[Q] Back from the dead!

2 months ago I was installing a CM nightly and something went wrong (I think it was incompatible versions of CM & gapps) and the main result was I had no keyboard access. No amount of attempts to correct this were successful at the time. Things just seemed to be going from bad to worse quickly. Failing all else I picked some option for system restore (I can't recollect what at this point) and got a screen that it was downloading the OS (I presumed the default Samsung OS for the phone but I have no way of knowing) It just stayed on that screen for hours. (possibly because I was off my data plan at the time. I've heard (too late) that some upgrades require it). Since it was getting nowhere I powered down the only way I could... taking out the battery. Then nothing. No boot screen, no recovery, nothing. For over 2 months. Last night I charged it figuring I'd give it one more shot before tossing it in the recycler. Then it boots up! WTH? I'm so happy!!!

But my problem remains what it was prior to going dead... no keyboard and erratic behavior (in particular the back button rarely activates. It will vibrate when pressed but not DO anything)

Baseband= N7000UUBKK2
kernel ver. 3.064-CM-gb07657a
CM ver. 10.2-20130824-nightly-n7000
build number cm_n7000-userdebug 4.3 JSS15Q

gapps-jb-201308-signed.zip

So I've been given a second chance to do it right. What can I do to fix this? Any suggestions would be much appreciated even if it involves moving back to unrooted stock OS and firmware.
Thanks in advance,
A.D.
P.S. I will be getting my data plan back if I can get this working right. Wish me luck.