Startup disk disappear from the desktop

Well, without any reason, The startup disk is disappear from the desktop.
(Just only the startup disk)
I found this 2 times before, once on my 8 cores Mac Pro, once on my iMac G5.
I couldn't do anything to fix them, so I formatted and re-install OS.
with my iMac, it ran Tiger before, there's no problem until I changed to Leopard,
After about 2 weeks under the new Leopard,then the startup disk disappear from the desktop,
it shown the hidden status in disk utility and could not mount it,
So I formatted and back to install old Tiger.
Everything's fine. that's really good Operating system.
Bad luck, about 2 months ago, My iMac G5 had some problem with motherboard and the harddisk also damaged, I send it to Apple Thailand, They fixed it and send back with installed Leopard inside my new hard disk.(well... again)
Now after a few weeks. it happen again.
Startup disk disappear from the desktop.
This problem never exist on my Mac Pro, just with the iMac G5.
(Please don't tell me to check the finder preference about the sidebar setting.
it's already set to show every items there even the iDisk)
I wondered why I don't see anyone have problem with this.
I'm really want to find the answer about this.
I asked this question to Apple Thailand's support team but they didn't have any idea.
Who's gonna answer this

I found a solution to the problem and posted it here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1858340&stqc=true
I pasted the solution below:
from a Terminal window, type:
ls -lOd /
(That's lowercase ell, lowercase ess, space, minus, lowercase ell, capital oh, lowercase dee, space, forward slash)
You should get something like this:
hostname:~ username$ ls -lOd /
drwxrwxr-t 32 root admin - 1156 Feb 8 20:35 /
Sounds like you might see something like this instead:
hostname:~ username$ ls -lOd /
drwxrwxr-t@ 32 root admin hidden 1156 Feb 8 20:35 /
(note it says "hidden" instead of "-")
To fix this, type:
sudo chflags nohidden /
and provide your admin password. You won't get any output back from the command but the icon should now appear on your desktop, and the hidden flag should go away if you repeat the 'ls -lOd /' command.
And just in case you missed it above, you've got to be sure Hard disks are turned on in Finder General Preferences under "Show these items on the Desktop"

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I thought this would be a question easily answered on the WWW and easily found via search engines, but so far no luck, hence this question.
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Hello eww-
Thank you for responding to my question. The drives are both internal as shown by info that I've copied/pasted below:
ATA Bus:
Name: k2-sata
Maxtor 6Y250M0:
Capacity: 233.76 GB
Model: Maxtor 6Y250M0
Revision: YAR51FW0
Serial Number: Y634JGZE
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ATA
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Serial ATA
bay_name: A (upper)
OS9 Drivers: No
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Available: 80.28 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s3
Mount Point: /
*ATA Bus:*
*Name: k2-sata*
*Maxtor 6Y250M0:*
*Capacity: 233.76 GB*
*Model: Maxtor 6Y250M0*
*Revision: YAR51FW0*
*Serial Number: Y634JJ6E*
*Removable Media: No*
*Detachable Drive: No*
*BSD Name: disk1*
*Protocol: ATA*
*Unit Number: 0*
*Socket Type: Serial ATA*
*OS9 Drivers: No*
*bay_name: B (lower)*
The high-lighted portion is the problem drive and as far as I can tell does not indicate the drive specifically by name like the other drive does (MACINTOSH HD). I believe the problem happend while I was attempting to use Disk Utility to erase an external 160GB Maxtor drive by zeroing all data on this drive. However, I inadvertantly selected an internal Maxtor drive by mistake and almost immediately the internal HD Icon disappeared from my desktop. Also, I definitely ejected/unmounted the external drive in the proper manner. Finally, I have never opened my tower to service the G5 so I wouldn't think that there would be a loose or unseated connection. I have not yet tried to boot the Mac to my Tiger installer disc or use the version of Disk Utility on that disc to reformat the drive. Assuming that I start this process and the missing drive does appear in this version, would you be able to either provide or otherwise direct me with a step-by-step guide (the dummy version) as I will admit that I am not the most computer literate person in the world? Also, what might my next step be if the missing drive does not appear in the Tiger version of Disk Utility?
Thanks again for all of your help and guidance! I appreciate you taking time out of your day to try and solve this issue.
Johnny

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And, some details are needed: model/year Mac, Mac OS version running now and which version originally).

Startup disk disappear from the desktop

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