Question mark folder on start up???

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Level 1

5 points

Question mark folder on start up???

Hi,

A few days ago when I opened my laptop ( i never shut it down by the way so it always opens to the desktop), the screen was black and nothing came up. I held the power button until it went off but when I turned it back on I got the folder with a question mark in it. I've also had a circle with a line through, pretty much a no entry sign. I can get the laptop back on though but i have to switch it off and on a couple of time first which is very annoying. Now, whenever I close the lid and open again later in the day, the screen is either froze or black.

I've gone into disk utility and ran the first aid on it which come back fine each time. The S.M.A.R.T is verified as well. I've read that the question mark folder means that the hard drive is dying. I have a 2 year old MacBook Pro retina that doesn't get heavy usage so if this was the case then i'd be pretty disappointed. My last MacBook I had for 7 years and nothing went wrong with that at all.

I am using the laptop now without any problems but if i was to close the lid and use it again in 30 mins, i'm fairly certain it wouldn't work.

Could someone please tell me what the problem is and if there is a solution?

I've tried backing up my photos to my external HD but the HD isn't showing up. Its not been recognising it since I updated OSX 2 days ago.

Posted on Apr 20, 2016 11:40 AM

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Answer 1

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,070 points

Apr 20, 2016 12:05 PM in response to MattPreece87

Perhaps as you surmise, the hard drive is failing. Or there are errors on the drive that do not

allow the system to fully start the computer; this may also cause the startup section to not be

seen as available to the computer, so the question mark appears.

• If a flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support

Did you try to start in Safe mode and then check the system, look into Console logs and see

if there are related files from the time (exact time, or before) to the event of failure to start?

• Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support

If you have a backup and Time Machine source (such as Time Capsule or other drive) you could

see if a restoration from a previous version of the system from before these issues occurred may

help. Be sure to make more than one kind of backup, each on different media so they aren't likely

to go missing from a single event cause of failure. A fully bootable clone is also a good backup.

• Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

• Apple OS X and Time Machine Tips:

http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

• OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

These are different things to read into and see where they converge on resolving system issues

through replacement or repair of the system. There is a Disk Utility version in OS X Recovery

that can see the Macintosh HD partition as unmounted, so as to attempt a Repair of that drive.

• How to choose a startup disk on your Mac - Apple Support

Be sure to select correct Startup Disk when restarting computer; in System Preferences.

There is a shortcut to choose Startup Manager that should show valid systems on boot.

You may need to contact an Authorized Apple service provider for a technical diagnostic; you

could also ask an official Apple Store with Genius, to look into the device and offer suggestions.

There may be a hardware cause of the symptoms you notice, or perhaps just a software cause.

If the battery has been allowed to run near empty, the storage life will diminish, so that may also

be contributory to the failure of the computer and also add to the symptoms you've experienced.

• About Mac notebook batteries - Apple Support

• Apple Portables: Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters - Apple Support

To troubleshoot and find the most likely cause could take some time. And may require a repair.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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Answer 2

MattPreece87 Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 23, 2016 4:50 AM in response to K Shaffer

I tried a couple of things but nothing worked until i put the computer into safe mode. I think that has done the trick as I haven't experienced the flashing folder since and the laptop has woken first time after opening the lid.

Thanks for the help!!

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Answer 3

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,070 points

Apr 23, 2016 11:28 AM in response to MattPreece87

You can also look into System Preference 'startup disk' and be sure the drive where OS X

lives is selected as one it's supposed to run from; depending on the setup in your Mac, you

may have to enter your admin password to unlock access to set or change the preference...

Since things may not be all that simple, because more could be involved than meets the eye

those other suggestions could be used to get to the bottom of many other probable causes.

Glad you were able to resolve this issue...! 🙂

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