Re: "the usual stuff"

Yea, I tried all of that already, though my post didn't quite communicate that in english! (it was the "Cable and related everything is..." part)

The cable and connectors are all fine, and the boot log doesn't show anything else out of the ordinary.

I don't mind replacing the hard drive -- I think it's the longest I've ever had one in service -- but hey, if there's some way to fix it then I'm all for it.