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early 2008 MacBook displaying grey folder with question mark

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psywzrd

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Feb 6, 2008
2,837
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My early 2008 MacBook is displaying a grey folder with a question mark when I attempt to boot up the computer. From what I can gather it seems like my HD may have taken a dump, but I'm trying to troubleshoot the problem to see if I can fix it. I believe I have a Time Machine backup of the computer, but I'm not 100% sure (I see a MacBook sparsebundle on my Time Capsule drive).

Any ideas on steps I can take to try to get the computer back up and running? I don't use the computer at all but there is certainly data on there that I would like to salvage if at all possible. Thank you.
 
psywzrd said:
My early 2008 MacBook is displaying a grey folder with a question mark when I attempt to boot up the computer. From what I can gather it seems like my HD may have taken a dump, but I'm trying to troubleshoot the problem to see if I can fix it. I believe I have a Time Machine backup of the computer, but I'm not 100% sure (I see a MacBook sparsebundle on my Time Capsule drive).

Any ideas on steps I can take to try to get the computer back up and running? I don't use the computer at all but there is certainly data on there that I would like to salvage if at all possible. Thank you.
Click to expand...
The original HDD?? At this stage I'd recommend to stop any further attempts to try booting from it. Remove it and install into en external housing so you can try recovering the data through another computer.

Edit: is (or has) the HD made any strange noises?
 
Alpha Centauri said:
The original HDD?? At this stage I'd recommend to stop any further attempts to try booting from it. Remove it and install into en external housing so you can try recovering the data through another computer.

Edit: is (or has) the HD made any strange noises?
Click to expand...
No, it's not the original HDD. I replaced it at some point, although I couldn't tell you exactly when.

And no, I haven't heard any strange noises coming from the HDD.
 
psywzrd said:
No, it's not the original HDD. I replaced it at some point, although I couldn't tell you exactly when.

And no, I haven't heard any strange noises coming from the HDD.
Click to expand...
Right, got ya. Irrespective, moving platter discs can last a year or 10. What happens if you restart it whilst holding down "Option" key? Does the HDD show up and you can you select it as a boot drive?
 
I believe I replaced with a hybrid drive.

When I hold down the option key while booting up, all I get is a blank grey screeen.
 
psywzrd said:
If that’s what holding down the option key while booting up is supposed to do, no. How long am I supposed to hold down that button for before I can let go?
Click to expand...
No. It was a Hyperlink with key combinations to start in actual Safe mode. Different.

  1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
  2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac.
  3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.
 
Alpha Centauri said:
No. It was a Hyperlink with key combinations to start in actual Safe mode. Different.

  1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
  2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac.
  3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.
Click to expand...
My apologies. I was replying from my phone and didn't even realize that it was a hyperlink. I can't boot into safe mode. I think I might take the HDD out and pop it into an enclosure to see if I can do anything with it. Hopefully the data is salvageable, although I think I should be ok anyway since I have that sparsebundle.
 
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psywzrd said:
My apologies. I was replying from my phone and didn't even realize that it was a hyperlink. I can't boot into safe mode. I think I might take the HDD out and pop it into an enclosure to see if I can do anything with it. Hopefully the data is salvageable, although I think I should be ok anyway since I have that sparsebundle.
Click to expand...
Yes, the data retrieval with an ext enclosure will be a priority.

If you've managed to retrieve the data and HD shows willingness to live, could try afterwards booting to the MB via usb and ext enclosure, just to rule out the internal sata cable having a defect.
 
Alpha Centauri said:
Yes, the data retrieval with an ext enclosure will be a priority.

If you've managed to retrieve the data and HD shows willingness to live, could try afterwards booting to the MB via usb and ext enclosure, just to rule out the internal sata cable having a defect.
Click to expand...
Looks like the drive must be dead - I can’t get it to show up on my MBP or on my wife’s work computer (Windows).

Think I’m going to just take advantage of my Backblaze backup subscription and have Backblaze send me all of my files on an external USB drive. As long as I grab all of files that I want/need within 30 days and send the drive back to them, all I’ll have to pay is the cost of shipping the drive back to them.
 
psywzrd said:
Looks like the drive must be dead - I can’t get it to show up on my MBP or on my wife’s work computer (Windows).

Think I’m going to just take advantage of my Backblaze backup subscription and have Backblaze send me all of my files on an external USB drive. As long as I grab all of files that I want/need within 30 days and send the drive back to them, all I’ll have to pay is the cost of shipping the drive back to them.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear it's dead. Great you have Backblaze and this option to access your data!
 
Alpha Centauri said:
Sorry to hear it's dead. Great you have Backblaze and this option to access your data!
Click to expand...
Same! Backups are something that you rarely think about but when you need them you are so thankful that they are there. The cost adds up over the years, but some of the stuff that is backed up is priceless so I'm happy that I won't lose any of it.

Thank you so much for your help - I really appreciate it!
 
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A flashing folder with a question mark is an error that occurs when Mac cannot detect its boot directory. This usually happens when:

1. Mac cannot find the startup Disk.
2. macOS is corrupt

However, you can try the below methods to fix the issue:

1. Boot your Mac into macOS Recovery Mode
2. Repair startup disk using disk utility
3. Reinstall macOS

Hope it helps!
 
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