I think you may be right. [it's worth noting I had removed and replaced (i.e. reseated) everything way prior to this so if there's a connectivity issue it's deeper or more latent.] One of the HD ribbons partially recognized one drive. The other didn't recognize either. I washed one and now it doesn't seem to do anything. How do I possibly find a compatible cable...? [is it a semi-standard interface?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-PowerBook-G4-A1139-IDE-Hard-Drive-Connector-Cable-821-0393-A-632-0358-01-/131269505354/ http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-PowerBook-G4-A1010-Hard-Drive-Connector-Cable-632-0178-A-/161632541772]
As for the trackpad. I was expressing astonishment that it sometimes worked with the ADB mouse. It very infrequently works without but I get the impression there's a disconnect between port connectivity and the controller. To wit, when I seat it very firmly, it freezes both the external mouse and trackpad. When it worked intermittently I think it wasn't seated as well. I've tried this with two trackpads and my 5300's trackpad [i don't know if it worked]. So I think it may be an issue with the port.
The CD drive I don't know. I took it apart fully and found white gunk which I choose to believe was mayonnaise or moisturizer or something. I cleaned it and reassembled and now it seems to work even less [but this may also be a power issue; I don't know]. There's a great tutorial out there on rebuilding the 1400's modules. But it also says replacing the 3400 CD module is probably impossible. So that may just be a bust because I doubt I'll find a cheap one.
PCMCIA to CF adapter's in the mail; the Cardbus one I have is only Windows-compatible. The PCMCIA eject board also broke apart so I'll have to try and resolder it. But that was one thought - that I could probably get away with using a Cardbus USB card [been in the mail for weeks...] and a PCMCIA>CF SSD (essentially) assuming that my or any USB wifi dongles will work with OS 9 [none work, it turns out]. That also assumes I figure out how to fix the trackpad.
(Oh, per the IDE issue. Those two TI chips are bus transceivers. My concern over them is little white particulates between the pins. They likely control the IDE bus, so the cable might be a red herring.)
[sorry one last thought. I used both power boards today also and the effects were a bit different. The one I use less frequently couldn't even get to the flashing disk with the HD plugged in. I don't know enough about HDs power usage, but let's just say it seemed clear that some of the symptoms I'm getting may be power-based; so still waiting on the soldering iron.]