happy face in a folder and a question mark

The fans run loud and you get the simple icon when your Mac can't find a bootable hard drive to start up from. It's actually asking you which drive to boot from, same thing you would get if you hold down the Option key when you start your Mac.

Exactly what model iMac do you have & how old is it? If it's over 3 years old, have you ever replaced the backup battery? One would assume you got a new one when they replaced your logic board, but, you never know ...

If you are comfortable doing it, disconnect your iMac from power, then open your iMac and make sure the RAM DIMMS are fully seated in their slots and any reachable cables (like the cables to your hard drive & superdrive) are firmly seated. Then reassemble your Mac and restart.

If you have 2 removable RAM DIMMS you might also want to test each separately. Take the 2d DIMM out and restart your Mac. Does it work. If it does, then the DIMM you removed may be bad. If it doesn't work, swap the DIMMS (so the 2d DIMM is now in the 1st slot and the 1st DIMM is out). Restart your Mac. Does it work. If so, then the 1st DIMM may be bad.

If that doesn't fix the problem, or you are not comfortable doing that, then best thing to do would be to take your iMac back to the place that serviced it before. You may have gotten a bad replacement logic board.

When troubleshooting, make sure you disconnect all devices from your computer except for the keyboard & mouse.

"when i put a startup disc in there and hold down c it goes to a screen saying i need to restart my computer and gives other kernal and darwin messages."
You experienced a kernal panic. Check out the following:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106805 Mac OS X: "Broken folder" icon, prohibitory sign, or kernel panic when computer starts


User Tips: Kernel Panics


"it looks like a blue happy face in a folder and a question mark."
See the following Article: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=31355 Mac OS: Flashing Globe When Computer Turns On or *A folder that has an alternating flashing question mark*


"the boot up disk is now stuck in my mac."
See the following Articles: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58566 iMac (Slot Loading): Troubleshooting CD/DVD Eject Failures

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106752 Macintosh: How to Eject a Disc When Other Options Do Not Work


"i had visited a genius bar with this computer and both times had some good and some bad."

Reasoning for not fixing your computer?

Which "model" & "generation" G5 iMac do you have?
Need this info so that the knowledgeable users can provide you with the proper troubleshooting solution(s).
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301724-en How to identify your iMac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh355.html Getting information about your computer

You can have this info displayed on the bottom of every post by going to 'My Settings' which is located in the column on the right under your name, and filling in the information asked for.

Thank you


After your issues are cleared up, you need to consider updating your OS to OS 10.4.11. Your system info confirms you are still using the outdated version-OS 10.4.6.

i apologize if this is the incorrect place to start this string. but i need help with a question mark problem.

i have finally installed a printer on our older mac, and now, all of the kids games that used to show up as the game icon in the doc, have been replaced by ?
and when i click on the ? nothing happens. when i reload the games and try to bring the icon down to the doc, it will not stay.

how do i get rid of those ? marks, or at least convert them back to their original pictures. when i click on the question marks, nothing happens, however it still the correct name of the game listed on it.

i fixed it myself. thanks anyway