Ok - So I checked the battery and sure enough, it was very low to dead. I tested a new one and replaced it. Booted a couple of times without a cart in and the RTC stayed in time. I fired everything back up and still had the same issues. So, I formatted the SD Card (properly), loaded the latest Rom pack (as suggested), cleared NVRAM and downgraded to the prior FW. It worked and confirmed in "about." I then loaded the new FW to the SD card, cleared NVRAM and it took, again confirmed in "about."
Result - still the same Rom Hardware msg on nearly every game. Still those weird white pixel rows on 2020 as well.
Not sure where to go. This def seems like a SW problem, so any suggested steps to take would be appreciated. Everything worked prior to this latest upgrade of FW, TOP and Menu, so the likelihood of a HW problem are slim to none.
Thanks.