cromwell
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Cromwell is a free, legal BIOS replacement for the original Xbox. It is capable of loading Linux from the Xbox's Hard Disk, and CD-ROM. It is not able to load original Xbox games, neither originals nor copies.
It can be installed and used in one of two ways:
- Flashed to a modchip: If selected, it will let you boot Linux. If not selected, it will load the original MS BIOS, so no functionality is lost.
- Flashed to the TSOP: this replaces the MS BIOS stored on the Xbox, and makes it impossible to play games (whether original or not).
The advantage of the second method is that it makes it possible to dedicate the whole hard disk to Xbox-Linux.
Xromwell is a very similar program, built from the same source code. However, instead of being a BIOS, it is an XBE (Xbox Executable), meaning that it can be launched like other XBEs. It is not signed with the MS key, which means you will need either a modchip with a BIOS that allows you to run unsigned XBEs, or a softmod exploit, such as the UDE.
Cromwell/Xromwell also has a number of other functions, such as locking and unlocking hard disks, and selecting video modes (PAL/NTSC switching).