How to fix Flashing Folder with Question Mark on Mac

hi, i also have the same prob with Skimpi90... I have the disk0 in the left, indented underneath is Mac Os X Base System, where the Repair Disk button is greyed out.. Does this mean, the disk is dead and ill have it replaced alrady.. Any other option? tnx

Like Robertbalk, I had this issue happen after having traveled by air. I did not actually boot up my laptop on the plane, but in the airport, but the fact that this happened at least twice in similar circumstances is interesting.

It had been working fine, no problems for years. I booted it up briefly before my flight to check some e-mails, and then when I got home it wouldn't start up and would either freeze on the Apple screen, a blank grey screen, the flashy Question Mark, or a circle with a slash (like the Ghostbusters symbol).

After reading the external hard drive suggestion I tried that this morning, and it worked - once. I can't get it to repeat the results, for some infuriating reason. The only change is that now, in addition to the other list of frozen screens I was receiving, I will sometimes get a black DOS-like screen with the message: "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key."

Guess it'll be into the Genius Bar next... 😠

Hi! Thank you for this but, I got stuck on step 5. I did everything and I see the options for “Choose start up Disk” but I cannot see any systems. Can you tell me what to do? If you don’t know, that‘s fine. Please answer ASAP. Thank you!

Startup Issues - Resolve

Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

Startup Issues - Resolve (3)

I am having the same issue. When I click on startup disk, my disk is not there. I have been told there may be a cable that needs replaced, or the hard drive has died. Help!

Each time I try to put on my macbook.. I see a blinking white folder... I just don't know what to do.... Am helpless now.. Guys I need some help here

None of these solutions worked for me. I am running 10.9 Mavericks. And I just updated to 10.9.2 developer update and when it went to restart, well, it wouldn't, but it did in safe mode. Where I went to Disk Utility and tired to do a repair, but it came up with a message, saying something like, "It can't do live update or repair" something like that, I didn't write it down. Then the spinning circle kept spinning and then it froze. So I had to manually turn off the machine. And then I unplugged it and tired to reboot again, and that is when I got the flashing folder at startup. I tired all the solutions from this thread and others, and I can't get it to boot in any other way.

RichardEL is probably correct. I’ll go through your questions.

> there is no Mac OS partition, I assume it would be directly underneath the HD on the left?

I have not seen this particular condition where the hardware disk icon appears but the system volume that is supposed to be below it does not. The System Disk partition would be below the HD icon indented to the right. It is usually called “Macintosh HD” unless you renamed it.

> when I go into disk utility my HD appears on the left, but I can repair or verify it

Odd. It appears but you cannot manipulate it with Disk Utility.

> The S.M.A.R.T status reads verified

If it did not say Verified then it would indicate a problem. Saying Verified does not rule out problems but I think it indicates it is still breathing.

> Is the HD deceased?

If you booted the Recovery Partition (Boot, Command-R), which it sounds like you did, then at least part of the disk is still breathing. If it took a long time to boot then that may have been a Network Recovery boot which would indicate the disk is very sick or dead.

> [If I] restore from time machine [will] everything will be back as it was before?

Yes. That is the beauty of Time Machine. All your data, applications, and system preferences will be as they were as of the last backup.

> I was thinking of erasing the HD, would this be of any help or do I just need a new one?

Given what you reported from the Disk Utility steps you took it is unclear to me if there will be a way to repair the current volume, if you can erase and install from scratch or if you need a new disk. Before proceeding it may be useful to have an expert at an Apple store look at it for you. They may be able to revive it without a clean install or new disk.

As was the case above, it could be a good disk with a bad cable in which case a new disk is not going to help. To test this you can purchase an inexpensive external enclosure, remove the internal disk, place it in the enclosure, plug it in and then use Boot-Option to attempt to boot from the now external disk. Here are links to the screwdrivers and enclosure you would need.

$5 Toolkit: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/

$22 USB 3.0 enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5**3W/

If you attempt a clean install, use the Partition tab to repartition the disk, selecting one partition and with “Options…” electing a GUID partition. Then use the Erase tab, select “Security Options…” and set it to write a single pass of zeros. This will write to every sector to map out bad blocks. (If you have an SSD do not write a pass of zeros.)

If you do need to replace it I recommend an new inexpensive (~$100) and super-fast hybrid SSHD drive that has an 8 GB SSD cache that makes the data fly. Google “Seagate 1 TB hybrid SSHD”.

Thanks for the swift replies guys.

Yeah I have an appointment booked at the store for friday, so I think I will wait till then and see what they say, but I think upgrading to one of those HDs you are talking about might be a good idea anyway.

Thanks!

hands4, I'm having the same problem with the flashing folder and disk utility not recognizing my drive. I don't have time machine or any other recent back ups. Do I still have a chance to do an emergency back up before I take my macbook in to the apple store?

The disk is either dead (you need a new disk) or there is an outside chance it is a good disk with a bad cable in which case a new disk is not going to help. To test this you can purchase an inexpensive external enclosure, remove the internal disk, place it in the enclosure, plug it in and then use Boot-Option to attempt to boot from the now external disk. Here are links to the screwdrivers and enclosure you would need.

$5 Toolkit: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/

$22 USB 3.0 enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5**3W/

See ifixit.com for tutorials on replacing (in your case removing) the disk.

If you do need to replace it I recommend an new inexpensive (~$100) and super-fast hybrid SSHD drive that has an 8 GB SSD cache that makes the data fly. Google “Seagate 1 TB hybrid SSHD”.

My MacBook air was frozen and I relaunched finder. Finder quit but didn't start back up. I restarted my computer then it made the "dong" noise. Then it showed a white screen with a black square at the bottom. Then, I tried to install a new copy of the system. It froze. After that, I tried to fix the disk in disk utility. It didn't do anything to fix the system. I went back to disk utility and erased the disk. I restarted it and it showed a blinking folder with a question mark on it. I pressed command and r at the same time during boot and it showed a globe and it asked me to connect to Internet. I don't know what to do. I listened to it but it didn't do anything to help.

ok so can anyone help me

i have a late 2012 macbook air and it was running os x yosemite beta. i was just browsing on my laptop, someone walked in my room, i chatted with them and when i returned, like 30 seconds later, the screen was black. so when i tried turning it on again, it gave me the flashing questionmark. i tried sa boot, PRAM amd bunch of other things but nothing is working. could my harddrive be toasted?

thanks

By doing any of this, is there the chance/possibility that every thing on the hard drive/computer will be lost or saved? Or, by doing any of this will starting up your computer again allow yourself to access everything that was already on there?

Hi frederic

I tried what you said as I was getting the flashing folder when turning on the MacBook also. I used the recovery partition and followed your instructions to repair the disk (twice as instructed) and got green "ok" each time. I then did the "permissions" thing and then waited for it to finish. When finished I rebooted the machine only to find I still have a flashing folder. Now this is not to say I cant run the OS because if I hold down the option key (then enter my BIOS/Firmware password) I get my MAC and Windows HDD appear (as I run both mac and m/s). I select one and it loads and runs no problem....but each time I reboot, if I do not hold the option key down at the chime, I get the flashing folder...even after the repair....but like I said the OS (when selected at start-up via the option key) runs fine.

How would I get rid of this flashing folder as I do not believe the HDD is on its way out?