LATESTER Thanks for the tip, I couldn't remember which key it was (tried F4, oops!), but at this point I have "successfully" booted even w/out keyboard & trackpad, so it "reverts" back to a post-update (still unusable) version... It's funny, the power key works to initiate a shutdown just fine, but as to the keyboard, even the caps lock light doesn't turn on when depressed... sigh... Thanks for taking the time to post the tip though, hope it helps anyone else who'se caught by this problem!
(Version 1.2b)