RickT63

Q: Have a weird problem, IMAC boots to folder with white ?

IMAC 2010 model 27" boots and after a few minutes shows a flashing folder with a white question mark in the center, and after a few minutes of that

it will show  the apple logo but just freezes there.   I can get into disk utility booting up holding the option key checked the drive it says it is ok and if I try to reinstall OS 10 it starts up the install then reboots and goes right back to the flashing folder

Posted on Mar 8, 2015 5:42 AM

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Q: Have a weird problem, IMAC boots to folder with white ?

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  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 8, 2015 8:36 AM in response to RickT63
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    Mar 8, 2015 8:36 AM in response to RickT63

    A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support

    You may need to find your ORIGINAL install discs in order to run Disk Utility from there.

  • by RickT63,

    RickT63 RickT63 Mar 8, 2015 12:13 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Mar 8, 2015 12:13 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    It came with Snow Leopard and when I put the disk in and use the option key it shows internet recovery with a globe once run it will allow me to go into disk utility and will run the repair and says no problems found but will not verify the drive it reboots and goes back to the white screen with blinking folder.  It also shows a disk 2 grayed out kind of like it was a network drive. It has a 1TB WD drive and only had 1 partition and it's kind of like it is set to boot from a network or something

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 8, 2015 12:38 PM in response to RickT63
    Level 6 (17,283 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 8, 2015 12:38 PM in response to RickT63

    If you're reaching the internt recovery screen at so e point you must have updated the firmware to allow that, that's good. When you're at the recovery screen what happens when you try to reinstall OS X? Have you backed up in case you need to erase the drive?

  • by RickT63,

    RickT63 RickT63 Mar 8, 2015 2:12 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Mar 8, 2015 2:12 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Yeah it's backed up and I already erased it and created a new partition but that is where the problem starts I cannot restore it or reinstall it when reboots it goes back to the white screen and flashing folder so that is what has me confused not sure what else to do with it

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 8, 2015 5:13 PM in response to RickT63
    Level 6 (17,283 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 8, 2015 5:13 PM in response to RickT63

    What happens when you insert the original Snow Leopard disc and restart while holding the C key? Do you get to the installer? You may need to install SL and update to 10.6.8 and then upgrade to......what? You've never mentioned what version of OS X you're trying to install.

  • by RickT63,

    RickT63 RickT63 Mar 8, 2015 6:09 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Mar 8, 2015 6:09 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    I tried the install disk 10.5 that came with it and I also tried Tiger and Lion I dont get the installer  when holding the C it just shows the apple logo and freezes there

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 8, 2015 6:18 PM in response to RickT63
    Level 6 (17,283 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 8, 2015 6:18 PM in response to RickT63

    Your imac didn't ship with 10.5, I believe it came with 10.6.3. Regardless I think you may have a hard drive problem and at this point it's best to take it to the nearest Apple Store and have them help you.