Nope, did that and did a few more mods, to no effect - in loop mode there are only 4 eventualities - no steps on, 3 steps on, two steps on with a space between them, and 7 steps on. When not in loop mode, it seems there may be a sort of logic to when step 6-8 stay on and off, as I've obtained mostly rhythmic patterns that repeat after 3-4 cycles, not without error though. Faster patterns have less errors outside of loop mode. In loop mode, when I lose all steps, it's a relatively slow clock and they disappear around step 4. When it organizes to the other two patterns, it is a quicker rate.
Perhaps it has something to do with the 1n cap value?