Member Avatar for Mark B

I tried to restart my computer in OS 9. It won't restart, all I get is a folder icon with a flashing question mark. I restarted and held down "X" hoping to just skip it and go back into Jaguar, but that didn't work either. Now I'm stuck in an unbootable version of OS 9. So far I've tried:
Restarting and holding-
X
Option
Shift
Cmd-Opt-P-R (to reset the PRAM)

and I've tried disk doctor on both the OS 9 install disk, and Norton. I'm beginning to lose it. Any help?

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Dani AI

Generated

A flashing folder with a question mark means the Mac’s firmware could not find a valid startup volume. In dual-boot OS X/OS 9 setups that symptom most often points to a missing or un‑blessed OS X System Folder, a damaged partition map or directory, or an underlying drive I/O problem. Because recommended using installation media and reports success with Norton’s Disk Doctor, the likely root was a corrupted boot pointer or directory rather than total data loss.

A safer recovery workflow that avoids risky writes to a failing disk is: attach the Mac to a known-good host via FireWire Target Disk Mode and inspect/repair the volume from the host. Mount the volume and confirm the OS X System folder exists at /System/Library/CoreServices (look for BootX). If the folder is present but the Mac still won’t boot, set the blessed boot folder from the host’s Terminal (replace the volume name exactly, escaping spaces):

ls "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices"
sudo bless --folder "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices" --setBoot

If Disk Utility or Disk First Aid reports directory errors or I/O faults, clone the drive immediately to an external disk (Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper! or a low‑level cloning tool) before further repairs. If repairs succeed, a non‑destructive OS X reinstall (Archive & Install on older installers) can restore missing boot files while keeping user data.

Prevention and next steps: keep a current bootable backup, run hardware checks if problems repeat (SMART/I/O errors), and avoid relying on older OS 9 utilities to switch boot targets without confirming the OS X System Folder. Given ’s outcome, this pattern is usually fixable without full data loss, but repeated failures point to imminent hardware replacement or professional recovery.

Member Avatar for KaosReigns

I tried to restart my computer in OS 9. It won't restart, all I get is a folder icon with a flashing question mark. I restarted and held down "X" hoping to just skip it and go back into Jaguar, but that didn't work either. Now I'm stuck in an unbootable version of OS 9. So far I've tried:
Restarting and holding-
X
Option
Shift
Cmd-Opt-P-R (to reset the PRAM)

and I've tried disk doctor on both the OS 9 install disk, and Norton. I'm beginning to lose it. Any help?

if you have the OSX or OS9 instal disk, put this in the drive, hold down C to boot from CD,

you can then once booted go to control panels, and startup disk, choose the OSX volume and reboot, it should then boot to osx

Member Avatar for Mark B

if you have the OSX or OS9 instal disk, put this in the drive, hold down C to boot from CD,

you can then once booted go to control panels, and startup disk, choose the OSX volume and reboot, it should then boot to osx

I tried that and it didn't work. I wasn't unable to change the boot OS from within either install CD. I ended up using my Norton System Works CD, and was able to change back to OS X from Disk Doctor. Thanks for your help.

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