MBP hangs after login screen with Circle with line through it

Recently, my MBP (Model A1278, MB990LL/A) started doing the "folder with blinking question mark" at start up as if it couldn't find the startup disk.
I held Option at startup and chose the Macintosh HD that it found.  After selecting, it brings me to my username/login.  I type in the PW and hit enter and the screen turns gray and I see the Apple logo in the middle with spinning gear below it.  (All good so far, as this sequence is the same sequence as my other MBP).  After about 1min of gear spinning though, the Apple logo changes to a Circle with a line through it.  It never logs in and I never see the desktop.
Troubleshooting I've done:
1.  Pulled out the HDD, plugged it up to my OTHER MBP and ran Disk Utility on the whole drive.  Found no errors.
2.  Put the HDD in question in my OTHER MBP and booted into my user account just fine.  All the way to Desktop, no problems.
3.  Took my WORKING HDD from my OTHER MBP and put it in the MBP in question and tried to boot, did the same thing.  Circle with line after logging in.
4.  Tried to run Apple Hardware Test from boot cd by holding D but nothing happens.  Just gray screen to infinity.
5.  Replaced the trackpad from my OTHER MBP just for fun
Any ideas?  I'm usually pretty good at this stuff, but this one has me stumped.
Thank you!!!

No luck.  I can't do a Safe Reboot, nor can I reset the NVRAM/PRAM.  When I power on either 1 of 2 things happen.  A) Nothing, grey screen until folder with flashing question mark or B) When it decides to, it finds my HDD and goes to login screen but after entering pw and hitting submit, I get the Apple logo for a minute then replaces with a Circle w/ Line.
Can't hold Shift at reboot, can't hold c to boot from DVD (have to hold Option and choose DVD), can't hold D and boot the Apple Hardware Test DVD.  
Does anyone know of a way to reset the NVRAM/PRAM manually?  Is there a CMOS battery like on a windows PC or something similar that I can remove to reset?  Command+Option+P+R does not work, it reads that I've pressed Option and gives me the Startup Disk Manager screen to select a drive to boot from. 
Thanks

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