External Hard Drive Prob. in 10.2.2 and 10.2.3. HELP!

[bombsxaway]

I have brand new 80 gig maxtor harddrive in a firewire box. I had this setup before in 10.2.1, but since 10.2.2 and certainly with 10.2.3 every time I start my machine it says that this disk cannot be recognized and asks if i want to initialize it. When I try to initialize it, Disk Utility just times out and nothing happens. I heard that this is a bug with 10.2.2 and 10.2.3, but do you guys have any suggestions? I really need to get that drive up and running. ANY help would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys for such great help to everyone's questions.