Too lazy to look on Apple Support...

[iGary]

What does a temporary grey screen with a folder and "?" mark that turns into a Finder icon at startup mean, besides the fact that my machine is slowly dying?

I've repaired permissions, run all scripts, updated the prebindings, cleared all the system caches, zapped PRAM, run FSCK, run hardware test, run DiskWarrior, tried it with no peripherals plugged in, reset the PMU and it still hangs on startup occasionally and will refuse to sleep very often (it will sleep half way, and then the fans ramp up to full blast over a period of about five minutes.

I guess I am going to have to cave and just let the Apple Store have it for a few days to replicate the symptoms.

 

[yellow]

System Preferences -> Startup Disk -> Select your startup disk

That should go away.

What it means is that it temporarily cannot find where to boot up from. You should consider repairing the drive using the installer CD, or running fsck by hand.

 

[iGary]

Thanks, yeller.

Now it won't zap the PRAM or boot from CD if I ask it too.

 

[yellow]

Now it won't zap the PRAM or boot from CD if I ask it too.

Just from selecting the startup disk?

 

[aquajet]

Zapping the PRAM will reset your startup disk preferences. In other words, zapping the PRAM was causing the blinking folder.

 

[iGary]

Zapping the PRAM will reset your startup disk preferences. In other words, zapping the PRAM was causing the blinking folder.

That has never happened to me in years of using OS X. Ever. But thanks.

And yellow - no, what I was saying is that it is not necessarily selecting the startup disc that did it, but now it won't zap PRAM or boot From CD. Just the inconsistent quirks it keeps exhibiting.

 

[XNine]

Insert OS X DVD
restart
hold down OPTION key when chime...chimes
IT should come up with several possibilities for a startup disc to boot from, be it a hard drive or CD.
Choose the CD
Then do the UTILITIES menubar item
Then Startup Disk
Then your HD
Restart

This should make it all happy. If it doesn't, then George Bush broke it...

 

[iGary]

Insert OS X DVD
restart
hold down OPTION key when chime...chimes
IT should come up with several possibilities for a startup disc to boot from, be it a hard drive or CD.
Choose the CD
Then do the UTILITIES menubar item
Then Startup Disk
Then your HD
Restart

This should make it all happy. If it doesn't, then George Bush broke it...

George Bush broke it.

 

[XNine]

George Bush broke it.

Then my suggestion is to get the hell out of your apartment before your Mac commits genocide on all of your other equipment...

 

[FF_productions]

what a shame for such a nice machine... (your powermac, right?)

 

[jadekitty24]

Damn Gary, I've always envied your set up, and I'm sad to hear of all the problems you've been having. I as well have wondered if the temporary question mark at start up meant impending doom. I remember having that on an older iBook. I hope the trip to the Apple store yields some good news. Be sure to keep us posted.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Hey, I got an idea, keep a camcorder near by and tape it while it does it and give them the tape at the store and the powermac, just incase you're so lucky that it doesn't replicate the problems.

 

[rdowns]

Wake up people. Gary is not having any problems with his G5. It's all a charade designed to make him not look like a hypocrite when he goes out and buys himself a new Mac with an [gasp]Intel[/gasp] chip.

 

[Sharewaredemon]

Wake up people. Gary is not having any problems with his G5. It's all a charade designed to make him not look like a hypocrite when he goes out and buys himself a new Mac with an [gasp]Intel[/gasp] chip.

Agreed...

 

[MacsRgr8]

Wake up people. Gary is not having any problems with his G5. It's all a charade designed to make him not look like a hypocrite when he goes out and buys himself a new Mac with an [gasp]Intel[/gasp] chip.

LOL!

Damn EFI is very quick too....
iGary will enjoy that.