USB3 2TB hard drive failure - HFS+ Formatted

[jayp_92]

I have a brand new 2TB USB3 WD My Passport Ultra. I have put a lot of data on here that (stupidly) I don't have backed up anywhere else (it's a brand new drive, so I was in the middle of moving things around so I did have a back up). The drive isn't showing up in Finder or Disk Utility, but it is showing up under "About this Mac" and the lights are flashing.
It is formatted as HFS+ so I don't think I would be able to use a PC to fix this. I have downloaded the WD Drive Utilities app, it has managed to find the hard drive. I did a S.M.A.R.T. status check, which it has failed. It gives me the option to format the drive, which I can't do as I have extremely important things on there (again, yes, I am very stupid for not having a back up!).
I have another hard drive here, so at the very least, I just want to access my data to back it up, so I can send the hard drive back to Western Digital.
Any suggestions? Since the WD app can find the hard drive, are there any file manager apps that may be able to view the files? I'm quite technical minded, so I would be comfortable trying a lot of suggestions, I just have a tight deadline to reach.
I'm currently using a a mid-2012 2.3ghz 15" Macbook Pro, but I'm at uni at the moment and have tried it in many other Macs, all of which the same (not showing in Disk Utility or Finder, but being listed as a USB device under About This Mac).

I've tried various Linux based boot discs, all of which are the same; the computer recognises something is plugged in, it knows what the actual device is (the name, serial number etc) but doesn't recognise it as an actual drive. I've tried quite a few boot discs, Parted Magic being the main one I've been using. Countless terminal commands that I have found on Google (mounts, mkdirs, dmesgs etc), it's got to the point now where I've barely slept in 4 days (like I said, very important date [and again, stupidly not backed up!]) and I need help! I'm willing to try a lot (software wise, not great with a solder!).

Any suggestions short of sending it off for data recovery?

[pcimage]

Sounds like either a firmware issue, media degradation/damage or a suspect head.

None of which are DIY I'm afraid.

[digitalferret]

Hi jay,
maybe another angle ...

so I was in the middle of moving things around so I did have a back up

To backup is to create a "copy", not "move" the original.
were you copying or moving?

Maybe theres a chance you could recover material from the source drive?

gl anyhow

K