Thank you @NeroVance !
I installed 0.8 again. A fast-press power up the pico now! But….when picomite starts up, the version header is displayed one,…character…at…a…time very slowly (it did the same during all my previous tests when the device actually powered on) Also, the battery level shows as -129%! (After going back to 1.4 the same batteries show 90%)
Going back to 1.4…..brian