I'm not sure what the procedure is that you're using, but remember that there is only one "A1 GROUND" coming into any 1A2 phone. If you don't have the first finger plugged into the first row of buttons, you're missing the A1 ground. It comes in on the orange/white lead of the first cable finger, and is used for all of the subsequent rows of keys. The 2nd, 3rd, etc keys do not have their own A1 ground feed. So, shorting them at the block will work, because you're probably getting the ground from the KSU wiring, but you need to supply it inside the phone for proper operation.
