RT USB Format suddenly not finding Hard Drive

Question

For a remote desktop RT PC running LabVIEW RT 8.6, I had tested 8 different motherboards in an attempt to get LabVIEW Real-Time
(Pharlap) to recognize an RT desktop’s SATA hard-drive and network card.  We had
finally found a single motherboard that allowed LabVIEW Real-time to recognize
and format the SATA hard drive to run pharlap.
Unfortunately, that ASUS motherboard
has been discontinued, so we had to hunt once again for motherboards
that would run correctly with LabVIEW Real-Time.  After some effort, we did find
another motherboard which allowed the USB format utility to format the SATA
drive and successfully boot the RT pharlap environment.  Upon this success, our
company proceeded to order a large number of these new motherboards in case they
too became discontinued.  However, the very same motherboard which operated
correctly 2 weeks ago can no longer see the SATA hard drive through LabVIEW
real-time, even though the BIOS correctly recognizes the hard
drive.
I find it particularly bizarre
because the hard drive does actually boot to LabVIEW Real-time on its own, but
upon booting via the hard drive, Pharlap states “Error booting hard drive
program,” and proceeds to run in safe mode *on the very same hard drive*.  Any attempts
to reformat this drive via the 8.5.1 or 8.6 usb utility now result in “Unable to
detect ATA/SATA hard drive” even though the very same usb, hard drive, and
motherboard worked correctly in re-formatting, installing, and running remote VIs 2 weeks ago.
If you could please provide any
insight into this madness, it would be greatly appreciated.  For reference, we
had previously used the ASUS P5K motherboard (which is now discontinued) and are
now experiencing our mixed success/failure on the Foxconn G33M motherboard. Both
of these motherboards use the ICH9 chipset that is AHCI and IDE compatibility
capable, which is a requirement for desktop RTs.

Answer 1

I've tried multiple hard drives that were full formatted to FAT16 and FAT32 in Windows XP and got the same result.
During the two week period, the motherboard had been removed from its case and sat on my desk with anti-static covers draped over and under it.  I've been trying the motherboard without a case ever since, as that would confound issues further.
To make matters worse, I've been trying new motherboards with the ICH10 and ICH10R southbridge chipsets (AHCI and legacy IDE compatible), and the USB format utility freezes at "Transferring control to user program," so I can't even get to attempting a hard drive format there.  I've tried changing the USB settings to Legacy as suggested in the NI literature and even unplugging the hard drives entirely, as the other motherboard still boots to the USB without a hard drive present, and it still hangs at the same place before the utility loads.
I've gone through every possible iteration of BIOS settings (especially the IDE ones) on every motherboard I've tried.  Ever since the ICH8 chipset, I've never managed to get an actual PATA (IDE) drive to work either.
Here is a list of motherboards we've tried that didn't work due to either the USB utility hanging or the hard drive not being seen:
Intel DG33BU
TYAN S5220AG2NR
ASUS P5E-VM DO
ASUS P5N-MX
ABIT IP35 Pro
SuperMicro C2SBA
ASUS P5Q
MSI P45 Neo
The ASUS P5K worked but is discontinued, and the Foxconn G33M is the one that worked 2 weeks ago but doesn't now.