On selecting this option the old, known-good firmware is written in to TL866 micro-controller. The TL866 hardware was recognized and within the 'Tools(V)' menu the 'Reflash firmware' item was finally available. I plugged the bare PCB back in to my PC via USB and started the MiniPro v6.71 software.It goes without saying you need to ensure no part of the resistor's legs short any track or component on the PCB. I soldered a 200ohm pull-up resistor between a source of 3.3volts and the RC1 leg of the TL866's micro controller-as pictured in the *.PDF above.I again dismantled the TL866 and extracted its PCB assembly.I installed the known-good MiniPro v6.71 distribution which kheller2 provided a link for above-making sure I permitted it to re-install the USB driver.While perhaps unnecessary, I also removed the USB driver when I was given that option. First of all, since I had installed the booby-trapped v6.80 MiniPro software I made sure to uninstall it.It is worth mentioning this process would work to reinstall any version of the firmware. I found this document made fascinating reading and more importantly I could properly follow his explanation of the method to reset the microprocessor inside the TL866 and thereby enable re-flashing. However, the same topic is illustrated in far more detail by 'radioman' from the EEVBlog forum in the documents that accompany his open-source flashing software. However I found the site rather confusing and I was unable to use the very brief directions it gave. Basically the material linked to by kheller2 above does indeed cover the necessary ground. A little more reading on the matter has turned up a successful workaround.

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