If it's a new player, it won't have 2.0 on it so it won't have the drive message, I suspect. If you've got the ability to swap the entire player out with a good one, that's probably the best method. The hard drives are definitly the most likely thing to go bad, so you're on the right track. If you want to get it repaired under waranty, act fast, as support (aka "David") is taking some time off for christmas.

Matthew