IBM 300GL model 65637rr

I am working on a computer for my wifes boss:). The rr means refurb., I loaded 98 on it and rebooted just fine. I turned it back on a hour or so latter to load some other things and it came up with no operating system. I booted to a boot disk and nohard drive found. I replaced IDE cables with known good with same message. Cleared bios, switched from IDE 1 to 2 on mainboard same thing. Went to IBM web site and looked for about an hour no help. What do you think a bad refurb?