Flashing "?": Solution on Performa/Power Mac 54xx, 55xx, 6400, & 6500

Apple has investigated a Flashing Question Mark on start up condition. You should read this information if you have:
  • A Macintosh Performa and/or a Power Macintosh 5400 Series, 5500 Series, 6400 Series, or 6500 Series computer, and
  • Your computer fails to start up and instead shows a flashing question mark on a disk.
If you do not have one of the computer models listed above, this information does not apply to you, although the same condition may occur.

If your computer fails to start up and instead shows a flashing question mark and disk, please read and follow the troubleshooting tips in article 13784: "Flashing Question Mark on the Screen: Causes and Cures"
Description

Some customers have reported that their computers fail to start up and instead show a flashing question mark and disk.

When a Macintosh computer fails to start up and only shows a flashing question mark and disk, this indicates that a startup volume (a hard drive, CD-ROM disc, or floppy disk with a System Folder) is not available after the computer has been turned on. By inserting the system software CD-ROM or Disk Tools floppy disk that came with the computer, it should start up normally.

After starting up from the system software CD-ROM or Disk Tools floppy disk, an alert box may appear. The message warns that the hard drive or startup partition is unreadable and asks if the user would like to initialize it.

Warning: Choosing to initialize the hard drive or startup partition will erase all data on that drive or partition. Be sure the information on your hard drive has been backed up.

Solution

Apple's Drive Setup v1.3.1 prevents a reported condition where the computers listed below fail to start up and instead show a flashing question mark inside a disk icon on the display. The condition is specific to the following Apple products:

Macintosh Performa 5400CD
Macintosh Performa 5400/160
Macintosh Performa 5400/180
Macintosh Performa 5410CD
Macintosh Performa 5420CD
Macintosh Performa 5430
Macintosh Performa 5440
Power Macintosh 5400/120
Power Macintosh 5400/180
Power Macintosh 5400/200
Power Macintosh 5500/225
Power Macintosh 5500/250
Macintosh Performa 6400/180
Macintosh Performa 6400/200
Macintosh Performa 6410
Macintosh Performa 6420
Power Macintosh 6400/200
Power Macintosh 6500/225
Power Macintosh 6500/250
Power Macintosh 6500/275
Power Macintosh 6500/300
Macintosh Performa 6360
Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

Drive Setup v1.3.1 prevents this condition by installing a new device driver for internal ATA (IDE) hard drives that ship with these computers. A driver is a software program that serves as an "interpreter" between your hard drive and your computer; it is stored in an invisible area of your hard drive. Without a driver, your computer cannot work with your hard drive.

This new device driver is installed by using the "Update" option in Drive Setup. Depending on the current state of your drive, you may need to take additional steps.

Note: Flashing question marks can occur for a number of reasons. For example, separating the Finder and System (moving one out of the System Folder), can cause a flashing question mark. Improperly connecting devices to the SCSI port on your computer can also cause a flashing question mark.

The condition Drive Setup v1.3.1 fixes, normally produces a "do you want to initialize this disk" error when you start your computer with your Macintosh Performa or Mac OS CD-ROM disc. Since the computer cannot read the directory of the hard disk correctly, it is asking for permission to initialize it.

Important: Drive Setup 1.3.1 includes a Read Me document. Read the document completely before installing the new device driver. It contains step by step instructions for installing the new device driver along with other important technical details. The Drive Setup 1.3.1 Read Me document is contained in the following article:

Article 22090: "Drive Setup 1.3.1: Read Me"


This article can help you locate the Drive Setup 1.3.1 software mentioned here:

Published Date: Feb 18, 2012