I am working on a friend of mine's xbox, and I got some funky stuff going on. His xbox was loaded up and working fine, he had a Western Digital 250GB HDD and then 6 months later he had HDD issues. Brought it to me, I took a look at it...HDD was fried...so he got a new HDD, another Western Digital 250GB. Here is where it gets weird, I load the new HDD up, it act the same way, I get an Error code 6 ( which generally means HDD isnt powering up) So I take a swing at it and put in my HDD, it works fine, smooth as a baby and i got a Samsung 60GB HDD. I have been baffled for a long time as to why it will not take the Western Digital HDD, its about to make me throw it clear across the room naw, just mind bogglin. Anyone may have an idea as to where the problem may be coming from??

Error 6 = can't unlock due to wrong password

Oh sorry I wrote down the wrong error code, its an error code 7 ( HDD timeout ). which still doesn't answer my question. If anyone maybe has an idea, instead of telling me what it means, maybe helping toward a solution to fixing it??

plugged in all the way?

yep, the HDD is fine its brand new, i tested it in my comp. ( worked fine and was even recognized ), put it in my xbox ( powered up and running smoorth), put it in his xbox ( it makes a clicking sound and not powering up fully ) But like I said, my HDD works fine in his Xbox. I just cant seem to understand why this new HDD wont work.

Jumper set to CS?

Yep jumper is set to Cable Select....

do you have another xbox IDE cable to try.could be a loose single connecter

I tried that too....I'm pulling my hair out here.

Have you checked it is not a 137gig issue, try a 120gig if that works ok then I would look for a patch for the LBA48.

By the way I am having a prob with an xbox at the mo. It won't boot with a error 16, won't boot with a slayer auto install disk in the dvd either. What do ya think? take it out and try it in the PC? I have not tested an xbox drive in a PC, can you see the data?

No putting it in your computer will do nothing, to an average computer xbox files are encrypted. Which means you would have to go through the source itself, like FTP or something like that.
As far as the error code 16 - dashboard - Other files to do with dashboard / dashboard settings (specific dashboard error)
Oh and also are you using a DVD- R or a CD-RW?? If a CD-RW check the style of CD-RW, xbox seems to not like Memorex cds for some reason.

But from what it sounds like to me, I could be wrong but it sounds like your BIOS file / or MOD chip isnt working properly, if that doesnt work right then of course you will not be able to get a dashboard reading of any sort or you wont be able to read an Slayer CD either. Try looking toward your MOD chip maybe a fresh install of the BIOS, or if it has light indicators, check to see if maybe its giving a specific error fit for that type of MOD chip.