[Quall999]

well, usually those exact same symptions happen when a chip was installed badly, or hasn't gotten any bios on it. Even the pressing the eject tray twice to open it. So, the onboard bios may have been corrupted. This happens but rarely (heat can cause it, even if the fan is fine). A modchip might fix it, but that is not a guarantee. If your friend desides to get one, install it in your xbox first to see if it works. If it does, then just keep it or get another one.

But, that is a generic problem, meaning any broken parts or fried chips on the mobo would cause that problem. You having to buy a new xbox might be just due to bad timing. It was probably going to frag anyways even if you didn't have it.