weird symbol......

[bananashakes18]

ok well I have a mac book pro got it like three yes ago .... I was online and got up but my foot got caught and log story short my laptop fell .From like a desk to the carpet. I'm super scared now cuz it turns on but it just stays on a blue start up screen with a little folder in the middle going from the two faces to a question mark that's all it does. Does anyone know what that means? I'm going to set an appointment to take it in but I just want to know if anyone has seen that symbol and know what it means? I'm freaking out here

[FlwrPwer]

Used to happen on my mini all the time. theres a key combination to press that will boot the computer up. You have told hold down a key, with the power button at the same time.

I can't remember off the top of my head. I will try and search apple.com support for you to see if I can find the key combination for you.

Do not fret though. I have seen it and gotten around it

[bananashakes18]

Originally Posted by FlwrPwer

Used to happen on my mini all the time. theres a key combination to press that will boot the computer up. You have told hold down a key, with the power button at the same time.

I can't remember off the top of my head. I will try and search apple.com support for you to see if I can find the key combination for you.

Do not fret though. I have seen it and gotten around it

.


Thank u thank u thank u I love my laptop LOL Im so scared it got messes up. But it should be fine right? I mean they can't be that sensitive right. It didn't fall that hard . Err I hope to find out what that other key is to reset it. Will that earase all my info on my laptop?

[FlwrPwer]

Originally Posted by bananashakes18

.


Thank u thank u thank u I love my laptop LOL Im so scared it got messes up. But it should be fine right? I mean they can't be that sensitive right. It didn't fall that hard . Err I hope to find out what that other key is to reset it. Will that earase all my info on my laptop?

Nope...never had it erase anything.

Apparently this happens when the computer cant find the system software. Keep trying to reboot it and see what happens. I'll keep looking for the keystrokes.

[FlwrPwer]

Try this:

Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.

Special Thanks to psylichon who helped me search

[psylichon]

You can try that keystroke combo, but the fact that this happened right after a drop doesn't bode well for your situation, unfortunately. If the disk was writing something at the time, it may be ok, and all you need to do is repair permissions (from the disk utility... if you can get it booted). However the hard drive may have taken on physical damage, in which case you'll need to get a new one (just a hard drive, not a whole notebook). Let us know how it goes...

[bananashakes18]

Originally Posted by FlwrPwer

Try this:

Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second tim
Release the keys.
Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.
Special Thanks to psylichon who helped me search

Thanks but it still shows the same symbol.

[psylichon]

I think you need a new hard drive.

Try booting off the install CD and see if you can run disk utility from there and fix permissions there. That's the proper way to repair permissions on a boot drive anyway.

[bananashakes18]

yeah I was jus online when it fell. I closed it when it was on and that's when it fell.

If I have to replace the harddrive.. How much does that usually go for?

[FlwrPwer]

My mini used to show that screen every time i would disconnect it from the monitor and then reconnect it. It usually took a while, but I would eventually get OSX back.

But, it also came to our attention that my hard drive was corrupted which was probably causing this.