yes you are correct the xbox will not boot up in m$(normal) mode until u have the dashboards on it and it is locked , as to the 2nd problem , more info is needed , what xbox version , what bank was the chip switched to?, altho my 1st guess would be the media your bootdisc is on , i burn my slayers discs etc onto dvd-r (ritek g04/g05 dye) and i aint had a drive yet that they wont read in , it sounds like it is functioning correctly , can you try the original hard drive??