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The drive in the system made a rattling noise when moved around so I bought a replacement drive, same result.

This is normal. Most of them rattle. It's how they're designed.

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I bought a replacement cable from Eutronix, same again.

Not a bad cable which rules that out.

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Tested the contacts from the MB to the pins, seems good, tested the cable, all leads work.

The IDE header on the motherboard can have hairline cracks which you can't see and may test okay until there is vibration or movement.

Post a boot log? The instructions are in the FAQ which is linked at the top of this page.