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early 2006 Imac question mark folder
- Thread starter aawong
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The blinking ?/folder means that your iMac can not find a bootable system to, well, boot.
Could be a failed hard drive, or just a system that has some corrupted boot files.
An early 2006 iMac will not have a system newer than Snow Leopard, which does not have a recovery system (Command-R), so that is not going to help you. Also, too old for Internet Recovery, so that's also not a choice for you.
"How do you know if you have a bad hard drive"? Pretty easy: Boot to a bootable system on an external drive. This could also be an installer on a DVD. But, older DVD drives tend to be unreliable, or might have stopped working entirely. Best way is a bootable system on an external hard drive. Can't be newer than Snow Leopard, but Leopard would be ideal.
Assuming you get a bootable system, Launch Disk Utility. Run First Aid on the hard drive. If the hard drive doesn't appear in the list in Disk Utility, then the answer is: It's a bad hard drive...
Could be a failed hard drive, or just a system that has some corrupted boot files.
An early 2006 iMac will not have a system newer than Snow Leopard, which does not have a recovery system (Command-R), so that is not going to help you. Also, too old for Internet Recovery, so that's also not a choice for you.
"How do you know if you have a bad hard drive"? Pretty easy: Boot to a bootable system on an external drive. This could also be an installer on a DVD. But, older DVD drives tend to be unreliable, or might have stopped working entirely. Best way is a bootable system on an external hard drive. Can't be newer than Snow Leopard, but Leopard would be ideal.
Assuming you get a bootable system, Launch Disk Utility. Run First Aid on the hard drive. If the hard drive doesn't appear in the list in Disk Utility, then the answer is: It's a bad hard drive...
If the HDD was the original one that came with the early 2006 iMac, then it's mostly bad already.
1. First you will have to confirm the iMac model.
Identify your iMac model
Use this information to find out which iMac you have, and where it fits in the history of iMac.
support.apple.com
Lookup Mac Specs By Serial Number, Order, Model & EMC Number, Model ID @ EveryMac.com
EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup - lookup Apple Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad specs by serial number, order number, model number, model ID, EMC number and more.
everymac.com
2. Making the USB installer maybe a little difficult, considering the questions you asked above. I would suggest OSX El Capitan. If you iMac is "silver", it may be newer than the 2006 or 2007 you think, probably late 2009. (let's hope)
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support (VN)
You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users.
Install OS X El Capitan Using a Bootable USB Flash Drive You Create
Learn how to create a bootable USB flash drive for the OS X (or macOS) El Capitan installer, allowing you to boot a new version of El Capitan whenever you'd like.
"Newbie question can i do a usb stick boot drive? How would i do that? Where do i download the files?"
Yes, you can boot from a USB flashdrive (slow) or a USB external drive (a little faster).
I'd suggest buying a small 2.5" SSD (250 or 500gb), and putting it into an enclosure like this:
You can use it as the boot drive for the iMac you have now, and when you get a new Mac, it will be easy to unplug it and "re-purpose" it for the new Mac.
The 2007 iMac shipped with 10.4.10, and the last OS (I think) it can run is 10.11 (El Capitan).
Do you have access to another Mac?
This will make downloading the files and building an external bootable drive much easier.
If you absolutely do not have a way to prepare the drive on another Mac, you MIGHT be able to go on ebay and buy a pre-configured USB flashdrive with a copy of the El Cap installer pre-installed on it. Just "boot and go". These sell for about $20.
You could then get booted, and try to revive the internal drive.
If that failed, you could connect an external drive (such as the one I mentioned above), initialize (erase) it (use Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format), and then install a copy of El Cap onto it.
Then you ought to be able to get booted and running from the external SSD...
Yes, you can boot from a USB flashdrive (slow) or a USB external drive (a little faster).
I'd suggest buying a small 2.5" SSD (250 or 500gb), and putting it into an enclosure like this:
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
tinyurl.com
The 2007 iMac shipped with 10.4.10, and the last OS (I think) it can run is 10.11 (El Capitan).
Do you have access to another Mac?
This will make downloading the files and building an external bootable drive much easier.
If you absolutely do not have a way to prepare the drive on another Mac, you MIGHT be able to go on ebay and buy a pre-configured USB flashdrive with a copy of the El Cap installer pre-installed on it. Just "boot and go". These sell for about $20.
You could then get booted, and try to revive the internal drive.
If that failed, you could connect an external drive (such as the one I mentioned above), initialize (erase) it (use Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format), and then install a copy of El Cap onto it.
Then you ought to be able to get booted and running from the external SSD...
Here is your guide:
1. Buy the SSD + enclosure as Fishrrman's guide above.
2. Plug it in the working 2007 iMac. (iMac A).
3. On iMac A, Open Disk Utility to format the SSD in Mac Journal
4. Download and install Carbon Copy Cloner (choose older version, new versions don't support old OS X)
5. Run it and choose original disk = iMac A's HDD; destination disk = SSD enclosure.
6. Shutdown iMac A and unplug the SSD
7. Plug it in the non-working iMac (iMac B)
8. Power iMac B on, press the combination Command + Option + P + R until you hear 3 chimes and the iMac reboot 2,3 time to reset NVRAM
9. Release the keyboard to let the iMac reboot to the SSD.
10. If it does not boot from the SSD, turn it off, and re-power it while pressing Option.
11. It is supposed to display a list of bootable device for you to choose. If not, you will need the help of someone who know to trouble shoot.
It's advisable that you upgrade the OS on iMac A to the latest supportable OSX before doing everything else. If you can't do the OS upgrade, then you'd better ask for help from another person on-site.
Thank you very much for the detail step by step. When you use the carbon copy cloner does the hard drive have to be the say capacity?
My hard drive in Mac A is 250 Gb and my ssd is 120 Gb?
Also I can do this with my ssd plugged through the USB?
My hard drive in Mac A is 250 Gb and my ssd is 120 Gb?
Also I can do this with my ssd plugged through the USB?
My HDD was 500GB with only 25GB occupied.
My SSD was 240GB in an Orico USB enclosure.
SSD capacity must be bigger than the occupied volume.
Worked like a charm thank you my imac is up and running again. I have two more questions?
1. I have a ssd with a USB adapter as a external boot drive. Should I take the imac apart to install it as a ssd internal drive. Will it make it any faster to make it worth the trouble?
2. The exisiting failed hard drive for some reason I can't see it at all even after booting up from the external drive. Is there anyway I can repair the existing drive? It's totally gone I can't see it on the file system.
1. I have a ssd with a USB adapter as a external boot drive. Should I take the imac apart to install it as a ssd internal drive. Will it make it any faster to make it worth the trouble?
2. The exisiting failed hard drive for some reason I can't see it at all even after booting up from the external drive. Is there anyway I can repair the existing drive? It's totally gone I can't see it on the file system.
1. If you are confident with opening your iMac, then by all means, yes, you should put the SSD inside. It will be much faster than external. I include below the link
2. It's not worth repairing anyhow.
"I have a ssd with a USB adapter as a external boot drive. Should I take the imac apart to install it as a ssd internal drive. Will it make it any faster to make it worth the trouble?"
I don't think it's worth the trouble on a 14-year-old iMac.
I'd just use it "as it is" for as long as the iMac lasts.
When you replace old iMac, just unplug the SSD and use it with your new Mac.
"The exisiting failed hard drive for some reason I can't see it at all even after booting up from the external drive. Is there anyway I can repair the existing drive? It's totally gone I can't see it on the file system."
If it's "completely dead" -- perhaps the platters aren't spinning at all -- then you're not going to repair it.
I'd just leave it "dead, but in place", and continue to boot and run from the external SSD.
I don't think it's worth the trouble on a 14-year-old iMac.
I'd just use it "as it is" for as long as the iMac lasts.
When you replace old iMac, just unplug the SSD and use it with your new Mac.
"The exisiting failed hard drive for some reason I can't see it at all even after booting up from the external drive. Is there anyway I can repair the existing drive? It's totally gone I can't see it on the file system."
If it's "completely dead" -- perhaps the platters aren't spinning at all -- then you're not going to repair it.
I'd just leave it "dead, but in place", and continue to boot and run from the external SSD.