Flashing Folder with Question Mark

[DonS]

Hello Mac folks. I never work on Apple products, but i this case I am helping a friend out. He has a Mac with a flashing folder with a question mark on boot up. What I have read says either bad hard drive or messed up OS.

This is an iMac 20" all in one Model No: A1224 (EMC 2210). Checking the information on this model, it apparently came with OS X 10.5.2. No place to download this software / install disk.

So I am a bit stumped as to what my next move is. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks!

 

[Markverhyden]

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440 to start.

 

[DonS]

Thank you for that link.

Minor problem. I do not have an Apple keyboard. Would a standard keyboard work? if so, what would the key combination be?

 

[Markverhyden]

Thank you for that link.

Minor problem. I do not have an Apple keyboard. Would a standard keyboard work? if so, what would the key combination be?

Any USB keyboard will work. The Apple Command key is mapped to the Windows key. The option key is alt if I remember correctly. You can use a USB mouse. But the left button is the main one you want to use.

 

[DonS]

Thank you again. Let me try this when I get some down time in the next few days and I will report back.

 

[300DDR]

You could also startup in Verbose mode (I think u just hold V at startup or if not then apple+V) and see if terminal shows any specific errors (like "i/o error" which would indicate bad sectors on the drive).

 

[DonS]

no luck

I finally had time to follow up with testing this machine. Results are unimpressive.

V key on startup - blinking folder with question mark
V key & Alt Key on startup - blinking folder with question mark
Alt key on startup - Gives me a mouse cursor (which is new) but blank white screen.

Any other suggestions on this?

 

[TheTechMentor]

Alt key on startup - Gives me a mouse cursor (which is new) but blank white screen.

Sounds like the hard drive has failed or the OS is completely corrupt. This screen should list all of the bootable drives connected to the machine including the main hard drive (if of course it's bootable).

 

[DonS]

I am not seeing any of this on the screen. So my next step is to check or replace the hard drive.

It seems with this model, I need to purchase glass suction cups to pull the LCD away from frame... tad annoying...

 

[altrenda]

go to your local grocery store, CVS, or walgreens and get some cheap suction cup hooks for a couple dollars.
The magnets that hold the glass on aren't that strong, you just need to pull it up flat to not break it.

 

[PCX]

This is not likely to be the problem in your case since this is an iMac that uses standard SATA cables, but Macbooks will display similar issues and the cable will often times be at fault rather than a corrupted file system or bad hard drive.