Not sure if you are on Windows, but if you are, go into Device Manager and make sure none of your USB hubs/ports are set so that Win can put them to sleep. This can turn off devices from time to time.

Cheers

bartbalint Thank you so much for the reply, that was one variable I hadn't considered. However, I was determined to either have to return my Atom as faulty or fix this last night and I managed to do so. I had a couple of aborted attempts via USB of updating the firmware, and I can only consider that there was an error in one of the attempts. i managed to get a UC update completed fully after rebooting the Atom and since then it has been as solid and robust as ever. I have now had it connected for nearly 20 hours, in various cycles and usages, including idle and in Mardi Gras mode, and it seems full service has been resumed.

Now trying to find how to amend my initial post title to 'solved', any suggestions while I fiddle around

Glad it is working. On your posts, should be a little pencil icon button to edit your posts. That should also give you access to your thread title so you can edit and add ‘solved.’