powerbook cannot see startup disk

C

case

Registered
Hi all.
this is my first time here and im in desperate need of help.

I have a Powerbook (900mhz) which cannot start due to the fact that it cannot "see" the startup disk.

One minute its on sleep - next minute when i wake it up, first it shows the grey semi-transparent box with different languages telling me to restart the machine.
And from that moment the machine is unable to recognize/find its own start up disk.

I have run the apple hardware disk - which says that everythings fine.
I have run diskwarrior 3.0.2 - which cannot see anything but itself to check
I have run the OSX 10.2 and 10.3 installer disk, started disk utility to see if i could mount the drive...
and yep same-o same-o; cant see a drive to check
I've even started up in single user mode (apple+s) - no joy; i just see a folder in the middle of the screen with the flashing question mark.
I tried starting with the alt key down - you see the refresh and arrow buttons and NOTHING ELSE

I Just dont know what else to do, i wouldnt call myself an expert in these things but ive tried everything i know.

Has anyone experienced this or anything like this?

Whats the worse case of "dropped drive" has anyone experienced.....and came out the other side on top.
 
Has anyone else experienced servere cases of a dropped drive, and got it working again?
I'd like to hear your experiences as to get a pool of information on this matter.
 
When you run the Apple Hardware Test Disc, you need to set it to "loop" the diagnostics. Let it loop 10 or 20 times... just because a component wasn't reported as being damaged the first time through doesn't mean that the component isn't damaged -- sometimes it'll only catch it on the fifth or sixth pass.
 
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