Powermac G3: Flashing Folder with Question Mark.

Hi guys,

so i started upgrading my powermac half a year ago, with the 500gig HDD, Ram, and processor.

the project has been halted for a while since to install my processor i need an OS 9 cd, to install os 9 on another HDD and install the processor drivers.

anyways, so back to the main question.

since i upgraded from 10.2 to 10.4 i've been getting a Flashing Folder with a question mark, but the computer does manage to eventually start up after a few minutes.

heres what happens.

-i boot up the computer
-i get the Flashing Folder with Question Mark
-dvd drive opens
-after 30 seconds or so the computer starts normally and eventually closes the dvd drive alone.

but for some reason this doesnt happen when im restarting.

is this because the main drive is 500gb and i have it pluged in via a pci IDE card? should i have the main drive (6gb) and the 500gb as a slave?

how do i fix this?

cheers.

Two thoughts:

1. Powermac G3's have a maximum supported hard drive size of 128gig. So that 500 gig hard drive might be causing issues.

2. A second thought is that your startup hard drive is on it's way to "kicking the bucket". You may be able to get it to boot ok for a while...but eventually it will die completely (if this is the problem).

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Two thoughts:

1. Powermac G3's have a maximum supported hard drive size of 128gig. So that 500 gig hard drive might be causing issues.

2. A second thought is that your startup hard drive is on it's way to "kicking the bucket". You may be able to get it to boot ok for a while...but eventually it will die completely (if this is the problem).

- Nick

Click to expand...

can't be ether of those since, after troubleshooting for a while i noticed its because i'm running the harddrives from a IDE-PCI card to have the computer accept the 500 giger, if i plug the HDD straight to the motherboard, it boots just fine.

drivers, maybe?

If the hard drives aren't "dying"...and there's no issues with the 500gig drive...what's causing the "flashing question mark" is too long of a delay during the boot-up process.

The computer is "confused" looking for the appropriate "boot drive"...causing the flashing question mark. Then when it finally "finds or figures out" what the correct drive is...it can boot properly. It probably has to do with the "master/slave" hard drive relationship when you have two internal hard drives installed.

Give these a read in case your Powermac G3's HD's need some setup adjustments:

Power Macintosh G3 and G4: IDE Master and Slave Support and Configuration

Power Mac G3 Blue and White Yosemite Motherboard!

Hope this helps,

- Nick