PowerBook 12" Hard Drive Problem

Dear Apple Discussion people,
I have a serious problem and I am hoping you may help me.
My PowerBook's hard drive is not functioning any more. I was uploading images via iPhoto when the computer crashed. After the crash, I restarted the machine but the boot-up process got stuck at the grey Apple screen with the spinning wheel. I was on a lenghty trip at that time and didn't have my OS CD's with me. I tried to restart several times, but to no avail.
I then went to the next Apple Store and after receiving permission, hooked up the PB in target disk mode to one of their machines, ran disk utility, which repaired some issues on the drive and upon running it a second time stated that no errors were there. I was happy, shut down my PB, and left the store. Outside, I rebooted and everything went fine. I intended to back the data up to my iPod later and closed the lid.
A couple of hours later, I opened the lid again when the PB chrashed once again. I then didn't touch it for about two weeks.
Upon my return from the trip today, I hooked the PB up to my office PowerMac (again in target disk mode). This time, the PB didn't even mount on the PowerMac. I used my Tiger DVD to boot from the DVD and then ran disk utility. I successfully located the hard drive in the PB, I clicked on repair disk, and Disk Utility went to work. It finished and stated that there were no errors. I ran it again, just to be sure, but again, no errors.
I did, however, notice that in the list of drives in disk utility, it appears that the hard drive did not mount.
So, I am really at a loss. Most of the data is not that important (I have backups), but my iPhoto library is vital - and my last backup is about 6 months old. I had more recent backups on my old iPod's hard drive, but it got stolen. So no luck retrieving those backups.
I really hope you guys can give me some light at the end of the tunnel. Also, does anyone know how much a data recovery by a professional would cost for a 60 GB hard drive? (Just in case that's my only option.)
Thanks in advance!
PB G4, 12"   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  
PB G4, 12"   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  

Welcome to Apple Discussions, macopoly.
Sorry, but it sounds like the hard drive in your PowerBook is either failing or has already failed. I'm not hopeful that you will be able to recover the drive (or data) without help from a professional data recovery service.
That said, have you tried running Disk Warrior or Data Rescue from their respective startup CDs (instead of using FireWire Target Disk Mode)?
15 1.25G/12 1G PBs, Mac minis, iBooks G3/G4,   Mac OS X (10.4.3)   Cube, TAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

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