avr_fred:
Which board model and chip type are you selecting in the IDE for the download to that breadboard?
following the https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard
i chose Duemilanove, but that failed.
but when i just chose UNO - it worked !
avr_fred:
I'm lost.Your breadboard:
Which chip did it have? 328 or 328p?
right now, as per success above, the 328_.
the full saga of the swapping is here;
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=536460.0
anyway - STOP THE PRESSES - the problem was indeed in this picture;
on the previous problem, i had meticulously tested for continuity on all the breadboard connections - that was of course because it was unrelated to the CH340G module - but on this issue (now on the CH340G) - it didn't occur to me to test THOSE DAMN JUMPERS !! 
they were BRAND NEW - a rainbow set of 10 which were freshly purchased for this setup !
it really should have hit me much earlier, that when i upload a NEW sketch, the OLD sketch should STILL run before the RESET kicks in - it only dawned on me a few hours ago, that the LED (for the sketch) was NOT blinking !!
i pulled out the old multimeter and - INDEED - TWO of the five on that ribbon jumper was NOT conducting anything !
i checked the other five i haven't used yet, and found yet another one that was faulty !
i am going to get my money back - or a replacement that is tested one-by-one !!
grrr.....
replacing the faulty jumpers with my own sloppy-crimped wires did the trick - Sketch Uploaded !!
[ p h e w !! ]
i guess the bright side is that i got to learn about ICSP and some avrdude, and really went through the paces with 'bootloading fundamentals' - plus i finally "grew up" and popped chips in and out of the Uno board !
Thanks again to every one who patiently helped !!