Another possibility with this model is that the hard drive cable wraps under the logic board and plugs in on the underside, and it's a small plug that does not stay seated well, and there's no surface around it which would allow for it to be taped down successfully, so it often has a tendency to come loose when the laptop is bumped, causing the frustration you describe. Sometimes if it's just loose you can clamp the laptop and apply pressure where the plug is, encouraging the contacts to connect without having to open it up.
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Another possibility with this model is the fact that the hard drive cable wraps under the logic board and plugs in on the underside, and it's a small plug that does not stay seated well, and there's no surface around it which would allow for it to be taped down successfully, so it often has a tendency to come loose when the laptop is bumped, causing the frustration you describe. Sometimes if it's just loose you can clamp the laptop and apply pressure where the plug is, encouraging the contacts to connect without having to open it up.
I have a pile of 1.33GHZ versions of this model that I am reluctant to sell because they seem to always come back with this issue. If anyone has a solution to the cable coming loose, or if anyone has found a way of successfully securing the hard drive plug to the bottom of the machine, I'd be very interested to hear it. I'm tempted to try using a hot glue gun or something similar, since there's really no way to tape it down with any success.
Another possibility with this model is that the hard drive cable wraps under the logic board and plugs in on the underside, and it's a small plug that does not stay seated well, and there's no surface around it which would allow for it to be taped down successfully, so it often has a tendency to come loose when the laptop is bumped, causing the frustration you describe. Sometimes if it's just loose you can clamp the laptop and apply pressure where the plug is, encouraging the contacts to connect without having to open it up.
I have a pile of 1.33GHZ versions of this model that I am reluctant to sell because they seem to always come back with this issue. If anyone has a solution to the cable coming loose, or if anyone has found a way of successfully securing the hard drive plug to the bottom of the machine, I'd be very interested to hear it. I'm tempted to try using a hot glue gun or something similar, since there's really no way to tape it down with any success.