EtienneDup

Q: iMac flashing files with interrogation mark on startup

I have a mid 2011 27 inch iMac and I normally leave it open during the day and suspend activity at night. However, yesterday I came to use it and the screen was frozen and the fan was working really hard ( Can say this by the sound it was doing ). I was force to shutdown with the power button and restart it. Then, the mac was loading to reopen and it did the same thing again, fan started working really hard and the loading froze. I wait for almost an hour and nothing happened so I was force to shut it down again. Then, at this moment when I restart their was a flashing files with an interrogation mark on it, which means from further search that it's a problem with the system software ( If a flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support ). I tried starting with recovery and it didn't work. I tried internet recovery and my wifi never showed up in the list but my neighbours wifi did ( my wifi was working I was using it on my iPhone. )  Now I'm downloading yosemite to clean install it but I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to do that since every time I launch the computer it ends up showing the flashing files with the interrogation mark.

 

Everything was working fine before that.

 

Please I need guidance from this point !

 

Thanks a lot,

Etienne

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Aug 17, 2015 8:21 AM

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Q: iMac flashing files with interrogation mark on startup

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  • by rkaufmann87,Solvedanswer

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 17, 2015 8:30 AM in response to EtienneDup
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    Aug 17, 2015 8:30 AM in response to EtienneDup

    By interrogation mark, I believe you mean a question (?) mark. This means the computer cannot find the startup volume. Attempt to reset the PRAM per iMac SMC and PRAM reset. If that does not work then restart in the Recovery Mode (Command + R at startup) and open Disk Utility and run Repair Disk 2-3 times. If errors appear after the 2-3rd time, the HD has crashed and needs to be replaced.

     

    Please post back with what you found.

  • by EtienneDup,

    EtienneDup EtienneDup Aug 17, 2015 10:07 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2015 10:07 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    I tried it all and when I finally got to repair disk, my HD was not showing up and I can't even run the hardware test.  I'm really disappointed I just invested 150$ in memory since 4G was not even close to being enough to run yosemite and now I'm gonna have to repair the HD which will be more than twice that amount. This iMac is nothing else but trouble. Anyway thanks for you help this was really appreciated.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 17, 2015 10:35 AM in response to EtienneDup
    Level 9 (58,746 points)
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    Aug 17, 2015 10:35 AM in response to EtienneDup

    EtienneDup wrote:

     

    I tried it all and when I finally got to repair disk, my HD was not showing up and I can't even run the hardware test.  I'm really disappointed I just invested 150$ in memory since 4G was not even close to being enough to run yosemite and now I'm gonna have to repair the HD which will be more than twice that amount. This iMac is nothing else but trouble. Anyway thanks for you help this was really appreciated.

    Everything you have stated indicates a failed HD and also understand how this is a major annoyance. The machine is about 5 years old now, so replacing the HD should not be a major surprise. HD's can fail at any time, sometimes they last 3 months and sometimes they can last 10+ years. If you decided to replace the HD, I would seriously consider getting a SSD to replace it.

  • by EtienneDup,

    EtienneDup EtienneDup Aug 17, 2015 11:21 AM in response to rkaufmann87
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    Aug 17, 2015 11:21 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    Thanks for your help and being understanding with my little frustration ! However I dont know much about HD and SSD, for this I guess I can't make the replacement on my own ? I've managed to make the memory upgraded on my own but it was really simple, I'm not sure I can say the same for the HD. What's the best solution here, should I go to the closest Apple Store ( 2 hours from here ) or buy a SSD on like crucial.com and make the switch on my own ?

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 17, 2015 11:47 AM in response to EtienneDup
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    Aug 17, 2015 11:47 AM in response to EtienneDup

    EtienneDup wrote:

     

    Thanks for your help and being understanding with my little frustration ! However I dont know much about HD and SSD, for this I guess I can't make the replacement on my own ? I've managed to make the memory upgraded on my own but it was really simple, I'm not sure I can say the same for the HD. What's the best solution here, should I go to the closest Apple Store ( 2 hours from here ) or buy a SSD on like crucial.com and make the switch on my own ?

     

    I would not recommend replacing the drive on your own unless you are extremely confident about how to do so. Here is a video that shows how to replace the HD, you will see it is not really that simple. http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/imac_mid27_2011_hd/

     

    The difference between a HD and a SSD is that a HD is mechanical. The advantages of mechanical HD's are that they are relatively cheap however the disadvantages are they are slow and because they are mechanical they can (as you know) fail at any time. SSD's on the other hand are purely solid state, there are no moving parts. The advantage of a SSD is they are extremely fast and in-theory are extremely reliable. The downside of SSDs is the cost per MB is expensive compared to HDs. The good news is they have been steadily been coming down in price.

     

    I recommend contacting a AASP who can help get the work done, chances are they have done many of them. Apple Stores will not replace the HD with a SSD.

     

    Also, if you don't mind the added expense they can install a SSD and a HD. I did this on my 2011 27" iMac. I now use the SSD as my startup drive and use the internal HD as additional storage. I keep my larger libraries (movies, photos & music) on the internal HD and external HDs.

     

    If you don't know of any AASP's in your area, click this link https://locate.apple.com/country, and make some calls.

  • by EtienneDup,

    EtienneDup EtienneDup Aug 17, 2015 12:23 PM in response to rkaufmann87
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    Aug 17, 2015 12:23 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    Thanks for your help ! I'll go with the SSD, i guess with 20g Memory and a brand new SSD I should be good for many years. How much did it cost you to get a new SSD and get the install done on your 2011 27" iMac ?

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 17, 2015 12:28 PM in response to EtienneDup
    Level 9 (58,746 points)
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    Aug 17, 2015 12:28 PM in response to EtienneDup

    EtienneDup wrote:

     

    Thanks for your help ! I'll go with the SSD, i guess with 20g Memory and a brand new SSD I should be good for many years. How much did it cost you to get a new SSD and get the install done on your 2011 27" iMac ?

    Okay, costs for a SSD will vary on the capacity of the SSD and costs for installation should be addressed by speaking to AASPs. There are many SSDs to choose from in capacities from 60GB to 2TB. 

  • by EtienneDup,

    EtienneDup EtienneDup Aug 17, 2015 12:31 PM in response to rkaufmann87
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    Aug 17, 2015 12:31 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    One more questions and after I'm done, I've read multiple article about people having issues when switching the SD on iMac 2011 with their internal fans. Did you get this issue when you did the switch ?

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 17, 2015 12:43 PM in response to EtienneDup
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    Aug 17, 2015 12:43 PM in response to EtienneDup

    IF you replace the HD with a SSD then it definitely is an issue, OWC the people that have the video I provided earlier have a solution to that problem.

     

    I did not have that problem because I kept my original HD and added the SSD behind my SuperDrive.

     

    The reason the fan issue occurs is the HD's that Apple uses in later model iMacs have fan sensors built into them. SSD's and most off the shelf HD's don't have that fan sensor. This means another solution must be found, many users have opted to use some fan control software (I don't recommend it) and others use a solution like OWC hardware solution. OWC provided a useful article some time ago about the problem and their solution, it's at http://blog.macsales.com/27918-owc-in-line-digital-thermal-sensor-solves-imac-ha rd-drive-compatibility-issue

  • by EtienneDup,

    EtienneDup EtienneDup Aug 17, 2015 12:54 PM in response to rkaufmann87
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    Aug 17, 2015 12:54 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    Alright then this opens another questions, Their are several articles about faulty HD that would crashed prematurely with mid 2011 27" iMac. Is it worth giving a try to the warranty program for this ?

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 17, 2015 1:18 PM in response to EtienneDup
    Level 9 (58,746 points)
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    Aug 17, 2015 1:18 PM in response to EtienneDup

    EtienneDup wrote:

     

    Alright then this opens another questions, Their are several articles about faulty HD that would crashed prematurely with mid 2011 27" iMac. Is it worth giving a try to the warranty program for this ?

     

    I have not seen any Apple recall program related to HD's within mid 2011 27" iMacs. The only program I saw on mid 2011 iMacs were due to some faulty ATI Radeon 6970 GPUs. However you can contact Apple if you want, don't be surprised if they say no though.