upgrade. This is first time. It laid in storage for three years so I decide it to use it again but hdd was damaged so I had to change it, and now all I get is flashing question folder and forbidden sign, you know the sign for auto traffic.
Is it true that the only way to restore or to find the new hdd or to boot the question mark and forbidden sign marks by installing osx from its original dvd or buy snow leopard?
After I spoke with the guy from Mac support, I got little suspicious so I spoke to another one and he told me all I need to do is format hdd with the help of a sata hdd cable with help of another macbook and then I was good to go.
What do u think?
Should I buy snow leopard or can I burn it from my sister computer?

I first would try Target Disk Mode to format and install an OSX on the new storage drive.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
You will need a OSX source that is compatible with the MBA. If you have the original, use that.
Ciao.

I have replaced my ibook hard drive but when I start up I get a folder with a flashing question mark. I have tried installing the OSX disk using the "C" key but can't get any further than the flashing "?." What do I do? What is the problem?

I have replaced my ibook hard drive but when I start up I get a folder with a flashing question mark. I have tried installing the OSX disk using the "C" key but can't get any further than the flashing "?." What do I do? What is the problem?

Which iBook do you have?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1772?viewlocale=en_US
Which version of the OS is installed, and which version are you trying to install?
You could try starting up with Startup Manager and see if it will allow you to select the OS X install disc as the startup disk. If so, maybe you can proceed from there. I would recommend repairing the hard drive first since you are evidently having a bit of a problem with it.

Unique "flash question folder" problem, doesn't boost from either HD/drive

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