[balboa]

I replaced the optical drive in a 15" 700mhz Flat Panel iMac in my school lab to upgrade to a superdrive. After replacing the optical drive the hard drive mounted for a couple of days and no longer showers up. I opened it up and checked connections. No luck. I relace the drive. No luck. I place the original drive in a G4 and it mounted so the hard drive is good. I zapped the pram, reset the firmaware and it was no help. I was succesful upgrading the optical drive in two other flat panel iMacs. Anything else I should try?

[DMBand0026]

When you try to power up do you hear the HDD spin up or not? It could just be a bad power cable in the iMac. Next up I would have to say would be the IDE cable. If it's a bad cable, you can have the drive spinning and working perfectly (as may be the case) but you won't get any data. The connections may be good, but the cord may be bad.

[balboa]

Ok, the drive was humming. I tried removing the optical drive and used the ribbon for the hard drive and it worked. So now I need to replace the gray data ribbon. Where should I get one?

[DMBand0026]

Glad that helped, and that you don't have to get a new hard drive

I'd imagine you can pick one up at any local computer store. I'm not sure where you live but if you live in the United States I'd first check at New Egg. I believe Tiger Direct ships outside the US, but I'm not 100% sure.

If you're not in the US, go to any computer store (or even some office supply stores) and ask for an IDE cable. One can be had for less than $10 US. At NewEgg they're only $4 US.

Good luck

[balboa]

Ok, maybe I am missing something. I got the new ribbon and now either drive doesn't show up. I also replaced the PRAM battery while I was in there. This is a difficult puppy to take apart. Next I am going to try the original ribbon in a G4 and see it the two Hard drives I have in there show up. Is ther a reset button or something on this motherboard?