Loose grounding strap

So I got my TJ back from the painter and now my stereo doesn't work. (It's a Kenwood unit.) I get a flashing "PROTECT" message. I happened to notice by sheer luck that under the hood there's a grounding strap hanging loose. Could the unit detect that it's not properly grounded and so not allow itself to be turned on? The strap is at the back of the engine compartment. It's not obvious to me where is the best place to secure this strap, and I can't find it in my shop manual. My guess is that it had been secured to the underside of the hood, because the painter removed the hood (and this wouldn't be the first thing he forgot to put back in place after finishing the paint job). That's just a guess on my part.

Any input on a) where that strap should be secured, and b) whether or not it's tied to my error message on my stereo?

Percy, thanks for the insight. Well, I just finished a long and painful wiring check on all the speakers. The wiring was fine. I was at the end of my rope, and for some reason I decided to unplug the unit's wiring harness where it snaps into the back of the unit. Voila! Worked like a champ. I have no damn idea why it stopped work or why it started again. Nothing positive came out of that experience!!

Quote from whatevah

There should be a strap from the back of the valve cover going back to the firewall. Visible from the drivers side. The strap from the hood uses the same firewall bolt, I think. Going from memory, its different for tj/xj. I don't think the hood strap is that important, but I guess the factory put it there for a reason.

Thanks, Jerry. Your timing is good...I was just about to tackle the strap issue. I can see where there's a hole in the hood support bracket, where the strap is probably supposed to go. But I'm hearing you say it's not important to put it there anyway...unless I can't find a better place to that loose piece of wire. Jim