cono pepito
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Q: New hard drive blinking question mark in a folder

I have an iMac G51058 the hard drive is dead, so I changed for a new one. I turn the computer on, insert a 10.5 disk turn off, wait 30seconds and turn on pressing the option key. A folder with alternating Apple face and a question mark blinks forever. Any suggestions?

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 3.0 Model 1,1

Posted on Sep 29, 2013 5:32 PM

by rccharles,Solvedanswer
rccharles rccharles
Level 6 (8,496 points)
Classic Mac OS
A:

Is iMac G51058 an iMac g5 1058? Assuming g5.

 

We need to establish that you have a good keyboard.  Holding down the option key at startup should bring up the startup manager.

 

You should be able to get into open firmware via

 

Shut down the Mac, hold down Command-Option-O-F, then power it up, continue holding down these keys until the Open Firmware screen appears.

 

If neither of these work, I'd say you have a bad keyboard.

Is these a wired keyboard?  Best results with a wired keyboard.

 

Try a different keyboard.

 

Robert

Posted on Oct 8, 2013 8:19 AM

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cono pepito

Q: New hard drive blinking question mark in a folder

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  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Sep 30, 2013 10:05 AM in response to cono pepito
    Level 6 (8,496 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Sep 30, 2013 10:05 AM in response to cono pepito

    power off machine. Hold down the option key.  Power on machine.  continue holding down option key until you see the startup manager screen.

     

    sometimes you need a wired keyboard for this to work.

     

    Sometimes if volumes don't appear in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open Firmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime.

     

    Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:

     

    reset-nvram

    set-defaults

    reset-all

     

    "The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US

     

    Should the fail...

    Try taking the battery out for 10 minutes.  Put battery back in.  Cross fingers. Power the machine back on.

     

    How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:

    eject cd

     

    List of devices:

    devalias

     

    List of variables:

    printenv

  • by cono pepito,

    cono pepito cono pepito Oct 6, 2013 5:57 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 6, 2013 5:57 PM in response to rccharles

    Thank you for the information. I tried it and the computer responded up to the point of restarting after sending all the commands to the open firmware. Then at reboot, the question mark again.

    Now I'm trying new things, and if I succeed I'll let you and the Apple community know.

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Oct 7, 2013 9:27 AM in response to cono pepito
    Level 6 (8,496 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Oct 7, 2013 9:27 AM in response to cono pepito

    I have an iMac G51058 the hard drive is dead, so I changed for a new one. I turn the computer on, insert a 10.5 disk turn off, wait 30seconds and turn on pressing the option key. A folder with alternating Apple face and a question mark blinks forever. Any suggestions?

     

    Ok.  You have a dvd in the drive.  Is the dvd a full Mac OS installation dvd or a grey dvd that came the machine.  A randomn grey dvd will not work.  Grey dvds are machine specific.

     

    What full install dvd are you trying? could be too old for your machine.  Could  be too new. Mac firmware will only show a valid bootable dvd.

     

    Could be a bad dvd.  Can you read the dvd on another machine?  could be a bad dvd drive.

     

    Robert

  • by Eustace Mendis,

    Eustace Mendis Eustace Mendis Oct 7, 2013 5:47 PM in response to cono pepito
    Level 7 (25,402 points)
    Oct 7, 2013 5:47 PM in response to cono pepito

    You should try inserting the OS 10.5 disk and restarting the computer while holding down the C key - not the option key.

  • by cono pepito,

    cono pepito cono pepito Oct 8, 2013 12:09 AM in response to Eustace Mendis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 8, 2013 12:09 AM in response to Eustace Mendis

    I did that, C, S , and Control, Option and Command at the same time.

    Thanks for looking.

  • by cono pepito,

    cono pepito cono pepito Oct 8, 2013 12:27 AM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 8, 2013 12:27 AM in response to rccharles

    The DVD I'm using is the copy of an original install on any computer Leopard. Could be bad, but a month ago I got a dead PowerBook G4 and installed Leopard with that disc and is running perfectly and I'm using a lot of old Photoshop plugins with no problems at all. Just minutes ago I tried a flash drive with a bootable Leopard in it, and the question mark persists. I'm a little bit frustrated but I'm not giving up. The computer has no signs of any bad capacitors and the original internal hard drive, after erasing it, I verify and repair in Disk Utility and is in perfect and working condition. I did all that in the G4 laptop, in a Mac Pro 1,1 and also in a MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion.

    I than you all for the attention and I'm sure we'll succeed.

  • by Eustace Mendis,Helpful

    Eustace Mendis Eustace Mendis Oct 8, 2013 5:17 AM in response to cono pepito
    Level 7 (25,402 points)
    Oct 8, 2013 5:17 AM in response to cono pepito

    Only the C key - no other keys.

  • by rccharles,Solvedanswer

    rccharles rccharles Oct 8, 2013 8:19 AM in response to cono pepito
    Level 6 (8,496 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Oct 8, 2013 8:19 AM in response to cono pepito

    Is iMac G51058 an iMac g5 1058? Assuming g5.

     

    We need to establish that you have a good keyboard.  Holding down the option key at startup should bring up the startup manager.

     

    You should be able to get into open firmware via

     

    Shut down the Mac, hold down Command-Option-O-F, then power it up, continue holding down these keys until the Open Firmware screen appears.

     

    If neither of these work, I'd say you have a bad keyboard.

    Is these a wired keyboard?  Best results with a wired keyboard.

     

    Try a different keyboard.

     

    Robert

  • by cono pepito,

    cono pepito cono pepito Oct 12, 2013 1:34 AM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 12, 2013 1:34 AM in response to rccharles

    Thank you rccharles, and thank you Eustace Mendis. After I erase the 1 tb hard drive in disc utility on my Mac Pro, returned the hard drive into the iMac and install Panther (OS X 10.3) without any problem. The problem was that the Tiger version that I had was Mac Pro specific and thats why I give the check mark to you rc, and also the star for eustace because that C helped me remember a procedure that I used in the process of installing the boot up disc. Now: ATTENTION!!! New problems have come up. The iMac has The Airport Express Card and I have my Wireless Network set up with an Airport Express station that I use with all my computers, iPad and Apple TV, here at home, but the iMac doesn't recognize my password. I will talk to a Comcast tech tomorrow, but if you have any output on that, it will be very much appreciated.

  • by rccharles,Helpful

    rccharles rccharles Oct 12, 2013 9:32 AM in response to cono pepito
    Level 6 (8,496 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Oct 12, 2013 9:32 AM in response to cono pepito

    Thank.

     

    Best to start a new discussion on wifi.  Will attract more readers.

     

    Robert