Quote Originally Posted by MecaKane
Samuraid: Do you mean a whole new motherboard or just a replacement IDE chanel? Could I permanently leave the HD connected through one of the other drive's?
Yeah, I was suggesting that you disconnect one of the working CD/DVD drives and plug the HDD into its place (you may have to set the jumpers correctly on the HDD) and see if it works. If it does, then your first IDE channel may be bad. Since the IDE controller is often integrated into the southbridge on the motherboard, you would probably have to replace the motherboard or purchase an IDE controller PCI card (probably the more cost effective solution).

Oh, and you may want to check the jumpers on the HDDs in their current configuration to make sure they are correctly set.