Thanks. If you asked my wife yesterday, she would have said I was ready to throw the machine(s) out the window

I've wasted days on that MPU over the last few years, but I'd rather have an orig board than an aftermarket replacement - I don't make my life easy, but IMHO original parts are what makes these machines nice - I've got an after market board, and the bootup sounds different and a couple of other things aren't the same still a great solution if you can't get the orig going.