Accessing the Hitachi-drive the fast way

After reading (and applying) the excellent thread over on xboxhacker.net started by MacDennis I wondered if it would be possible to combine the best of two worlds: The VM-approach of MacDennis and the Live-CD approach of Probutus when using a USB<->SATA cable to connect the drive. As of five minutes ago I can confirm it's possible :)

The Pro's of this method:

• Get your Hitachi-drive in ModeB and then release it to Windows *without* the need of rebooting;
• No need for a dedicated Linux-machine. Use a VM-solution and the free VM-Player;
• No need to burn a live-CD. Just use the ISO-image as a source to boot inside of the VM;
• This is a safe solution! No need for the "cross-wire trick", the #1 DVD-drive bricker!;
• Easy to setup using free-software, no need for linux kernel-compiling.
  

I will start documenting my findings and a how-to shortly. I made a new Slax-ISO and contacted Probutus to see if it's okay to distribute it. Anyhow, I will document the process of updating the new Slax-ISO to the old one.