TS1440: A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
Learn about A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
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All replies
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Helpful answers
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Jul 12, 2012 6:41 PM in response to ohitsmandiby BDAqua,Tough without the Install disc, but some things to try...
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Report the outcome please.
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Jul 12, 2012 7:37 PM in response to BDAquaby ohitsmandi,I cannot get the computer to boot to Single User Mode. Whenever I hold the keys down when it starts the flashing folder with the question mark appears just like if I tried to start normally.
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Jul 12, 2012 9:46 PM in response to ohitsmandiby BDAqua,Do you know if you had Firmware Password protection setup?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
It would block usage of all the startup keys, like C, N, T, D, CMD+s, CMD+Option+p+r, CMD +v, Option, and Shift, as well as booting from anything but the Hard Drive.
Force Removing Password Protection
1) Add or remove DIMMs to change the total amount of RAM in the computer.
2) Then, the PRAM must be reset 3 times. (Command + Option + P + R).
http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwarepasswordprotection.php
Oh, is this a wired USB KB?
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Jul 13, 2012 4:57 AM in response to ohitsmandiby Neville Hillyer,Are you are doing it properly?
- Shut down your Mac if it is on
- Start the computer
- Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and the S key
- Release the keys when you see white text on the screen
- Wait until text stops
- Type: /sbin/fsck -fy
- Repeat from 5 until it shows no errors fixed
- Type: reboot
Further details:
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Jul 13, 2012 6:09 AM in response to ohitsmandiby BobHarris,If you have another Mac, connect them together via a Firewire cable. Boot the broken Mac into Target Mode (boot while holding the 'T' key). Now you should be able to use the other Mac's Disk Utility to attempt to replair the broken Mac's boot drive.
You can get replacement installation disks for your Mac by contacting Apple. Try Apple Apple Customer Relations 800-767-2775. There will be a shipping and handling charge.
Message was edited by: BobHarris
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Jul 13, 2012 6:32 AM in response to Neville Hillyerby Neville Hillyer,Please ignore my earlier post and do it this way:
- Shut down your Mac if it is on
- Start the Mac & immediately press & hold the Command (Apple) key & the S key
- Release the keys when you see white text on the screen
- Wait until text stops
- Type: /sbin/fsck -fy
- Hit return
- Repeat from 5 until it shows no errors fixed
- Type: reboot
- Hit return
Further details:
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Jul 13, 2012 7:22 PM in response to Neville Hillyerby Pondini,Neville Hillyer wrote:
. . .
2. Start the Mac & immediately press & hold the Command (Apple) key & the S key
It's the shift key (only), not Cmd+S, that does a safe boot. See Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
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Jul 13, 2012 11:23 PM in response to BDAquaby ohitsmandi,I don't know if I had the password protection set up. Also it is a wireless keyboard.
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Jul 13, 2012 11:24 PM in response to Pondiniby ohitsmandi,My computer won't do anything by just presseing S. It still comes up with a flashing folder question mark.
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Jul 14, 2012 6:43 AM in response to ohitsmandiby Pondini,ohitsmandi wrote:
Also it is a wireless keyboard.
Do you have, or can you borrow, a wired keyboard? Sometimes a wireless one won't be recognized early enough in the startup sequence.
It's the shift key (only), that does a safe boot. See Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
Cmd+S starts in Single User Mode.
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Jul 14, 2012 12:25 PM in response to Pondiniby Neville Hillyer,It's the shift key (only), not Cmd+S, that does a safe boot. See Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
My advice was for starting in single user mode and not safe boot - you will confuse the OP.
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Jul 14, 2012 12:30 PM in response to Neville Hillyerby Pondini,Correct: I guess I wasn't clear:
A Safe Boot will do a directory check and several other things automatically: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564
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Jul 14, 2012 1:07 PM in response to Pondiniby Neville Hillyer,We were trying to get the OP to repair the disk.
I am not satisfied that it has been tried properly yet.
I have seen many people get this wrong:
Modifier keys such as shift, control, option and command should be held down before other keys and released after.
Doing it any other way can have unpredictable consequences.