hi everyone. im a brand new user/poster on the board but i have tried to lurk here for a while to understand where everyone is coming from and also get used to the empeg so i dont come on asking dumb questions and just annoying people or getting reverted to the FAQ. now however i really have to post a question so ive registered and all that jazz.

ive had the empeg since mid february 2002, bought from www.carplayer.com with a 10gb hdd in it. it was working flawlessly till recently, a few days ago i pulled the unit from my car and stuck it in my room awaiting a 30gb drive to be added. yes, fujitsu. i didnt get around to it and it was left in my room a few days. tried to get it up and running - No Hard Disk Found. panicked, but i remember reading similar problems on the board, and people talking about fujitsu drives and cold temperatures. ok, checked temp - 28C. blasted it with the heater for a bit, till it reached 36C - worked. was fine.

cut to 3 days ago. finally took the unit apart, found out the original drive was the good old IBM Travelstar 10gb. so much for the conspiracy theory (i think others also have had similar errors with the IBM's now?) ok, added new drive, formatted it, fitted jumper for slave setting, reconnected everything - No Hard Disk found. hmm. checked temp - ok, 26C again. blasted with heater till past 38C - still no go. ripped everything out, checked all cables, still nothing. tried just the IBM back in its default config - it worked! ok, just the fujitsu by itself - also worked!! both drives back in... no go!! just when i decided i knew what was happening, it booted. with both attached. sync'd it with emplode - reported 38gb capacity, 28gb free, etc etc. all good! played a few songs (for about an hour) - great. ok, pulled power out, reattached immediately after pulling it out - No Hard disk. F_!(@#*. rip it all out again. checked all the pins...


anyway you get the idea. i have no idea what is causing this problem for me.

-i am using the IBM Travelstar 10gb, and a new fujitsu 30gb, model MHN2300 or something (full details at home)
-i have never gotten the "failed to unmask IDE" message.
it has been running 2.0b7 till b11 came out, and has been fine with 2.0b11 for ages now.
-has had hijack 251 in there for 2 weeks now? was running hijack from day 1 too, updating regularly.
-have tried on AC and DC power. my AC adapter was 110V, unusable by me as i am in 220V land, so i have always hooked it up to my bench power supply - 14V at 5 amps, more than enough current - still no go.
-used hijack to force AC or DC modes - no go.
-used hijack reboot feature about 10,000 times - no go.
-as mentioned, heating it also no effect
-fiddled with the ide cable for 3 years, pushing it all the way in, only half way, 1/3 in, 3/4 in, blah blah. no go.

the unit decides for itself when it comes on and when it doesnt. in the car this morning it booted and played perfectly for 40 mins on my way into town. got there, pulled it out, pushed it back into the cage immediately - no hard disk. pulled it out and pushed it in another 25 times - no go. even got to the point of me pulling it out, tapping it, shaking it, putting it back - no go.

someone please help me. please.