well no one has suggested this yet, but if you havent checked them you may have a problem with the jumpers on the drives.
I dont know the make of the drives but WD and seagate have different settings for jumpers. I’d take a look at the configuration of the HD’s and the ROM. Try putting the two HDs in without the ROM drive, then check in the BIOS to make sure that they are detected properly. Put the ROM back in the check the BIOS again.
Barring that, try the drive in someone elses machine to make sure the drive itself isnt DOA.