Flashing question mark at startup

fuzz_ballfuzz_ball
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I know that the flashing question mark at startup means my Mac can't find the system drive; however, what I've been experiencing (for a long time now) is every time I restart, I'll see the flashing question mark blink once or twice, and then it "finds" my system drive. This is on my Powerbook (which is my third mac). I've never experience this on my other macs, they would always startup and I would immediately see the happy face. So why is it that when I restart (or startup cold, which is rare) does my Mac temporarily not "see" my hard drive?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    mpmoriartympmoriarty Posts: 289member
    Hmmm, that is strange. I'll suggest to you what I suggest to all my friends who are experiencing similar troubles. Zap your PRAM. Here's how to do it.



    Step one: restart your Mac



    Step 2: At startup press Opt-Cmd-P-R, and hold these keys down



    Step 3: Keep holding until you hear your startup sound on your Mac chime 3 times



    Then we'll go from there



    Mike
  • Reply 2 of 2
    spikespike Posts: 20member
    Check you have your system folder selected as your startup disk in System Preferences. If you don't have a system folder selected your Mac has to hunt for one every time it boots.



    The system folder selection is stored in PRAM, so if you ever had to reset that to fix something you might have lost the setting.
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