[vvuk]

Now the original errors on my logs (posted earlier) where "Error reading monitor ODYSSEY interrupt status 1: no acknowledge" and sensor alerts.  Upon replacement of the V10 DS1780 I only got ALERT XIO 12V Bias low ~2.68v...which is how I found out I had a short on the card.  I accidently shorted the card out with a 1V DC 1.5A power injection on the short to try to find the short with my thermal imager on the V10 outside the system on my bench, so something went from dragging down the 12V XIO line and originally taking the DS1780 with it to now...but being open circuit...so it's disconnected inside the V10.

Ah! This is the piece that I was missing. And makes sense.

Now that I understand the L1 flashing process a bit more -- and crucially, that I should be able to "temporarily" boot a new version -- I'm happy to upgrade to the same L1 version you have and let you know what happens if I try to boot without the V10 installed. Let me know if that would be useful and I can try to find time.