I'd say we have narrowed this down to AR2/1.7 needing to work. I assume the NEO2.5 fulliy wired works with VDRs - I think that's been confirmed on the Forum.

I feel really sorry for you. You've got all the expensive gear then Sony crapped on Messiah. For what my view is worth, if you've gone the whole 9 yards, try the next 9 and if you can get hold of the BootMaster MESSIAH Clone, and if it works, you won't need to use AR2. All this at your own risk, of course!