Late 2007 MacBook White Will Not Update After Installation of 10.6 Snow Leopard

Question

I'm wondering if anyone can help me with this problem and hopefully diagnosis it as a non-motherboard or logic board issue.
Had 10.7.8 installed successfully for 4-6 months, upgraded from 10.6.8, the end of Snow Leopard.
Had to force shut down computer after external hd wouldn't eject.  After restarting, computer never restarted (was stuck on Apple/spinning wheel).
I have tried everything, PRAM reset, SMC reset, hard reset (battery out, power button 5-10 seconds), recovery mode reinstall of Lion, reinstall of Snow Leopard pre-hd format, zero hd format + reinstall of snow leopard, reinstall of original install disk 10.5 to failed software update.
I've literally tried everything.  I'm able to reinstall base OS' but not update to recent versions either 10.5.8 or 10.6.8 to upgrade back up to 10.7.5 Lion.
Oh, and don't tell me to do a D at start up for a hardware test, it came back with nothing wrong, and my 500gb western digital hd (1 month old) has been verified and seems to be ok and repaired permissions which there were a lot but still seemed to be ok after.
Anyone have any advice?  Motherboards are around 400$ from MacMall.
It'd be great not to have to throw this thing away as it's still a solid work/office computer.
Or should I just stick to 10.6 base Snow Leopard?
Thanks everyone!
Chase

Answer 1

OK, now you need to update it to 10.6.8: Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Sign into the App Store with the Apple ID you used to purchase Lion. Click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. Look for your Lion purchase in the list and click on the Download/Install button.
I suggest for the future you read this:
Make Your Own Mountain/Lion Installer
1. After downloading Mountain/Lion you must first save the Install Mac OS X Mountain/
    Lion application. After Mountain/Lion downloads DO NOT click on the Install button.
    Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the Mountain/Lion installer. Move
    the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You
    must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes
    installing.
2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
  a. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
  b. After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left
      side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
  c. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one.     
      Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the
      partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until
      the process has completed.
  d. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side
      list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
  e. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the
      button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
  f. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash
     drive size.
3. Locate the saved Mountain/Lion installer in your Downloads folder. CTRL- or RIGHT-click on the installer and select Show Package Contents from the contextual menu. Double-click on the Contents folder to open it. Double-click on the SharedSupport folder. In this folder you will see a disc image named InstallESD.dmg.
4. Plug in your freshly prepared USB flash drive. You are going to clone the content of the InstallESD.dmg disc image to the flash drive as follows:
  a. Double-click on the InstallESD.dmg file to mount it on your Desktop.
  b. Open Disk Utility.
  c. Select the USB flash drive from the left side list.
  d. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
  e. Select the USB flash drive volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
  f. Drag the mounted disc icon from the Desktop into the Source entry field.
  g. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
When the clone is completed you have a fully bootable installer that you can use without having to re-download Mountain/Lion.
Note: The term Mountain/Lion used above means Lion or Mountain Lion.
As an alternative to the above (you still have to do your own download of Lion/Mountain Lion) you can try using Lion DiskMaker 2.0 that automates the process of Steps 2 through 4.