[kyrospeare]

I just clicked on the startup disk icon (which has a question mark over it) and my computer asked me to shutdown.
Why?

[Praxis]

It asked you if you wanted to shut down (giving you an option to cancel)?
Maybe you bumped the power button, or if you made any changes to the startup disk it wanted to know if you wanted to reboot.
If it forced you to reboot, then it was a kernel panic (very rare, only occurs if something was wrong with the computer, such as bad RAM or wireless card popping loose).

[kyrospeare]

i clicked on the startup disk, then a black shaded screen came up and told me to shutdown by pressing and hold the power button.
Why is there a question mark on the startup disk?

[d00d]

The question mark on the Startup Disk icon simply indicates that you can choose what disk to start up from. It doesn't indicate anything.
As for the shutdown box you just experienced, it was a kernel panic. Do a search of the forums for more information.

[Praxis]

Did it look like this?
http://www0.info.app...27/106227_3.jpg
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Praxis]

Have you recently added RAM to your computer?
How about a video card or wireless card? (what kind of Mac is it?)
I suggest you use the Apple hardware test CD...also run Permissions Repair (run Disk Utility in the Applications folder).

[kyrospeare]

it looked exactly like that /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Was it a kernel panic? I am barely running anything at all. How do I find out what happened? I did a kernel panic search, but those documents are way to advanced for me right now...I need to start with what a kernel panic is...lol
Thanks.

[kyrospeare]

i added a wireless card a few days ago...but this is the first time that happened....ibook

[Praxis]

A Kernel Panic is basicly a crash caused by hardware troubles.
The only time I ever had kernel panics was when my wireless card popped halfway out of place in my PowerBook.
It can also happen due to bad RAM...or something screwed up on the hard drive (do a permissions repair), though RAM or wireless is the most common.

[kyrospeare]

was that image you showed me a kernel panic? How do I do a persmissions repair?

[Praxis]

Go to Applications, go to the Utilities folder, and open Disk Utility.
Select the hard drive, and press Verify Permissions. When that is done, Repair Permissions.
Do this every month for the best performance out of your Mac. Takes about 4 minutes.
Anyway, Kernel Panics are very rare...I've had several, but they were all in the same day when my wireless card popped out, and not counting then, I've never had a kernel panic on the PowerBook.
Most mac users I know have never seen a Kernel Panic before.

[kyrospeare]

So that black screen was a kernel panic?
Does anyone know why that might have happened? This screen came up when i clicked on the startup disk in the system preference window. I then had to shutdown and restart. This ibook is brand new, 3 days old...I installed a wireless card on the first day I got it, but today was the only time that screen appeared. Why? The only other thing I did, was turn on the firewall in the sharing folder. I have been clicking on the startup disk icon numerous times since it happened just to see if I can recreate what happened, but nothing, happens it works fine everytime. I really hope someone can help me figure out what caused this screen to pop up and make me turn off my computer. Thanks.
BTW my wireless network works fine. No Errors. strong signal etc
Thanks.

[Grant_G]

It is never necessary to "verify permissions." Just go ahead and repair the things. As you said, it's something you should do at reasonable intervals anyway. In my case, I don't go by a time schedule, but rather by an activity schedule. Did I install anything today? I'd better repair permissions.

G

Before all the Unix geeks explode, that comment is intended for "the rest of us." The ones who wouldn't know how to manually alter a permission if our life depended on it. But it's become fairly common knowledge that installing or updating an application can cause permissions problems, so it's a fair bet that repairing them (not verifying them) is needed.

[Praxis]

Well, if it doesn' thappen again, assume the permissions repair fixed it.
If the kernel panic happens again, tell us.