I've just gotten ahold of a used xbox with no documentation from a trust-worthy person. I hooked up power, connection cable for the TV, and controller as I was told, but when I tried running GhostRecon, Splintercell, and all other games, I got no response. The drive is running, but I don't even get a screen. Is there any special setting the TV should be on to run the system? If not, then I'm completely lost.

Did you try turning the t.v. to each of the input channels?

Depending on the TV type, it needs to be on AV, E#, etc.

Also make sure you plugged the cables into the input holes and not the output holes. Certain tvs have those holes.