Got a 324 flashed and working fine,
updated FW to AL1B with x360 usb pro,
powered off laptop disconnected the power and usb pro from drive and laptop,
took a dump,
power back on the laptop and reconnect everything,
backup the EEPROM and flash,
flash MAX,
then power off the laptop and disconnect everything again,
waited about 2 minutes then powered back up and reconnect everything,
burnt a copy of Batman Arkham City it verified and I played it for about an hour and a half without a problem, then this morning I installed the burnt copy of Batman to the HD just to make sure the Xbox could read all of the game data
I also made a copy of Forza 4 and Gears 3 Forza installed to the HD ok and I didn't get a chance to try out Gears but since it verified ok I think it will play