Adding HDD, RAM, to headless Ubuntu system

When adding a new HDD or RAM to a system running Ubuntu 7.04 Fiesty Fawn, might I be able to just plug them in & do any configuration through VNC ?

I'm guessing if the RAM is compatible with the rest of the hardware it will basicly configure itself just like a Windows system would do, am I right ?

The HDD is what I'm worried about, my plan is to just hook the HDD up to a secondary IDE & turn it on, thinking I will be able to get to a VNC accessible desktop & do any configuration from there since I don't have a monitor for the box anymore.

The motherboards' BIOS is configured to auto-detect IDE devices.

I didn't put this stuff in before I installed Ubuntu because I just wanted to get a base system running, not wanting to deal with hardware issues or anything, so I kept it slim.

adding the ram won't affect the OS configuration-wise in any way :]

the only configuration you should have to do with the hard drive is formatting it. ubuntu should auto-mount the drive after detecting it when the computer boots.

I put the primary drive on a single device IDE cable on the primary channel,
moved the now secondary cable, with the CD-ROM still attached to the secondary channel,
hooked up the second HDD as the primary device on that secondary cable.

I put a second double-sided DIMM in the second RAM slot,
placed a single-sided DIMM with a Compaq sticker (which I wasn't planning to get working, but figured it's worth a try) in the third slot.

Turned it on, no go.

I'm worried about that second HDD, I heard a noise that sounded like a fan comming to a stop when somthing touches it.
I'm not sure if it was the HDD, or the speaker making the noise, but I know it wasn't a fan.

I disconnected the second HDD, switched the IDE cables back to the way they were with the primary drive & CD-ROM on the primary IDE channel.

No go for startup.

I removed that single-sided Compaq DIMM.

Starts up, VNC connects, second stick of RAM isn't recognised by the OS.

I hooked the second HDD up with the single-device cable to the secondary channel & tried it again.

Starts up, VNC connects, but the second HDD sounds like there's a gnome trying to break out of it with a hammer during boot.
The HDD also isn't recognised, I think it's shot.

Removed secondary HDD for good.

Moved the second DIMM from the second slot, to the fourth slot.
I had the BIOS recognising both of these sticks like that before installing Ubuntu so I figure it's worth a try.

Starts up, VNC connects, RAM still not recognised in System Monitor.

Right back where I started lol.

Oh well, it's junk-box hardware anyway, at least I have a running *nix box to learn with.

Thanks AnarchY SI.