6th gen malibu radio issues eeprom *removed*

So I’m working on a customer’s 2005 Malibu and they originally has the 6 disc changer. The disc changer died and I went ahead and replaced it with the single disc player, so it has less chance of mechanical error. Firstly I had no idea the new unit needed to be unlocked from the dealer, and the dealer said it’s a 50/50 chance. They also noted that if they can’t do it, I will still have to pay for the cost of the labor.

After doing some research I went ahead and removed the EEPROM from the radio. This actually worked like a champ unlocking the radio, and making it able to play cd’s and am/fm stereo. May issue now is that the LCD either comes on or not. If the LCD does come on it displays no info at all. Is this due to the radio missing the EEPROM? Also the place that I ordered the radio from said that I should have replaced the RADIO with the exact PART NUMBER and the SINGLE UNIT isn’t compatible at all with the system. “I call BS on this!”

Do you guys know of anything I can do to test the LCD it’s self? Or would you guys recommend finding a new FACEPLATE replacement for the radio? I suspect the LCD to be bad, and it’s not a MODEL SPECIFIC issue as the dealer, and the junk yard say it is.