Help! i broke my user directory

mac mini mid 2011 running latest mavericks.
i have an ssd boot disk inside. my user directory is on a 1tb external usb disk. today, i moved my office around and disconnected everything. when i connected everything again—probably to different usb ports—my user files wouldn't load. i can see the external disk, and all the data is still there, but it's not mounting as the user file. i've tried directing a new user to that directory, no luck.
i've tried redirecting the old user to that directory, no luck.
i've tried booting into recovery mode and fixing user permissions through the reset password tool—nothing happens. 'done' stays grayed out forever. when i click on something else, the reset p/w tool goes away.
i've tried the terminal entries at this discussion: Reset Home Folder permissions and ACLs Error—i got the number 4 after the first entry. the 2d entry didn't take any time at all and just gave me a $ prompt after hitting enter.
any help or thoughts? i'm afraid i'm going to have to rebuild a user directory on a new drive. i'd really like to avoid that.
thanks, in advance, for any advice or suggestions.

Thank you for responding.
What do you mean by…
i've tried directing a new user to that directory, no luck.
By this I mean I created a new user, gave it admin privileges, and directed it's home directory (in advanced options) to the external drive. When I tried to boot into that user, it didn't work.
The first step in the linked instructions you posted was intended to be done inside the account in question - how did you do that if the account is not working?
My guess is that you applied that to the admin account?
I don't think the user permissions repair (step 2) works when the user home folder is on another disk.
Sometimes it boots up under the user name, but it's not using the user files it should be using—apparent by various user settings not being set the way they should be in the user files. The last time I did this, I ran the first step. But I understand how it might not work if I'm not really in the user directory.
Please explain how are you setting the user account to be on the external disk. Are you using the advanced user setting, symlinks or something else?
I am using the advanced user setting—right click on the user from the user window in settings.
Is the external disk mounting as read & write?
Yes.
Use  'File > Get info…' on the disk in Finder & check that the 'ignore ownership' option is off.
I just tried to log in, and it didn't let me. So I logged in as under my other administrator account. With that, I have R/W privileges. But the 'ignore ownership' option was checked. When I unchecked it, it changed my privileges to Read only. Although 'system' and 'wheel' have R/W privileges.
One other note. The name of the drive is—uncreatively—1tb. But in the info window, I've noticed that the name has been 1tb 1, then 1tb 2, and now, it's 1tb 3. that's got to contribute to not being able to login—if the drive name is changing?
I unchecked the 'ignore ownership' box and tried rebooting. The user wouldn't mount and it wouldn't let me login. I changed the address from 1tb 2 to 1tb 3 in the advanced user options and tried to login, still no love.

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