Imac Flashing Question Mark

[PowerMac G5]

I have found a listing on Ebay for an iMac 17" Core Duo (http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_cd_1.83_17.html)

"The computer turns on but a file with a flashing question mark comes up. I've looked online and they say its either a faulty motherboard or needs to be rebooted" This is what the listing states.

I know that the flashing question mark means that the computer cannot find a valid operating system, however the listing says that it could be a faulty motherboard. Is it true that it could be a motherboard, the list is pretty cheap for this reason and I could easily reinstall and operating system, but I don't want to go through replacing the MLB. Is there any chance that it is anything more than the hard drive/hard drive cable?

 

[Hellhammer]

Flashing question mark suggests a failed hard drive. If it was the logic board (or any component on it like the GPU), then the system most likely wouldn't boot at all, but now it seems that rest of the system is fine. Of course, it's an old iMac, so the logic board could also be on its last legs.

 

[maflynn]

The computer booted up to the point where it was looking for a boot device, so while the logic board still may have issues, its seemingly more likely that the hard drive is the cause. Try creating a bootable USB thumb device and boot up with that, perhaps that will move you along on getting this up and running.

 

[PowerMac G5]

The computer booted up to the point where it was looking for a boot device, so while the logic board still may have issues, its seemingly more likely that the hard drive is the cause. Try creating a bootable USB thumb device and boot up with that, perhaps that will move you along on getting this up and running.

Can you even use a bootable USB drive for this? It is most likely running 10.5/10.6 and I thought you could only use disks?

 

[maflynn]

You may need another Mac to create the bootable USB, but I cannot see why not. I'm not entirely sure however.

 

[Fishrrman]

That's probably a bad deal, unless it's REALLY cheap.

Suggest you look elsewhere...