External drives not showing on desktop

I have a situation where my external drives are not showing up on my desktop and need additional help on figuring out the problem.
So far I have read the suggestions to Repair permissions in Disk Utility. However, the drives that aren't showing on the desktop are not showing in Disk Utility either.
I tried downloading the 10.4.4 Combo Update but upon trying to install it, I am being told that neither my system drive nor my 2nd, internal drive will accept it (red explaination points on both drive icons).
I tried unplugging all firewire and USB devices and then unplugging AC power. Left computer shut down for 4 hours. No fix.
Tried zapping P-Ram. No fix.
Tried my external drives on a G4 computer at work (running OS 10.3). Worked fine.
Swapped out fire wire cables. Nothing.
Ran Tech Tool pro. Tests confirm that fire wire drivers are working properly. Passed. I know that this test only checks for drivers and not whether the info is being passed through the connectors.
The only thing I didn't try was replacing the battery. However, my clock and all other battery dependent items are working just fine and not showing any spuratic signs of malfunction.
The two external drives I am using are a Western Digital and a one Touch Maxtor. The Maxtors, (so I've read on this thread) have been known to show some signs of inconsistent behavior. However, I've had no issues with it up to this point and I've had it for over two years.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks to all of you who have already posted some possible fixes. I appreciate it greatly.
Thanks.
Steve
Power Mac, G5 Mac OS X (10.4.10) 2.5 GIGS RAM, Dual processor

DP
Thanks. Are you talking about booting from my external drives?
Yeah, I haven't actually booted from any of my external drives as they do not have any system software on them to boot from.
If you have a good backup procedure, I'd love to hear it as I'm always documenting and using new ways to backup my info.
From here, I plan on going in and running Tech Tool on my two external drives, (now that the computer is regognizing them) to see what I can find out. My guess is that my firewire ports or drivers on the G5 may have gotten a little mixed up when last Thursdays lightning strike cut the power to the neighborhood. However, I do have a battery backup/ surge protection system that's been in place for about a year. It's been working great so the lightning strike may not be the problem. It was a pretty harsh one, though. After looking over the backup system, nothing looks fried or damaged in any way. Still working fine.
As far as not relying on just one drive, I'm heading into town and picking up a third drive that will back up what's on my existing two externals. This will then be kept safely stored away. By the way, what does IMHO mean? I'm a little rusty on my computer accronyms.
Thanks again!
Back to work.
Steve
Power Mac, G5 Mac OS X (10.4.10)
Power Mac, G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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Message was edited by: WZZZ

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Rod Hagen wrote:
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