Not recognizing external hard drive

When I first bought my SimpleTech 320GB external hard drive, it did work. It connected and updated everything through Time Machine. After about, a month, it just did not show up in my Devices or on my Desktop.
I've tried everything. I went to the SimpleTech site and they said to put it in the direct USB port (which I have been doing). I've tried both USB ports and even got a new USB cord and it's not working.
If anyone has some suggestions, please send them my way. I'm in dire need of some space on this thing so I can install some updates.
Message was edited by: lisuhhx

I am having this same problem all of a sudden. My external hd shows up in disk utility; however, it does not show up under devices or is it recognized any more by time machine. When I try and repair it, the repair fails and list a "invalid node structure" and "volume check failed". I disconnect the external hd's power source and firewire connection, reconnected, and this did nothing.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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Thanks for the response. I can say with confidence that that is not the issue. I have at least 8 of these same WD external portable drives that are powered through their USB 3.0 cables, and I have never had problems with any of them. Sometimes I connect them directly to my computer, and sometimes I use a powered hub. Either way they work fine. The drives with their own power source do not suit my needs.
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Not recognizing external hard drive

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