Imac not finding external drive after reinstall

Hi there
I have recently downgraded from Mavericks to Mountain Lion.  I have had an external hard drive running time machine since I got my imac. 
When I downgraded it found the drive but it did refuse to restore any of the backups.  (Which were all done on Mountain Lion as I had not backed up on Maverick) I had to repeat the install process due to another issue and when I tried to remount the drives it could only find two.
Now this drive has worked perfectly for Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion and on Maverick as I upgraded to each.
It runs on the firewire port. Swapping the port is not an option as the drive doesnt have a USB slot and I dont have a free USB port or a hub.
I have 3 in total 2 WD and one LaCie. The original one which my imac wont find is a WD.
Any suggestions would be appreciated as I dont want to reload anything onto my machine incase I have to try erasing and reinstalling again.

i'm using a 1,5 TB WD external hd and 2 others with 320 GB and 160 GB ... formatted on NTFS and it doesn't  mount. it shows up at disk utility but i can't mount it ... and i have all of my life in there

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    Registered: Oct 24, 2005
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 2, 2009 6:58 PM in response to: cjunxing
    Reply Email
    what happens when you enter commandshiftc in finder? that should show all the drives. if it doesn't, maybe the drive has acquired the hidden flag. run the following command in terminal
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    cjunxing
    Posts: 9
    From: china
    Registered: Jul 8, 2008
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 2, 2009 7:11 PM in response to: V.K.
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    dear V.K.
    When I enter commandshiftc in finder, it only shows up "network", then I followed to input sudo chflags 0 / in terminal and password, but the drives still not show up.
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    V.K.
    Posts: 20,162
    From: Toronto
    Registered: Oct 24, 2005
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 2, 2009 8:01 PM in response to: cjunxing
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    run the following command in terminal and post the results. this will list permissions flags and acls on the startup drive.
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    Mac Pro 3.2 GHz Mac OS X (10.6.1) Mac Pro 2.66GHz, powerbook G4 1.5GHz
    cjunxing
    Posts: 9
    From: china
    Registered: Jul 8, 2008
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 2, 2009 8:03 PM in response to: V.K.
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    I run the command as follows.
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    V.K.
    Posts: 20,162
    From: Toronto
    Registered: Oct 24, 2005
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 2, 2009 8:34 PM in response to: cjunxing
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    these permissions look fine. sorry, i don't know what the problem is or why the drive would not show in finder. does it happen on all accounts? make a new one and check from there.
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    cjunxing
    Posts: 9
    From: china
    Registered: Jul 8, 2008
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 3, 2009 1:11 AM in response to: V.K.
    Reply Email
    hi, V.K.
    after running the two commands, suddenly, The Macintosh HD icon showed up at both desktop and sidebar in finder, but the other drive (I partition into two parts) still not showing. Then I open Onyx and tick the "unhidden those hidden files", I found that drive. So I conclude it was hidden by sth. But I don't know how to unhidden it, the icon always in grey.
    Can you please instruct again.
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    Junxing
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    V.K.
    Posts: 20,162
    From: Toronto
    Registered: Oct 24, 2005
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 3, 2009 6:41 AM in response to: cjunxing
    Reply Email
    aha, so it was a hidden flag after all. then run
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    cjunxing
    Posts: 9
    From: china
    Registered: Jul 8, 2008
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 3, 2009 5:33 PM in response to: V.K.
    Reply Email
    Dear V.K,
    I run the command at my Macbook Pro, my second drive show up. So exceited! However, when I tried with my ibook G4, neither drives come out, is there any difference in the commands between Tiger and leopard. just now, I check the hidden files with Onyx, both drives are there.
    Pls guide me.
    thanks
    macbook pro Mac OS X (10.5.4)
    V.K.
    Posts: 20,162
    From: Toronto
    Registered: Oct 24, 2005
    Re: can't find home drive after reinstallation of O.S.X
    Posted: Nov 3, 2009 6:46 PM in response to: cjunxing
    Reply Email
    sorry, I haven't dealt with Tiger in such a long time I don't remember if it respects chflags. ask on Tiger forums.
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