I had this computer working perfectly, just as it would normally be expected to work. I then changed a significant amount of the hardware (9800pro->9000, added two tv cards and hard drive changed) but compiled a kernel specifically for this effort.

On boot I had a few minor problems like forgetting to change the fstab and needing to reinstall modules. At this point things first started being strange as I managed to clear up most problems with little trouble. However the fglrx module failed to load "No such device." I was unable to tell why this was apart from lspci not reporting any instance of a VGA controller i.e. lspci|grep VGA would output nothing. I found this rather strange considering I am able to see things on the screen.

After changing many things, gradually removing most of the hardware, and eventually going back to the old configuration, I was still in exactly the same position, this time on the other graphics card (9800pro) and hard drive. I am now completely bemused and google is unable to help me.

Please offer any hints, even the most ridiculous thoughts you might have, because I have *no* idea what might be causing this.

Did you revert back to your original kernel?

Both hard drives are set up with the same kernel, which is the one that has always been working fine.