Chosen Solution
Ok, ive been working at this for a while… I have tried everything, including taking the thing apart…pram, starting from system CD etc. Symptoms: i hear the chime every time, takes a while, but i get the folder and ?. Occasionally it will startup properly. I use disk utility and it says the hard drive is fine. I took it apart to see if there was a loose connection or something, and everything appears fine. I also put the original memory back in to see if it had something to do with that. Nope. I boot off the system and the drive doesn’t show up at all. Wait a bit, try again, boot off CD and the hard drive shows up. Run disk first aid and it does not report any problems.
Get your data backed up ASAP. Your hard drive is failing and you may only get one shot at the backup, if that.
Try to find yourself an ASD (Apple Service Diagnostic) disc for that model. (ASD 3S108) I think you might look here.
