I have a v2 SLE chip; now when I boot up into the smartxx bios it gives me the option to start the original bios. If I select that, will I be able to play on live as if it were a normal xbox? The manual said that the chip is turned off, but I just want to double check. Thanks.

Yes it will be in "disabled" mode, just remember to do it every time you want to play live.

Although it would be wise to check the 'marrage thoery' thread, as if you have previously signed up for XBL and have since upgraded your HDD then maybe not.

That said though there are BIOS' available that will PREVENT accidental XBL connections, you may wish to investigate those too.

i set my v2 to boot my xecuter5035 bios when i hit power and to boot original bios when i hit eject. So if i wanna go on live i turn my xbox on with the eject button insert halo2 since thats all i play then bam go online. Or if i wanna go modded i turn on with power button and just go. But that was before i got a 300gig hardrive.

Edit: you can do this in your config...if you fuck somthing up hit the recovery switch and erase the config.

If you have been on live before you changed the hard drive, and you go on again with a new hard drive, regardless of whether or not you have your mod chip on or off, you will eventually get banned. I have personal experience with this on several boxes. Somehow live keeps a log of the information on the hard drive and your eeprom. If this hard drive info changes after you've been on live, bam. Youre banned. However, if you change your hard drive before you get on live, then MS dosen't know the difference and you should be fine.

Yup but as mentioned all of this is fully explained in the Marrage thoery thread on this site.