So you screwd up your original hard disk whilst attempting to hotswap?
not all is lost...
if your hard disk just doesnt start and when you start the xbox you get error 7 (no hdd) it could be because of faulty electronics - perhaps you shortcircuited something there when moving the cable around...
what you'll need for this guide is a screwdriver with a small star head (for unscrewing the screws on the hdd) and a friends original hdd - that is the same as your's (only it can work)
(legal thing: if you mess around with electronics - things can go boom - not my fault)
unfortonantley - i dont know how to upload pictures to the forum and they are an integral part of the explaining process - so if you need this guide - PM me and i'll send it to you...

hey dude use putfile.com and then just use an img code.

Screw that! Just buy a chip. Much Much easier and less hassle. Don't waste your time taking apart a harddrive or trying to fix it. If your hotswapping in the first place it usually means you are going to upgrade the harddrive. So, why would you want to fix a drive your not going to use EVER again. Just plug a chip in and upgrade the harddrive with a softmod and then lock it. Spend the extra 20 bucks.

All you need to do is switch the cirquit boards between HD's and see if that works. has to be the same HD/revision/firmware though. alot cheaper to get the eeprom and get a new HD then softmod then to buy a chip. this is still the non modchip forum (and most ppl here cant solder)

this isnt really much of a tutorial....

I wasn't suggesting he use the chip for anything more than getting the eeprom and setting up the new drive. Your idea for finding the same HD/revision/firmware is much harder to find and time consuming than plugging in a solderless adapter and chip. When your done using the chip for the eeprom and setting up the new drive you unplug it.

It is always a good idea to have something like this lying around just in case. You only have to buy this one time.

thanks chedabob, now i can post a full pictorial
so as i said before - what you have is a hard disk that doesnt even start up when the xbox starts up - you can listen closely to it or even touch it when you start the xbox and hear/feel nothing (warning this can result in elctroshock and you can die).
what you want is a hard disk similar to the one you have - i was lucky - my friend had the exact same hdd (btw: his xbox was 1.5 years old and my brothers xbox that was bought a week after mine had a diffrent model) note that i belive that it might work with hard-disks that are close to the one you have... (same manufacturer and same back panel at the least )
mine was:
<a href='http://www.putfile.com'><img border='0' src='http://x7.putfile.com/8/24105414514.jpg' alt='Hosted by Putfile.com'></a>
note that the serial number will never be the same but with me and my friend's everything else was - quit amazing...

you will also need a star head screwdriver - i tried using diffrent types of screwdrivers and i "screwd them up" (pardon the pun).
anyways if you have all that the process is fairly simple:
<a href='http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=8/24105524872.jpg&s=x7' target='_blank'><img src='http://x7.putfile.com/8/24105524872-thumb.jpg' alt='Click to enlarge'></a>
you see the little yellow circles i put there? these are the screws you need to remove which will result with you having the back panel (circuit board/electronics)
removed and in your hand...
now what you should do is place the defective circuit board aside and do the same process of disconnecting the panel on the hard disk that DOES work - and connecting it in it's place on the formerly deffective disk - and of course connecting the screws...
you should now connect the disk to the xbox - and it should work...
good luck!
(i apologize if the quality of this guide is low - it's the first one i've ever written so i'll welcome any type of criticism)

no modchip will fix a dead hdd.

if you read the previous posts i never mentioned EVER fixing the dead HDD. Chips don't fix drives period. Everyone knows that. I guess if you wanted to fix your original drive then that's fine. My suggestion was to upgrade it to one of the same size or bigger using a chip.

It usually does a person good to READ before posting.

I call bullshit.. Read up on ATA security (ATA-3 spec).. You can't swap electronics on locked hdds, there are countermeasures.. Lockable hdd's with security set store the locking statte/passwords on a non-user sector of the hdd.. Since any pcb that is compatible supports locking, the only commands it will accept are Device_Unlock and Device_Identify.. You would need a pcb that is capable of reading/writing the hdd, but does not support locking, and since 95% of the guts on the pcb are specialized proprietary IC's, there isn't much to hack..
Hmm, oddly enough, my hdd might work in this situation.. I have a WD1600BB-75GVA0 which is not lockable.. The WD1600BB-00GVA0 is lockable however..
(Remember the 75GVA0/00GVA0 if you ever buy a WD for a softmod!)
I'm not curious enough to kill my hdd trying though..

I did it, it worked...
read up in ansi - they say u cant hotswap a disk - i did it, it worked...