OK, after several hours of research which included finding and reading through several months of the developers mailing list, I'm convinced my description above is correct. There really are two unrelated problems with different fixes. The 8U2 problem has a patch, but the "!!!" problem does not have one yet. The bug has been isolated and a fix developed but it isn't tested and ready for general consumption.
The insidious part of this is that the "!!!" can exhibit itself through compiled code with no way to tell where it is; you just have to move code around until it goes away and you can go back to loading software. Also, people seem to confuse the two problems. If I'm correct, reprogramming the 8U2 will NOT fix the "!!!" problem as has been suggested on this thread and others. This leads to yet another level of frustration and confusion.
Anyway, now that I put my butt on the line with this, would one of the developers step up and correct me or verify what I said. It would be nice if those of us that have encountered the problems and frustration of having to flail around randomly until it magically starts working again, at least had a clear description and a consistent place to look.
Especially since one can't search for "!!!" on the forum.