Flashing question mark, nothing works

My macbookpro mid 2010 with Intel core 2 duo, 3MB processor, extended Memory (4x4), with MacOSX Lion was working just fine yesterday, today when I turned it on the flashing question mark appered instead of the apple and it does the start up sound but it doesn't initiate.
1º I tried the Startup Manager it shownd a lock and a space to type what I believe is my password, but it doesn't recoganise my password (I'm really sure that I'm wrighting correctly).
2º I tried the disk utility (pressing r key) but it just go to the flashing question mark, I even tried with the cd (pressing c key) but it just go to the flashing question mark again.
3º I then tried the PRAM reset, and nothing changes, actually I never heard the second initialization sound even though I pressed all the buttons for 5 minites.
4º Tried the SMC reset and no change
5º Tried the Safe Mode but the loading bar never appeared
6º After all this I was just really scared for my hard disc, so I took it off and install it in other computer just to see if it was working. And it is. But the other computer hard disc doesn't initiate in my computer.
So I ask you what happend, and what should I do?

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
Insert the Mac OS X DVD that came with the MacBook, press D key while your Mac is starting and run an extended test. It looks like the logic board is damaged, so take the Mac to an Apple Store

Similar Messages

TS1440 A flashing question mark appeared when I started my MacBook Pro, I've tried all the suggestions and nothing has worked. How can I back up my current files so I can reinstall Mavericks?

I recently did a manual reboot after my MacBook Pro had frozen, and instead of the usual Apple and loading icon, it gave me the flashing question mark on a folder, which I've never encountered before. I looked up some possible reasons on my PC, and after reading that there's a problem with my HD I tried looking up how to back up my files so that I can do a clean reinstall of Yosemite (latest ver.). However, I've never used anything like Time Machine or anything else that could back up all my files, so it didn't sound like I could do anything about that at this point. I've also tried going into Disk Utility and attempting to repair the disk image. There was only 2 available, disk0 and the base system. I verified the base system, and told me there was nothing wrong (it didn't give me the option to repair anything either, on both available options). I don't think this is the right thing though, since my drive was called MacBook Pro HD. So basically this is the point I'm at now. Is there anything I can do that will repair my HD without erasing all my files?

I've tried all the suggestions and nothing has worked.
I verified the base system, and told me there was nothing wrong
Hold the option key on boot to see if you can select your Macintosh HD.
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support
You can boot into Recovery and re-install the OS X on top of what you have. It will preserve your user data.
command R on boot.
Recovery http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

Imac displays flashing question mark and nothing works

Hey everyone, my just the other day i turned off my imac (when it still was working normally) and the day after i turned it back on but all it does is showing me a flashing question mark!
This is what i've tried so far to fix this:
- Hold down option at startup with a snow leopard retail disk in it, nothing appears except the mouse cursor.
- hold down c at startup, nothing happens
- Reset NVRAM
- Hold t at startup, nothing happens
- Hold shift at startup, nothing happens
- Hold command-v at startup, nothing happens
- Hold command-s at startup, nothing happens
How can i fix this?? please help me because i'm going crazy!
Greetz, rutger

Hi, a few days ago I had the same flashing question mark. I had just emptied my trash in iPhoto for the first time, (a few thousand pics), and was browsing in the main photo library when suddenly everything just froze. I left it for awhile, came back and nothing had changed. I switched off using the power button, and when switching on again, the flashing question mark appeared. None of my attempts to reboot worked as it appeared there was no drive to be found.
I have to add that iPhoto would often just quit for apparently no reason, and unexpectedly, having 'encountered a problem'.
I have now been told that my HD is dead, (my iMac only 8 months old), and that i wont be able to retrieve any data (20000 photos that stupidly I hadnt backed up!)
I had too much faith in this product, having only recently converted from Windows, (which was always backed up!), and now feel very disapointed and let down....... this has been a very costly lesson,and one I wont repeat!!
good luck, and I hope you are backed up!
rubeyc

Flashing Question Mark Folder Everything I Am Trying is Not Working!

A few days ago my iMac gave me the "pinwheel of death" so I cold shutdown and rebooted. I heard the chime and then I got this flashing folder with a question mark on it. I quickly jumped on my Macbook pro and researched what it meant. I tried booting while holding the option key and would get a blank white screen with a mouse pointer and nothing else. I tried resetting my PRAM and still nothing! Then I saw someone say to restart my iMac while holding down R to start into disk utility. It worked! I went through the repair disk process and it said there was nothing to repair. I then repaired disk permissions, and bingo it had to repair a few different things that needed to be repaired. Once the repair process finished I rebooted to my main drive and everything worked fine. That night I shutdown my computer and the next morning I got the flashing folder again. This time however, after shutting down and rebooting everything worked fine. Now today my iMac froze and I cold shutdown and rebooted. I got the flashing folder and question mark again. This time nothing is responding. I tried rebooting while holding the option key, tried booting into disk utility and still nothing. The only thing that the iMac will recognize is when I reboot while holding the 'option' key and put in the Mac OS X Lion install disc It lets me click that disc and it starts the install cycle... I really don't want to do this as it would wipe everything on the drive and I do not have a lot of documents backed up. What do I do? Am I screwed? Help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks much!

I think the HD has crashed. Run Apple Hardware Test in Extended Mode at least 3x back to back. If it reports errors, next step is your local Apple Store or AASP. Also carefully read and apply Apple's advice in Flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac. If you had been backing up it would have been a simple matter of replacing the HD, restoring from the backup and you're back up and running. Considering you said you don't back up you're about to learn a very painful lesson on why backing up isn't something you should do it's something you MUST do.
Good luck and sorry for the bad news.

Flashing Question mark: New hard drive not working Macbook Pro late 2008

After following several peoples advice on this forum I decided to upgrade my Macbook Pro late 2008 with a Seagate (1TB) Solid State Hybrid Drive 2.5 inch.
Heres the device.
http://www.morecomputers.com/spec.aspx?pn=ST1000LM014
After creating a mountable boot on a External hard drive with Mavericks install I removed the current hard drive and replaced with the new seagate drive. However it didn't seem to recognize the external hard drive (it is quite old but works perfectly) and went to a flashing grey question mark screen and wouldnt do anything else. Ive tried holding down command-r and option-r but I get nothing. Its just the same flashing question mark. I have done this several times and the same result.
I put the old drive back in and it works fine.
I am trying to work out is the problem with the mountable external hard drive OR is it the hard drive is not compatible with my computer?
Appreciate your help
Gary

Sorry I think you may be confused.
I am trying to install the new Seagate hard drive to my mac (not as an external hard drive).
I replace the macbook pro hard drive with the seagate drive:
http://www.morecomputers.com/spec.aspx?pn=ST1000LM014
I then started up the machine with a usb external hard drive with a boot copy of mavericks on it. However, it just displayed a flashing question mark and wouldnt start booting the osx.
I am trying to work out is the problem with the mountable external hard drive OR is it the hard drive is not compatible with my computer? Im guessing it must be hard drive. Would it be better to use a USB pen drive as the external hard drive is quite old?
Does anyone know what the problem could be as the hard drive is brand new.
Appreciate your help
Thanks, Gary

HELP PLEASE-- flashing question mark on startup, none of remedies working

I'm using my Powerbook one night, everything is working fine. I wake up, go to use it and I get the spinning color wheel; tried to close an application by force quit and I get no response, so I restart using the power button, and the flashing question mark / mac OS icon pops up.
I immediately did some research on what to do; I put the OS cd in, tried restarting holding the C key and later the X key; nothing. Tried resetting PRAM, didn’t solve the problem. Tried holding command-S to check disk/repair, didn’t work. I then held the option key to choose the location to boot off: and neither the HD nor cd showed up: just the circular arrow to re-scan, and the straight arrow to enter the selection.
I have 2 install discs: I'm not sure if they are the same or not; I may have put the wrong one in. So I tried to eject it and now it wont eject.
Firstly, how to eject the cd? I tried holding the eject button, F12, command + . , as well as the trackpad. I don’t see a place to put a pin or paperclip in like some cd drives have to force it open.
Secondly, what else can I try to get my computer working? I'm no expert, but it sounds like this might be a hardware problem aside from the HD, being that the computer is not recognizing neither HD nor cd. However, the cd I have is a copy of the OS disc I made, and it may or may not be the right install disc, or properly made copy.
How difficult is it to open up Powerbooks and replace the HD? I'd like to have it up and running as soon as possible, but most importantly I hope that my data is still safe. And no, unfortunately I hadn't backed up my data. Please advise.

Maybe the copy of that disk is not bootable. Do you have the original or can you get it?
Here's a faq to remove disks.
DALE

Flashing question mark or nothing on screen at startup

I have the iMac with the iSight built in. I can't tell ya what version I'm working with but if I remember correctly its Leopard..maybe v 4+. When I turn on my computer i hear the start up chime but either just a blank blue/grayish screen comes up and does nothing more than that...or a flashing question mark comes up. I did purchase the Care Plan when I bought it in December of 2007. Any suggestions as how to get to my desktop so I can try to run Disk Utility? Please help! I have never had any issues with any of my macs

I did purchase the Care Plan
Did you call Apple Care?
Leopard starts at 10.5 and ends at 10.5.8 After you get your computer repaired, go to About This Mac to find out which version of Leopard you have.
Mac OS X 10.5: Troubleshooting installation, startup, and login issues

Flashing folder with question mark - nothing else.. Help!

Hi,
I arrived in Peru from the UK and used 10 month old macbook (upgraded to leopard) in the airport - worked fine. Got it to the hotel - worked fine. Put it on to charge - worked fine. Then for some reason I brought it into office and the flashing question mark folder appeared. I have tried taking battery out, doing the discharge thing, I tried disconnecting, nothing worked. I do have a backup I made yesterday (thanks time machine!) BUT I don´t have a restore disk. It this the huge problem I fear it might be - obviously my copy of leopard is in the UK. Can anyone help?
Thanks

Tried all of these? The Verbose mode might tell you something that you can paste here.
Press Shift during startup Start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items.
Press Command-V during startup Start up in Verbose mode.
Press Command-S during startup Start up in Single-User mode.
Also, I might be out on a limb here but maybe it's possible to boot from the Time Machine backup? Press and hold Opt when booting and see if the disk appears as a bootable device.

HT1310 I have a macbook pro about 4 years old. I can't get it to open past the flashing question mark folder. However, I just tried to hold down the option key and the question mark disappeared. Still, nothing...the light is on the screen but nothing e

I have a 4 year old macbook pro and when I turn it on, the screen and fan come on but there is a flashing question mark folder that appears. Nothing beyond that point....help?

There is no installed OS or you have a dead hard drive. Start by booting from the original installer disc that came with the computer or an installer disc that has a later version than the original such as a Snow Leopard DVD. Then you can do this:
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

Mac Mini doesn't work:appair only a flashing question mark on the screen

I try to startup the Mac Mini but the only think that appair on the screen is a white page with in the middle a folder with a flashing question mark.
The Operative Sistem doesn't work:i wanted to try to inser into the CD of OS X and reinstall all but there is just a CD into the Mac but again with botton or with muose clicked ,the CD doens't go out.
Please Mac's users help me.
Bye. Alskarez
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4)

The flashing question mark means that the mini is not able to find a copy of MacOS to boot from, which is likely why you inserted the OS X disc.
If the disc that is stuck in the system is the original MacOS install disc that came with the mini, you should be able to boot to it by holding the C key down as the system is starting up. Some non-Apple or wireless keyboards don't allow starttup modifier keys to be used, but if yours is an Apple keyboard it certainly should. If it IS the original install disc in the system and the C key doesn't work, and you're left with the flashing question mark, it sounds like you may have a significant hardware fault which may have caused the mini to fail to see either optical or hard drives.
It may be that in that situation a PMU reset (for PPC minis) or an SMC reset (for Intel models) might restore operability, but if not, then you'll likely need the assistance of an Apple approved service provider.
To reset the PMU in a G4 mini:
- Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord.
- Wait 10 seconds.
- Plug in the power cord while simultaneously pressing and holding the power button on the back of the computer.
- Let go of the power button.
- Press the power button once more to start up your Mac mini.
To reset the SMC on an Intel mini:
-From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
-Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
-Wait at least 15 seconds.
-Plug the power cord back in, making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time.
-Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
-Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.

Flashing question mark folder- Mac Help instructions arent working

My computer froze yesterday and when I re-started it, it had the flashing question mark folder.
I tried all of these steps http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440
and these steps http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
I can't get anything to pop up upon start up other than the folder (ie when I hold down the C key with the Instal DVD in it thinks for a minute, spits out the DVD and the folder comes back).
If anyone has any ideas I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm even fine with erasing my hard drive if need be, I just want to get the computer back up and running.

You can go no further unless you're able to boot from your installation DVD. If your machine came with Snow Leopard installed, that would be the gray disc that was in the box. If you upgraded to Snow Leopard, then it would be the retail disc you used to upgrade. No other disc will work.
With the machine powered on, insert the disc. Hold down the power button until it shuts off. Press the power button again to turn it back on, then immediately hold down the C key. Keep holding until you see the Apple logo on the display.
If this procedure doesn't work for you, and you've done everything you say you've done, then you have either a hardware fault or a damaged disc.

Flashing question mark on start up -Pram reset worked now it's back and pram doesn't work

So the other half has crashed my mid 2012 macbook pro twice in two days (watching youtube). First time I managed to get passed the flashing question mark folder icon using pram reset now this doesn't work and it just goes to that icon. Hard drive is missing in. utility so can't whipe that either
any suggestions on what has failed, it's only 1.5 years old so I'm really disappointed

A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by one or more of these:
a. Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
b. Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
c. Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
d. The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Note that the information I have provided is what Apple recommends, If other users suggest different solutions than found here, then be sure what they recommend does not impact on your warranty, if any, or ability to get continuing Apple service.
Please don't start removing drives or changing cables unless you know what you are doing and have exhausted other non-invasive alternatives outlined here. If you perform any work yourself that is unapproved by Apple, then you will void any warranty you may have and lose all further Apple Support.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD. Simply boot from the Recovery HD to perform the above.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Flashing Question Mark At Start Up/ Disk Utility Not Working

I am having the old flashing question mark in a file show up when I try to start my computer. I went through a lot of the forums and I have attempted the Disk Utility. When I put the 10.3 install disk in and restart it takes me to the opening screen. If go to disk utility and start it and I have three options: 734.6 MB Pioneer DVD, Session 1, and Mac OSX Install Disk all with a CD icon by them. Not sure which one to pick. Even when I select any though, it does not give me the option to push the repair disk button. It is never available. Anyone know what to do here?

Exactly this happened to me two weeks ago. Unfortunately in my case it was a result of hard disk failure - my heads had burnt out and I had total data loss (I was fortunately backed up recently).
I would suggest taking your mac to a reputable computer firm, preferably Apple who can diagnose hard disk failure immediately. If that is the case you will need a replacement HD, which might be a good opportunity to expand HD size on your system (prices are always coming down; I took the opportunity to go from 60 to 120GB, for £140).
If you are not backed up and ABSOLUTELY NEED YOUR DATA then do NOT give your machine to Apple there and then however; despite assurances, you may never see your HD again, and at any rate once it has been removed it should be handled extremely carefully to prevent platter damage and compromising future data retrieval. It may not be treated with proper respect whilst a replacement is being fitted. Therefore take it to a data retrieval specialist first, who may also replace the HD for you anyway, at similar or lower cost. The cost of data retrieval is very variable but is generally about £500 if an 'invasive procedure' (HD repair) is necessary.
I hope this isn't your situation, but as I say these were exactly the symptoms of my HD failure 2 weeks ago.
Fulvio

Flashing Question Mark & Sad Apple Logo

I had my Mac for quite some time and everything seem to be going well until yesterday, when I pressed the power key all it showed was a white screen and the apple logo, I had called Tech and they said i was out of warrenty, but informed me that it would best to load the Mac OS X cd when I loaded and reached the select a destination part I saw my hard drive with an explanation point. she stated this was bad and that i would need to compeltely whipe the hard drive which didnt bother me. I went to Disk Utilities and chose my hards drive clicked options and choose to zero all data, also clicked download OS 9 drives. After waiting for about an hr it was completed, and i gave it a volume and went on with the installation i choose the volume and all seemed well. yet, after the computer rebooted and all i saw was a Flashing Question Mark & Sad Apple Logo. not quite sure what this means but checked other threads and followed some of the advised given to repair this, yet for me it doesn't work, as of now i tried erasing all data again but now it seems i can't set a volume. Not 100% percent sure which OS cd i have i will double check and reply later, I have a powerbook G4. any help would be great.
Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Hi Richard,
I was hoping you'd respond Thanks to the link to S.M.A.R.T reporter, but things have deteriorated since my last post and now it won't boot up at all.
I hit the power button, hear the start-up chime, then nothing but eerie silence and a gray screen.
The lack of noise usually created by a HD spinning up should be obvious that this is indeed a hard drive issue, but I want to make sure I can sound intelligent when throw myself at the guy who replaced the drive.
I tried booting from a 10.3 install cd (holding down 'c' at startup) to run Disc Utility but it won't even do that. I can hear the cd-rom spinning, reading the disc, but after a while it just gives up. In fact, I think if I listen hard enough, I can hear the faintest sound of mocking laughter....
Is this painfully, obviously, a hard drive gone bad?
It's not the end of the world, just very aggravating.

My Late 2013 iMac with Yosemite 10.10.2 randomly shuts down and displays a grey screen with a flashing question mark folder. According to Disk Utility, my drive is OK. What should I do?

I've had this problem for a while and I thought it went away. I've looked at all of the other discussions and tried what they suggest, nothing. I preferably don't want to erase everything on here. Is there a way to fix it without having to do that? I also noticed that other people have the screen when they first boot their computer. Mine are in the middle of a college essay or browsing online. I would really like to fix this issue. I haven't even had my iMac for a year yet. Any suggestions?

Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by one or more of these:
a. Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
b. Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
c. Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
d. The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Note that the information I have provided is what Apple recommends, If other users suggest different solutions than found here, then be sure what they recommend does not impact on your warranty, if any, or ability to get continuing Apple service.
Please don't start removing drives or changing cables unless you know what you are doing and have exhausted other non-invasive alternatives outlined here. If you perform any work yourself that is unapproved by Apple, then you will void any warranty you may have and lose all further Apple Support.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD. Simply boot from the Recovery HD to perform the above.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Flashing question mark, nothing works

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