An update: So I replaced the PIC chip again, programmed it with the good board's hex (programmed successful and verified). Then used the latest Bitmain firmware to boot the miner. For some sick and twisted reason, it's back to PIC fw version = 0xff. Besides throwing off the highest building in the city, is there anything I can do? Could it be something with the EEPROM? I went ahead and tested the 3rd board and it also shows PIC fw version=0xb9 (hexcompare also shows they are the same). So two boards show 0xb9 but this one board keeps posting 0xff. At a total loss here and I'm all ears if you might be able to think of another approach.