Is there any way for me to verify that the IDE header or hardware is bad? The problem is that this is happening sporadically. I brought the unit inside to let it run in my office and it has been playing 5000 songs since I started it in here. (shrug)??

Are there any diagnostic tools I can use to confirm the hardware is having a problem?

I can certainly try to wipe the drives and resync all my MP3's in, just to try to eliminate this possibility...