I got trouble "?" ibook

zeke_mo

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My sister's ibook(500Mhz, 640MB RAM) which has a dual boot of 9.2 and 10.x installed on it will no longer boot. All that shows up is a little folder with a "?" mark on it, I have no idea what that means. I was thinking it cant find the boot folder or something. She wants me to get it working so she can back up everything and format. Thanks ahead :p
 
I just booted with a system disk, and I went do use disk first aid and it gave me this error: "Problem: Invalid BTree node size, 4,0"
 
Apple.com has the support section, check there if you can find the error you specified. If that fails, try google.
 
If you're receiving a folder with a "?" on it, this usually means that there is no bootable operating install that can be found, as x-istence says, try Apple.com's support section for more information. I've never solved this problem before with anything other than simply re-installing the o/s (take's 15 minutes, and no settings are lost at all) however I've never looked into the problem before.
 
Will it format the hdd? She wants to keep all her old pictures, movie, etc.
 
zeke_mo said:
Will it format the hdd? She wants to keep all her old pictures, movie, etc.

No, it will just copy a new boot sector to the drive, and all the stuff that is a must have, you will lose no settings like SPeedY_B says. And not losing settings means not losing documents either.
 
Thanks for the help you two :) Ill let you know how the install goes
 
Its asking about initializing the disk. I hate to keep asking, but it this a format?
 
zeke_mo said:
Its asking about initialize ing the disk. I hate to keep asking, but it this a format?

That does sound wrong. See the docs at apple.com, or contact their support.
 
could be hard drive or logic board, talk to the support people or take it into an apple store if you can
 
zeke_mo said:
Its asking about initializing the disk. I hate to keep asking, but it this a format?
Initialising a disk would be formatting it, yes. Basically when it asks to initialise a disk it means that the software has found no recognisable disk to install the o/s on to, but it has found the presence of some kind of disk, it just needs to be formatted before proceeding further.
 
Are there any apps that could repair it without formatting it?
 
will it boot into target disk mode??

think its holding down 'T' while restarting the machine, then if you can plug it into another mac with a firewire cable you should be able to access the hard drive.
 
I was really wishing that it wasn't a hardware problem. I guess I'll give apple a call. Thanks for all the help :D If I get this fixed I will let you all know what it was.
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
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Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
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