Well, this seems like the more I poke at it, the worse it gets.
I totally feel like I got gut punched now.
I got my parts today, so I decided to replace the 74hct244 buffer in the IRQ section.
I removed the old chip and installed a socket. I figured I'd power it up without the chip to make sure I didn't go backwards.
It powered up, displayed the model and version, and then got stuck. I figured, no big deal, it's missing that chip. Powered off.
So then I put the old 244 in the socket, in case of issue I didn't blow the new chip, and I'd be back to where I was before I started doing anything.
Booted up, got model and version, the got the display. But things weren't right, and when I pressed a key, it went nuts.
I powered it back down and took out the old 244, and powered back up. Now I get random display instead of model and version.
Put in the new 244, still random display on bootup. But it appears to be counting, but the keys are all messed up.
But now standby works. Go figure.
I did get Opr Er on one key, so it is responding to things.
The 74hct244 is not tied to the keyboard and display, so I have no clue what the hell happened, or how to proceed.
Do I now have a piece of scrap, or does anyone have an idea on what I can do next???
Totally sick to my stomach now. It's not hard to replace an ic, but I sure got bit on this one.