macbook pro - blinking folder with question mark

My Problem

my buddies MacBook Pro would turn on, but go straight to a folder with a question mark. it also seem to be heating up really fast, so I thought maybe the heat was causing the issue. the main reason I was believing that, was because when I cooled down the the MacBook, it would start to load OS, but then once it reaches a certain temperature it would freeze and stop loading. I was finally able to troubleshoot that out by noticing that the third time I cooled it down it stopped loading the OS and went straight to the folder with the question mark. same with the fourth and fifth time, which confirms that it was the hard drive cable that was failing.

My Fix

swapped out the cable, turned it on, worked first try.

My Advice

troubleshooting saved me time, which resulted in me making money and a good customer review. I was able to test enough, that when I ordered that part, I was 95% sure it was going to work. Test as much as you can on your own and read all you can so you can filter through all possibilities and be able to land on one if possible.