Mac is crashed with a flashing folder with ? mark in.

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Mac is crashed with a flashing folder with ? mark in.

Over the last week I have now had this tree times: when returning to my iMac (twice after overnight, once a few hours) I have just a white folder with a question mark inside flashing on the screen. I have been able to resolve this by powering off and then powering on holding OPT,CMD,P&R (clear NVRAM) so far each time, but it is very worrying.

Is there a way I can try to pin down what is causing this as I am worried next time it might not start up.

All software is up to date. The last app I installed was Spotify, which is not through the App Store, but as far as I know it was not active at the times of the crashes.

Posted on Dec 28, 2018 2:28 AM

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Answer 1

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Barney-15E

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122,246 points

Dec 28, 2018 2:44 PM in response to devonglyn

The fact that it was on, and you return to see a flashing question mark implies it restarted because of a fault.

You can look in the /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ folder for a file whose name starts with "Kernel."

If you can find one, open it with a text editor, copy the text, and paste it into the "Additional Text" section of a reply here (the document icon in the toolbar).

If you can't, it may be one of the many sleep/wake failures. If not already set, try turning off "put hard disks to sleep" in the Energy saver system preferences.

The fact that it can't find the blessed system folder when restarting could be some issue with the startup disk. Have you booted into Recovery and run First Aid on it?

It may need to be backed up, erased, and reinstalled.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

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122,246 points

Jan 2, 2019 2:27 PM in response to devonglyn

It could be an indication of disk failure, but a lot of random behavior can indicate potential disk failure.

Back up, back up, …

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

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122,246 points

Dec 30, 2018 8:20 AM in response to devonglyn

Do you have a virtual machine running when this happens. VMWare is the only third-party kernel extension loaded. It may be the cause, but there is nothing to indicate it is.

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Answer 4

devonglyn Author

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Dec 28, 2018 11:19 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks, but no. I found that page on day one. As I said the iMac boots up fine if I reset the NVRAM. When I find it in the faulty state powering off and on will not fix it so yes I was worried it was a disk failure, but it is fine in use and I am seeing no other errors apart from some strange colour mixes when waking up sometimes to the log in screen. This issue has occurred 3 times since Xmas morning. normally the iMac is on power 24/7 and just uses power save and sleep.

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Answer 5

devonglyn Author

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Dec 31, 2018 5:44 AM in response to Barney-15E

As I say that report is from earlier this month - as I recall it had rebooted overnight, there usually is at least one VM running. But the issues I am concerned about all happened after the date of that file so there is no trace. Since my first post I have not had it happen again either.

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Answer 6

devonglyn Author

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Jan 2, 2019 5:53 AM in response to devonglyn

OK. So it just happened again. I have been using it all morning on and off, I left it for half an hour and and came back to the flashing question mark again. Once again a power cycle and clear NVRAM got me back up again. there is no new kernel log file in the diagnostics folder as you suggested. I was just about to shut down for a month as I am going away, so there were a minimal number of items open and certainly no VMs running.

But I have this question? Is this a potential disk failure indicator? I have about two months left on the warrantee and would be keen to sort out any problems before that date.

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Answer 7

devonglyn Author

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Dec 30, 2018 1:20 AM in response to Barney-15E

The only Kernel file I can find is from a panic report about 3 weeks prior to the first instance of this problem, but have added it anyway. I have also run the disk first aid and it didn't seem to suggest any major problems.

The good news is that I have left less programs active in the background including one called Bar Remote which was installed the day before I had this issue the first time and I have not had a repeat of the issue since first posting here.

The big test will come soon as I am away from home for a while and would normally leave the iMac on so that I can access it and some local stuff from away.

Will update if I have a repeat of the issue.

Kernel_2018-12-05-060051_Glyns-iMac.panic

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Answer 8

Barney-15E

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122,246 points

Dec 28, 2018 7:52 AM in response to devonglyn

See if this helps: If a flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support

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