Ok, the marriage theory is correct.
I bought an Xbox, I then played Xbox live while it was still unmodded. I then modded my xbox and installed a new 80gb hard drive, and untill about September I was able to play on Live with the usual method, just play off an original and make sure the chip is off. I then got the message saying Unable to connect to xbox live as your xbox has been modified.
I took my xbox back to my Modchip guy who was able to do it for free as a guinea pig.
www.ozxmods.com
He installed a new 80gb HDD and a new Eeprom. So therefore it looks like a new xbox.
For precautionary measures I created a new Live Account incase it was flagged.
I have now been playing on Live for about a month now with no problems at all. So if you have not played Live on your Xbox before it was modded you will not get banned, if you did then you will have gotten banned.
So these are the steps to take:
1. Install new HDD and new Eeprom.
2. Create new Xbox Live Account - Currently free 3 month trials available on Xbox site.
3. Play XBL off original discs and when Chip is switched off.
EVERYTHING WILL WORK. IF NOT EMAIL ME AT
[email protected]