My Problem
So I was at work one day and my computer froze suddenly, I figured I'd just do a hard reset. This was a strange thing considering that it never freezes. To my dismay, when the computer turned back on I got the flashing question mark folder, a sure sign of death. After a couple of trips to the Apple Store, with the help of a Genius Bar employee, we were able to determine that the cable that connects the hard drive to the main logic board was the culprit, which is good to know considering I haven't done a backup in a few months. I've used iFixit in the past to help me changed both a hard drive and memory, so I decided to order parts and tools from them to try and avoid having to spend $1300 on a new computer.
My Fix
Thanks to the visual guides of iFixit, I was able to very quickly and easily remove the old cable and replace it with the new one. I bought a used cable from iFixit, trusting their tested used parts. Once the repair was finished and I turned the computer back on, to my (pleasant) surprise, the computer was more responsive than ever. The repair couldn't have been any easier, and I couldn't be any more pleased with the results.
My Advice
Make sure if you have this problem, the first step you take is to speak to competent individual at the Apple Store. Before you even do that, if you are fortunate enough to have another Mac at home, I would purchase a USB to SATA adapter, (I got one for like $13 at Tiger Direct) and use the Disk Utility on the other Mac to make sure the hard drive is still good. Once you've done that, start the computer using the second DVD that your MacBook Pro came with (if you still have it) and hold D as it starts, then run the hardware test to rule out a bad logic board. After all this, then you should take it to the Apple Store to confirm that the cable is bad. I'd then recommend ordering all the necessary parts from iFixit! Good luck!
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