Chosen Solution
I’m on Snow Leopard 10.6.8. When I boot up in Safe Mode, Recovery Mode, or regular boot all I get is a grey screen after the Apple logo. Any suggestions?
Sounds like you might have the dreaded graphics failure that many of the 2011 15" and 17" MacBook Pros got. Unfortunately, there isn’t a good permanent fix besides replacing the soldered on graphics card, which might not be worth it depending on the cost. Some people have had luck with heating up the graphics cards on these, but it is not a recommended of permanent fix.