Flashing question mark folder at startup

OK it seems your system is unstable... it may be faulty RAM.

I suggest you pull all RAM and then install 1 module only into a slot and test/boot and run at least a short while. Then do this for all modules into the SAME slot. If none boot, then try same procedure in next slot and so on till you have tested all modules in each slot.

You may want to mark the modules with a sharpie or similar to avoid confusion.

Make a list of what modules work in which slots. This will help determine if there is a faulty module (common fail across slots) or a faulty slot (common slot across modules).

Alternately, you can try booting the AHT (insert DVD reboot and hold "D" till icon appears) on one of your original DVD's and run the memory test there but it cannot distinguish between bad slot and bad module so you'd still need to swap and repeat to know.

If it is less than a year old then get Apple to fix it, easy!

Other option is to try to get a successful boot on the DVD and run disk util and check the HDD is SMART verified. Try repairing the disk too via utilities.

BTW - don't exclude RAM. I had a similar issue where I could not boot from the HDD and it crashes when booting from DVD to try a disk repair. It turned out to be a dud RAM module.

I would boot the AHT and run the extended memory test just to exclude RAM, then assuming no errors, you have to eliminate the HDD and cable as possible cause. IMO the cable is unlikely to be the cause but I never say never!

If you are comfortable with pulling your system apart then a new HDD is a quick and easy fix and places like iFixit.com have great guides available online for free.

Oh dear,

I just spent my entire Memorial Day trying to fix my son's iMac. It TOO is EXACTLY at the 15 month mark in age. I can successfully boot it from a Super Duper back-up of MY Mac Book, but the iMac does NOT see the internal HD once it's booted from that backup. When I boot from a Leopard disk to use Disk Utilities from the CD, all I see is the DVD drive and a HD icon called "media" that cannot be viewed or repaired. I was considering to spend the time, money, and effort replacing the drive myself, but all this talk of memory and LOGIC BOARDS has me worried that it would be a waste.

I too am seeing lots of people having this same issue with this particular vintage/model. His first one died during set-up on Christmas Day. UGH!!

C

It's my understanding that the warranty is 1 year, which would put me at 5 months past. Not sure if the HD has a separate (longer) warranty though. I'm going to have a little faith that Apple will help me out a bit.

C

andrewtemnoff wrote:
they told me that the are actually having a lot of problems with the imacs and pretty much everything else apple makes…

It would be extraordinary if an +Apple service center+ saw many Apple products that did not have problems since their primary business is to fix the ones that do. But their seeing "a lot of problems" means little by itself since it may just be (& probably is) an expected result of Apple's booming sales.

This is not just idle conjecture on my part. At one time in my life I owned a shop that did a lot of regional warranty work for many major brands of home electronics. At one point we saw a dramatic increase in the number of several models coming into the shop from one manufacturer. Some of my techs concluded from this that these models had some design or manufacturing flaw & one even started telling friends & a few customers to stay away from the brand completely.

But when I did a little research I discovered a far simpler explanation: the largest seller in the region of the brand had made a large purchase of these models & promoted them heavily, resulting in many more in use than previously. Comparing sales figures to warranty return rates actually showed them to be substantially more problem free on the average than other models we saw in the same time period.

So take what employees at these places tell you with a certain amount of skepticism. They are most likely looking at only a part of the picture & it may mean a lot less than you might think.

flashing ? usually means a HDD problem of some kind

A good HDD with NO OS will do this so will a bad HDD.

If your ODD also does not work then you probably have a hardware issue. PSU failed??

Optical Disk Drive - DVD/CD drive

PSU - Power Supply

seems odd that a HDD problem prevents boot from the DVD??

What is the error you get?