iMac G4, blinking question mark inside folder?

[DarkEnergy]

My mom's work were recycling things and she picked up an Apple G4 iMac. The only problem with it so far is that when I start it up it has a blinking question mark inside a folder. I read that there is a way to fix that and to start, you have to hold down option to select startup volume. However when I hold that, it brings me to a screen with two buttons. One has a circle arrow and the other has an arrow facing right. What do I do?

[DarrenP]

sounds like it can't find the HDD. I'd replace it. 

[Moosie]

Is what you're seeing this "⊘" symbol?

[DarkEnergy]

Is what you're seeing this "⊘" symbol?

No. It's flashing the question mark and the face thing inside the folder.

[Bonsai99]

No. It's flashing the question mark and the face thing inside the folder.

Post a picture.

[Guest]

My mom's work were recycling things and she picked up an Apple G4 iMac. The only problem with it so far is that when I start it up it has a blinking question mark inside a folder. I read that there is a way to fix that and to start, you have to hold down option to select startup volume. However when I hold that, it brings me to a screen with two buttons. One has a circle arrow and the other has an arrow facing right. What do I do?

I have one of those!

What you need is to re-install OS X.

Without knowing the specs, all iMac G4s can run at least 10.4 Tiger, so go with that. Trying to install Linux is really messy with those.

So, save the hard drive, just get a Copy of OS X somewhere. Make sure it's the PowerPC version, though.

Oh, and the blue screen with buttons is the startup chooser. This allows you to manually choose the startup disk. That won't make a difference with no OS!

Make sure to hold 'C' as you boot with a cd in the drive, in order to boot from the drive, not the hard drive.

[Moosie]

No. It's flashing the question mark and the face thing inside the folder.

On the page after that. You said there was a "circle arrow" and a right-facing arrow. Posting a picture would be helpful.

I think it's a page where you're supposed to select your boot drive, but it seems that you don't have one. If that's the case, either the hard drive is missing, or you need to reinstall the OS. If you need to reinstall, follow AMorassOfPixelz post.

[DarkEnergy]

On the page after that. You said there was a "circle arrow" and a right-facing arrow. Posting a picture would be helpful.

I think it's a page where you're supposed to select your boot drive, but it seems that you don't have one. If that's the case, either the hard drive is missing, or you need to reinstall the OS. If you need to reinstall, follow AMorassOfPixelz post.

Lol, so yeah, the hard drive is missing -.-

[Guest]

Lol, so yeah, the hard drive is missing -.-

Are you sure? If there was no hard drive, I don't think you could even see the white screen with the symbol.

[DarkEnergy]

Are you sure? If there was no hard drive, I don't think you could even see the white screen with the symbol.

Well I took off the bottom panel and there was an empty slot. It looked fit for a small laptop hard drive. 

http://i.imgur.com/69vKtDS.jpg

[Guest]

Well I took off the bottom panel and there was an empty slot. It looked fit for a small laptop hard drive.

Nope! That's for the AirPort card. The HDD is up top, right under where the chrome arm meets the base. Too old for laptop drives

EDIT- ask me anything. I'm pretty much an Apple employee when it comes to this stuff.

[Guest]

Use this, ignoring the first steps about installing the drive.

It's even for 10.4.

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/200851en?popup=true

[DarkEnergy]

Nope! That's for the AirPort card. The HDD is up top, right under where the chrome arm meets the base. Too old for laptop drives

Lol, I feel like an idiot.

[Guest]

Lol, I feel like an idiot.

It's fine. Not many people are up on 2001 iMac technology

EDIT- go to iFixit, and see the tear down. You can find out where the HDD and stuff is.

When you get around to installing OS X, you can see if your processor is higher than 867MHz. If it is, then you can install Leopard. Check the font on the bezel- if it's and older serif font, it's not going to work without a hack called LeopardAssist. If it's a modern, sans-serif font, then it should be good to go.

Yes, my knowledge of this crap is scary.

[Moosie]

Lol, so yeah, the hard drive is missing -.-

Is there a date on the bottom panel of the computer? I want to know what kind of drive it had.

 

Are you sure? If there was no hard drive, I don't think you could even see the white screen with the symbol.

It may be part of the bios? Like a drive selections screen? Since they're mac specific, it may have mac styling. I'm not sure. Also, if the drive cannot be detected at all, it may be indicative of a drive problem, in which case it shouldn't be able to read off of the drive, so...?

[Moosie]

Lol, I feel like an idiot.

lol I was gonna say, I think it used 3.5" drives.

And if you're gonna go digging, be careful. There's some stuff you have to do right.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+G4+17-Inch+Model+M9168LLA+Hard+Drive+Replacement/4176

[Guest]

Is there a date on the bottom panel of the computer? I want to know what kind of drive it had.

 

It may be part of the bios? Like a drive selections screen? Since they're mac specific, it may have mac styling. I'm not sure. Also, if the drive cannot be detected at all, it may be indicative of a drive problem, in which case it shouldn't be able to read off of the drive, so...?

It's just a boot secretion screen. Except it's a simple, GUI interface. You can even use your mouse in it.

Again, I'm pretty sure there's a drive. It's quite a bit of work to take it out, and the last owner must have just erased it for security reason.

[Guest]

lol I was gonna say, I think it used 3.5" drives.

And if you're gonna go digging, be careful. There's some stuff you have to do right.http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+G4+17-Inch+Model+M9168LLA+Hard+Drive+Replacement/4176

It'd save some money to just get a copy of osx, and try installing it before doing that. That way, you don't go through the work of opening the machine up, and fining out there's a drive in it already.

[Moosie]

It'd save some money to just get a copy of osx, and try installing it before doing that. That way, you don't go through the work of opening the machine up, and fining out there's a drive in it already.

I agree. I thought he had said that the drive didn't show up as a volume at all, because my understanding is that it should show up even if it is blank. I could be totally and completely wrong about this, though. I just wanted to make sure he had the teardown guide if he did decide to do it. Apple loves making things hard to take apart, and I know I'd do something wrong if I got ahead of myself and just went for it. Especially with the weird heat pipe thing.

[Guest]

I agree. I thought he had said that the drive didn't show up as a volume at all, because my understanding is that it should show up even if it is blank. I could be totally and completely wrong about this, though. I just wanted to make sure he had the teardown guide if he did decide to do it. Apple loves making things hard to take apart, and I know I'd do something wrong if I got ahead of myself and just went for it. Especially with the weird heat pipe thing.

in OS X, only bootable volumes show up in the GUI boot device chooser. That's why. Even if you have a blank HDD, it won't boot. Hence the symbols on boot- it's still trying to boot into the empty drive.

[Moosie]

in OS X, only bootable volumes show up in the GUI boot device chooser. That's why. Even if you have a blank HDD, it won't boot. Hence the symbols on boot- it's still trying to boot into the empty drive.

Ah. That explains it. I've only ever booted a mac with a blank drive when I had the install disk.