Strange problems with external HD

I am currently using a 1.5 Ghz PC Powerbook running OS 10.4.11. I have two external HD's from my previous Lombard (333Mhz, OS 9, Fujitsu) and Pismo (555Mhz, OS 10.3) PB's.

When used as an external HD, I can mount, read, and write from the Pismo, but not the Lombard.

Here's the funny thing, I can mount the Lombard and occasionally open it to see its contents but have been unable to open any files without it geting hung-up. It also spins continuously, and when unplugging the device the window I was trying to open before hang-ups appears. Weird. I have tried to run classic to no avail, I will need to get an OS 9 disk to do that. I also tried disk repair and I get an error message saying that the disk cannot be un mounted.

Any insight? I think I will need to try running in classic. Do you think the HD is damaged? I'm pretty sure I will be able to recover the data without too much trouble/cost even if I cannot do it myself.

Thanks