help with imac problem

[smmorrison]

first....I do not own an imac, I am simply teaching classes where we have to use imac's

Now the problem....twice now on different computers they have simply stopped wotking. On start up they are showing an image of a floppy disk with a question mark in it. I assume this means that they cannot find the hard drive, but how can this be when the computer was working fine previous to this. Is there a workaround for this...any way to check the hardware???..anyone have any ideas???? thanks in advance and please spare me the imac jokes....I know they suck

 

[Pennstate]

The best solution would be to sell the IMAC (after you RMA it back) and buy a PC.

 

[Imaginer]

This maybe the wrong place to ask about troubleshooting a Mac for many users here are PC. Did you try to go on a popular Mac forum? I am sure there are knowledgeable people there willing to solve a Mac user's problem.

Had the institution you are teaching at used PCs, this problem would never show up would it.

 

[RSI]

You would have had problems just the same, only we would have been able to help you

 

[goldboyd]

what color is it? i've heard cherry imacs have that issue


but really, just pop a boot disk in the floppy drive and see what happens ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

ok, i'm done being an ass now. i have very limited mac knowledge, but i've seen it once or twice and it happened when either the os was completely hosed or gone. you should be able to boot to the cd and reinstall the os from there.

 

[DarkManX]

put in the Restore CD, I had that problem in school with a few imacs but I never got around to finding out how to fix it.

 

[Scifione]

Ditto on the MAC forum.
Consider this a free bump.
You would be hard pressed to find many MAC uses here!

 

[Prodigy^]

smash it with a sledgehammer and your worries will be over

 

[Prodigy^]

hehehe I can't stop laughing

to be serious though......can you open iMac's? if so, open it and check if some cables aren't loose......

but really, try a mac site, this place isn't going to offer you anything else than 75% mac jokes and 25% guesses

 

[Scifione]

This sounds like what you are talking about.
http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n58348


Since I did try to help you I think I am entitled to one MAC crack!
I found this while looking for your problem.
......
"1.I hear an error chime or broken glass sound on startup."
.......

Solution: That would be me hitting the iMAC with a baseball bat and throwing it out the window! LOL
Here is the link to that.
http://www.info.apple.com/support/pov.taf?product=imac&type=sp&file=startup

 

[Chris A]

You might have better luck here. Hocky puck central. http://forum.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro&BypassCookie=true

 

[JohnnyGTyler]

The problem could be as simple as having a floppy disk in the computer at start up. Look to see if a disk is in the computer at start up and remove it.

I have a Macintosh SE and have experienced what you are talking about. If there is a floppy in the drive when I start the machine it gives me the picture of a disk with the flashing question mark.
This is a guess that it is common with all apple computers. I think its apples way of asking if you want to boot from a floppy.

Hope this helps.

 

[smmorrison]

thanks you to those who tried to help....I would like to make it clear that I too detest mac's, my problem is the school systems seem to think they are the best for students(which is getting more and more absurd and may actually be a detriment to students) plus I think that simple minded educators think they look cool and come in pretty colors. It sounds like the machine is hosed....I would throw it out the window if I could, but its not mine. A funny note the school I work at recently had 4 imac's stolen for a short while....who would steal them???? thanks again

 

[thorin]

The ? Floppy means it can't find a boot disk. Throw in a boot floppy (or boot cd since this is an iMac), and run disk first aid and HDsetup tests.

Thorin

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

<< what color is it? i've heard cherry imacs have that issue >>



LMAO!

 

[compuwiz1]

Your probably not going to get much here, except go buy a PC. I would suggest finding a good Mac forum.......if there are any. :Q

 

[thorin]

1) There are ppl here that know Mac stuff. Maybe not many but enough to at least start answering his question.

2) The only ppl that are telling him to go buy a PC are ppl that have NFC and haven't used Macs even close to as much as they've used their Wintel box, I'm sure he can manage to ignore those posts.

3) Someone needs help we should be sending them away we should try to suggest (link) and alternate resource.

Thorin

 

[andrey]

Floppy with a question mark means boot record on the hard drive could not be found. iMac's restore CD (Mac OS 8.6) contains First Aid, which can tell you if that is a bad hard drive or just a bad master boot record. From there it should offer you option to fix it (if that is available) or replace (you will need to contact Apple in that case). I hope this helps,

 

[andrey]

here is good site for you to take a look:
http://www.macfixit.com

 

[Dennis Travis]

What Andrey said is 100% correct. It's looking for a boot record from either a floppie, HDD or CDROM. Most IMacs don't as most probably know come with a floppie drive which caused a lot of Apple bashing since with the origional Imac there was no way to save a file and take it with you to another machine! So put in the restore CD that should have come with it and it should boot and they you can run First Aid. That should tell you what is wrong and if the HDD is not dead fix it for you.

 

[andrey]

take a look here, this page has an exact answer to your question:
http://www.macfixit.com/reports/flashingmark.shtml and look for Mac OS 8.6 if that is original iMac or OS 9.0 if that is a new iMac (DV or DV SE). Best regards,

 

[smmorrison]

thank you all for your help...especially andrey, thorin, and dennis....I bow to your godlike computer knowledge and searching skills(did you just do internet searches to find that, because i had trouble finding it on the net) as always, despite some totally legitiamte cracks about mac's(I knew I would get some crap posting here abouta a mac problem) I was able to find help on this forum as I have in the past....I thank you all....as of right now I have not been able to fix the computer as I do not have an OS disk, I might be able to find one tomorrow. What is disturbing after reading the links you guys supplied is how widespread this problem is....this is a total system failure that would be very difficult for the average computer user to fix, expecially somone thinkin imac's are easy and problem free....perhaps it is my fault as last week I had the students using photoshop 5, illustrator, and dreamweaver 3 on woefully underpowered imacs, some kids had them all running at once, I thought I would see an imac burst into flames...but hey, there not mine, and I can probably fix it....again thanks for all the help and guidance

 

[Dennis Travis]

smmorrison

No problem. I actually know how to work with Macs. I do prefer the PC for me anyway but I have learned the Mac also so I can help other people that like Macs when they get into a mess. I don't mind some Macs, the main thing for me is you pay more for the same performance I can get on a PC for so much less and with Mac you can't build it yourself or upgrade it that easily either. $ for $ the PC is faster for what most of us do with a computer. IMacs seem to be catching on in a lot of Schools though. All over my town I talk to more and more kids that say their school just got all new Imacs. They are fine for that kind of use but what bothers me is when the kids get older and go out in the world to get a job they probably will have to know the PC.

I hope you can find the Boot/install CD and get it running. Running 3 apps should not be a problem. I have an old Mac here that I used to mess with all the time and run Photoshop and Netscape and a couple of other apps all at the same time without a problem except it's very slow! It seems like it's more Mac OS's fault that is does not multitask well than it is the Mac itself.

Good luck!

 

[HellRaven]

LOL! Loved that crack about the poor iMac's exploding from overload. I have used iMacs before and I find the most common explanation I hear from others buying iMac's (that they are easier to use than a pc) to be about 180 from the truth. I find Mac's less user friendly than any other type on computer I have messed with for any length of time. Apple does deserve credit for making many innovations of course, I just find the way PC's go about it much more logical. Windows, for all its flaws, has a pretty good interface and allows you do alot, even with limited knowledge.

 

[thorin]

&quot;They are fine for that kind of use but what bothers me is when the kids get older and go out in the world to get a job they probably will have to know the PC.&quot;

Did Apple and/or it's computers not show up for the cuts the day God was declaring things &quot;Personal Computers&quot;? iMacs and all other Macs are PCs just as much as your Wintel box is. (Even Wintel is now far to generic and confining considering AMDs explosion and Linux, however it's a much better fit for what your trying to say).

Thorin