Problems ejecting Firewire HD

[Jerry Krinock]

Sometimes, after ejecting my Firewire hard drive (a SmartDisk Firelite), it
disappears from the Finder, and from Path Finder, and from /Volumes, but it
still spins and it is still powered (the blue light is on).  Not being able
to eject it, if I pull the plug, I sometimes get a message saying "A device
was incorrectly ejected..."  And then, then next time I connect this disk,
it will not mount.  It will mount after a restart.  But if instead I wait
about 20 minutes, it will stop spinning, and although the light is still on,
I can pull the plug without problems.

At first I thought it was a problem with Synchronize! Pro X or with Path
Finder, but it happens sometimes if I eject it with the Finder too.

Has anyone else seen this, or know a workaround?  I can't always wait 20
minutes. I will report as a bug to Apple if others have this problem.  My
Powerbook is 800 MHz.

Jerry