Thank you for all of the comments, guys.

I figured out the problem and came up with a hack to fix it. I think it could happen to other players, so I wanted to share this with the group. I also feel it could be related to faulty IDE cables many are experiencing.

The IDE cable comes very close to the display board. Of course, this is not a short problem because the cable is insulated. However, some of the solder points on the back of the display board are very sharp. In particular, the buttons are through-hole soldered and the connections are very sharp and extremely close to the IDE cable. There is enough slack in the IDE cable for it to come into contact with those sharp solder points.

Although I missed it at first, I eventually noticed an extremely small pin hole in the IDE cable right over a conductor. The IDE cable insulation had been punctured by one of the solder points of the left button. When the button was closed (pushed), it apparently resulted in a short, causing the drive to immediately shut down. That was the click I was hearing.

I "fixed" it by pulling the IDE cable away from the display board and gluing it down with a liberal dose of hot melt glue to the top of both drives.

I checked the cable very closely and can only find one pin hole on a single conductor. Since multiple IDE conductors were not damaged and since the cable is now secured a safe distance from any potential short, I did not replace the cable. I suppose a drop of hot melt glue would seal it, but I don't see the need.

The next time you have your player apart, it may be worth ensuring that the IDE cable is secured away from the display board so that vibration during mobile use doesn't evenutally wear the cable if the slack is sufficient for it to touch the board.

Thanks again for all of the kind help.

Jim