the xbox was modded long ago and i've really not played with it too much except to load a new BIOS and a new dashboard. i've regained interest in it and i've got a lot of things i want to ask.

first, i have lost the original xbox dashboard and xbox BIOS. i'm not sure about the legalities, but if it is legal can i get those two items somewhere to put back on the box?

second, i'm putting a little 20GB HDD in it to replace the 7GB and i want to load a msdashboard, custom dash and linux on there. i'd like to be able to control everything from linux (from the bootloader to switching dashboards on the fly) but my dashboard is dated so i need a new one with better features and menus. so where can i find a list of dashboards or OSes or whatever you call them? with screenshots and features preferably.

third, do all dashboard apps work on every dashboard or do i need a specific set of apps for each dash i want to load?

fourth, where's a good site to get info on various xbox linux distros? and can i play games from within linux without emulating?

fifth, can i get more DDR to solder onto the board and extend the existing memory? i see there are two empty spots with lands/pads for two more samsung chips and the accompanying hardware (resistors/caps) seem to already be in place... anyone have experience with this? i'm pretty handy with an iron ;D

i dont think its legal to distro the original xbox bios. you'll probably have to transfer it from a modchipped xbox that still has it on there.
#2= #xbins... http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/xbins.php
#3 can you be a bit more specific? i dont quite understand what you mean...
#4 http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page i dont think its possible to load games from linux without emulating them....
#5 i thought those emtpy slots were in use already.... i dunno... try searching for a tut on that

Linux only loads the linux os not dash. dont use cromwell!
XBMC, Evox, etc can load all your apps and games with a softmod or tsop.
any dash launches any app, game or even linux through xromwell. use XDSL.
if you want the stock bios back, you need to use a softmod and use either 3944 or 4034.
you can upgrade the ram but you can use ordinary ddr ram. upgrade with caution!