Can a computer crash disable (break) an external hard drive?

Can a computer crash disable (break) an external hard drive (FW800)?
My mac pro started to see programs crash. First one, that wouldn't 'force quit', then a minute later a second. This had happened before last year, so i started quitting apps to restart. At the end, half of them i succeeded to quit and about 4 wouldn't quit. The finder was frozen/crashed, no dock or apple menu or any menu for that matter. The mouse moved. i could shortcut 'force quit' and 'return' on default OKs.
So i powerbuttoned down. On rebooting, the volumes on the Mercury Elite* unit in question didn't mount. I looked for them with disk utility but nothing. So i then examined the unit. A soft clicking noise was emanating and the power adapter was HOT!
The two drives are now in the mac pro internally and are working fine. But before i took them out, i tested the pins on the power adapter with a voltmeter, according to the schematic on the adapter itself and i got 5,5v on the one side and 13 odd v on the other. Apparently what's supposed to be coming out. (5v and 12v)
Can a powerbutton shutdown shoot electricity through the FireWIre bus? Any ideas?
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW924AL2K/

Can a computer crash disable (break) an external hard drive (FW800)?
No, but it could damage files or the directory structure, so the drive wouldn't mount. Disk Utility should be able to fix it by erasing or partitioning, but you would lose the data on the drive.
My mac pro started to see programs crash. First one, that wouldn't 'force quit', then a minute later a second. This had happened before last year, so i started quitting apps to restart. At the end, half of them i succeeded to quit and about 4 wouldn't quit. The finder was frozen/crashed, no dock or apple menu or any menu for that matter. The mouse moved. i could shortcut 'force quit' and 'return' on default OKs.
You may have bad RAM, or other hardware problems. Have you run the extended Apple Hardware Tests. Boot from the install DVD while pressing "D". Try removing any non-Apple RAM modules.
I tested the pins on the power adapter with a voltmeter, according to the schematic on the adapter itself and i got 5.5 V on the one side and 13 odd V on the other. Apparently what's supposed to be coming out. (5 V and 12 V)
Some power supplies will put out more than the rated voltage if there is nothing attached, but 5.5 V and 13 V are not high enough to cause damage, anyway.
Can a powerbutton shutdown shoot electricity through the FireWIre bus?
No.

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