flashing question mark MacBook Pro disaster!

[mysecretnetname]

Oh please help, I am in no way technologically minded and I bought a mac to AVOID messes like this.

So I tried to start my MacBook Pro and all that came up was a folder symbol with a flashing question mark.

I consulted the help book and tried to press the option key and do all that but all that changed was the question mark disappeared and the little mouse arrow appeared but that was it.

So I turned it off and tried do it with the OS X install disc and pressing C. this time, the disc ejected itself and the apple logo appeared on my screen and has been like that for about an hour.

Please advise, am desperate to resolve the problem. and hopefully without having to wipe everything off my computer.

Thanks.

 

[karazelle]

I recommend you turn the Mac off and on again, insert the MacOS X DVD, then press and hold Option again (instead of C). This should give you the arrow and the icon for the DVD. Clicking it should start the installer.

The flashing question mark is an indication that the Mac cannot find a harddrive that contains a working MacOS X installation.
There are usually only 3 scenarios that cause this:
- MacOS X installation has been damaged in some way
- the hardisk has become "unseated" or connection is poor. Usually solved by opening the Mac and checking.
- the harddisk has technical problems or has become defective. While Macs and modern laptops have solutions like accelerometers and such to avoid disk crashes, disks are among the components on computers, especially laptops, that unfortunately has a tendency to go. Not necessarily often, but they are considered one of those components that one might risk losing, and in that case you would have to replace it. Fortunately, there is no end of people and programs reminding you to do backups regularily, which is true of any system, Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD etc.

In my "click here" link in my signature is a brief explanation of something called "Firewire target mode". Do you know any friends with Macs? If so, you could also try that to see if you can't troubleshoot/fix/recover your data. You would also need a firewire cable.

 

[mysecretnetname]

Thanks a million.
Unfortunately I've had no joy so far. I opened it up (physically) and it seems to be ok, insofar as I didn't notice the hardrive had physically shifted.

I tried to run the Nac OS X Install Disk one by holding down the option key rather than the C key, as you suggested and it worked.
It seems to me (although, I'm not sure) that the problem is that my HD is not mounted.
I don't know what that means but I tried to mount it using Disk Utility and it wouldn't do so.
Then I ran First Aid but that wasn't able to fix the problem, saying: "Underlying task reported failure on exit." Further notes: first, "Invalid Node Structuree," then, "Rebuilding Catalog B-tree," lastly, "The Volume MacIntosh HD could not be repared."

Also, at another point, I ran a hardware test which told me everything was fine.

Any more tips?
I went out and bought a firewire cable today so I'll try that idea next.

 

[karazelle]

how did the firewire idea work?

 

[mysecretnetname]

hey, sorry only replying now. firewire didnt work. took it to shop, they told me hardrive was really badly damaged and couldn't retrieve anything so i had to buy a new one. oh well. thank you for all your help anyway.

 

[Ric]

Did the shop give you the drive back ?

 

[mysecretnetname]

hi,
yes i got my harddrive back.

 

[Ric]

Was there any data on the drive you need?

regards

Ric

 

[FirefoxMac]

Dear Ric,


I've been reading alot of your posts about flashing question marks. I took have that problem, so I tried to insert that Installation Disc 1 into the computer, turned if off and turned it on again (holding c) to see if it can load it. Results? No, the computer cannot hold it. Also, the harddrive seems to have a really loud loading noise - like a car engine when turned on. Does that mean that my harddrive is damaged? Can I physically open it and remount it or anything?


Regards,
FFM