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Question

Blank screen with a file that has a question mark in the mid

Aug 8, 2011 10:40PM PDT

I tried to boot up my '07 black Macbook yesterday and it wouldn't even get to the stage of me entering my password. The screen was blank(greyish white) with a blinking file that had a question mark in the middle of it. I tried to shut it down and restart but had the same results. Any idea what is causing this and what it means? How do I get past this?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
That means
Aug 8, 2011 11:10PM PDT

That means the EFI (similar to a PC's BIOS) can't find a system folder which contains all the information needed to boot the OS.

This particular symptom can have a number of causes ranging from a corrupted OS to a bad HDD. If it's an 07 model, I'd say the latter is the more likely. I'd be willing to bet a shiny nickel that it's been running rather sluggish the past few days. Or that you were trying to upgrade to Lion and neglected to mention that fact.

First thing to try, since it's basically free, is to try reinstalling the OS from the restore media that came with your system. If you're lucky, it is just a case of a corrupted OS, and you can be up and going again in about an hour. If Disk Utility on the OS install DVD doesn't even see your HDD, then it's likely dead and you need to get it replaced. As repairs go, this isn't an overly expensive one if you want to have it done for you. Probably in the $250US range give or take. Or you can fit your own SATA 2.5" HDD in there. I'd try and stick as close as you can to the size of the drive that came with your system. In theory there's no particular upper limit, but sometimes you find you're that one person in a hundred that can't get things to work properly.

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Next step
Aug 9, 2011 12:27AM PDT

Actually, I was checking some info online over the weekend and put it to sleep without shutting down the windows such as the one that you sign on and agree to the terms at Starbucks in order to use their free wifi. I didn't download anything. As a matter of fact, I was thinking that I needed to upgrade the o/s since I haven' t done so since I purchased the Macbook in 07. The last thing downloaded was some sort of file that would allow me to merge pdf files into one. I cannot recollect the name of it at the moment. Anyway, that night I kept hearing this noise and then I realized that it was coming from the fan on the computer that had been running continuously while in my computer bag. I took it out and it was extremely hot. I opened it up and completely shut it off. Then when I tried to use it yesterday I ended up with the problem that I described. How do I reinstall the OS if I continue to get that screen?

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Insert the Restore disk or a Mac OS X installation disk
Aug 9, 2011 4:57AM PDT

and boot from it by holding down the "C" key or, if that did not work, holding down the "Option" key and choosing the DVD.

Follow the on screen instructions from there

The above assumes that your hard drive is still working, it may not be

P

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Worked well but......
Aug 10, 2011 10:40PM PDT

Thank you very much for the tips on resolving that issue. However, for some reason now I cannot play iTunes. When I clicked on the icon I got an error message that states that I cannot use this itunes application with this version of Mac OSX. I am running 10.4.8. Any thoughts? Do I need to upgrade my os?

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Last version of 10.4 was
Aug 11, 2011 4:41AM PDT

10.4.11 so run Software Updater and get the software up as far as it will go.

as you didn't mention how you finally fixed the problem, or what sort of install of 10.4 you did or what version of iTunes you are using, it would be wrong to offer a solution.

Also, was 10.4 the version of OS X that was on your Mac before you had the problem?

P

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Version of OSX
Aug 13, 2011 8:39AM PDT

I don't remember exactly the version that I was running prior to having this problem. However, I believe that it was 10.4. To resolve the issue, I did what was recommended which was to re-install the OS using the disks that came with the system. I am running iTunes version 9.02. At least I was. Also, the last note, I did run the Software Updater.

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So now you have OS X 10.4.11
Aug 13, 2011 10:23AM PDT

and should be able to run iTunes version 9.02 at least

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Id suggest an upgrade
Aug 15, 2011 2:57PM PDT

I have had the same issue a while back. I have a black macbook as well from mid 2008 before they stopped selling. I have since had to replace the hdd and upgrade ram. Now its running OSX Lion with the original duo 2.16 GHz and now with 4gb ram and a somewhat cheap 160gb. It runs great now and although its an older model in the world of next gen notebooks running intel i5's and i7's I still cant get rid of a good condition macbook with decent hardware. Aside from this already being established as the solution to your problem, im just supporting the idea that a cheap hardware upgrade will be worth it.

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Type of upgrade?
Aug 16, 2011 12:30AM PDT

Are you referring to a HDD upgrade when you say a cheap hardware upgrade?

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yes
Aug 16, 2011 2:19AM PDT

That is what I meant by cheap upgrade as far as

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Yes
Aug 16, 2011 2:31AM PDT

What i meant to post was yes, by a cheap upgrade i was referring to swapping your hdd to solve your problem at hand. A memory upgrade is a given to boost performance and thats something i did myself so i can smoothly run Mac OSX Lion. But when having the same problem with the same mac i just needed to swap my hdd.