Mac with Grey screen color and blinking question mark
Thursday, December 4, 2008 / System Settings
How do I fix the Grey screen with the blinking question mark?
The flashing question mark of horror… it is not always a day-ending event, it really just means your Mac has tested all the equipment and is ready for the next step. The “horror” comes from the next step being “start loading the OS from this disk,” which is not happening. It could be that your hard drive has died or the OS is corrupted but it can be as simple as the computer forgot what drive the OS is on.
Try restarting the computer holding down the [option] key, which will take you to a boot loader. After a few minutes all available boot devices will show up. If your hard drive is not listed, then you should put in an OS X install or Restore DVD. See if you can see the internal drive from the Disk Utility included on that Install disc, when booted from it. There are some diagnostic tools under the “First Aid” tab in Disk Utilities that may help.
If you are lucky, and can see your drive from the boot loader, then you should select your drive and boot up off of it. After you boot up, use the Startup Disk section of System Preferences to permanently select your hard drive as the boot drive.
If your drive is there but has damage to it, Disk Warrior is the best home drive repair tool for the Mac.
January 4th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Hi, I have a similar problem except that when I use the restore disc it can’t find my harddrive. What to do? Also it keeps making a clicking/ticking sound.
January 5th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
When your drive is clicking and can’t be found by the Install disc, it is almost always a dead hard drive. You will need to have a new internal hard drive installed. Then you can use the OS discs to reinstall the Mac OS. Your personal data is probably lost, unless you send the drive to a company like Drive Savers. Good luck.