My PDQ is running X.4.11. I can see the name of my HDD on the desktop but no icon is present. Using GetInfo has an empty icon and is not selectable. If I connect to the computer via the network and mount the volume on my external Mac (runs a new version of MacOS) I can see the name and icon.
I have tried checking/unchecking Finder>Preferences>General?Show Hard Disks.
I have tried restarting.
I have tried to repair the drive via DiskUtility.
I have tried profanity.
I have tried terminal commands to force-show hidden items, delete the Icon? file, and then replace with a known good one.
I have tried deleting the com.apple.Finder.plist.
I have tried more profanity.
Bottom line: The hard drive icon appears to be corrupt or missing and I cannot fix it.
I am very open to suggestions...
So I figured out a way to solve this issue.
I connected to the computer (the PDQ) from my MacBook Pro (mounted the hard drive via sharing) and then I deleted the hard drive icon as I saw it on the Macbook desktop. This of course resulted in the icon defaulting to a basic icon rather than a custom icon. I then disconnected from the PDQ. After a few moments (~1 minute?), the PDQ updated itself and the hard drive icon was now the desired default "hard drive" image/icon. At this point, I reapplied the custom icon from the PDQ side of things and it showed just fine. I connected to the PDQ from the MacBook and saw the cutsom icon.
All is well.
I think the cause of my problem may have been that I might have assigned the custom icon from the MacBook whilst connected rather than in the convention manner of from the PDQ. Moral of the story: older Macs do not like it when their folder icons are assigned remotely, particularly if it is not the same version of the OS.