Look at page 25 of the Instruction Manual for an explanation of the information displayed in the Viewfinder.
The "9" is the maximum burst, or how many photos the camera can crank out in continous shooting mode. This value can change, depending other camera settings. See page 85 in your instruction manual. Many settings cause the maximum burst rate to decrease. It only displays as a single digit. Any rate above 9 will display as 9.
The blinking round indicator is an indication of the state of the Auto Focus system. The blinking state indicates that the focus has not locked. Some camera settings can prevent the camera from taking a picture if focus is not locked.
What would cause focus not to lock? Aside from a malfunction, there are a couple of possiblities. Too high of an f/stop value [over f/8] can cause focus not to lock in. Not enough light can cause focus lock to fail, too. Being too close to the subject, not observing the minimum focus distance of the lens you're using, can also cause focus to fail.
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