Whirlpool model DU 1145, vintage 2006/2007 - Stuck on drain.
First, I feel obliged to:
1) thank everyone for your suggestions. One or more of them worked. Either:
heated dry/normal... heated dry/normal, or heated dry for 5 seconds (twice - to unlock the controls). Tried both procedures with the door open, and with it closed.
2) apologize because I am not sure which solution worked. A lessen learned: even though the dishwasher and disposal plug into the same receptacle, each is likely on a separate breaker (what is the emoticon for 'embarrassed'?)
Issue: For months it has been flashing lights that would not turn off. Sometimes, unplugging the power or opening the breaker would stop the flashing buttons, but the next day they would be on again. However, fiddling with the buttons, my wife would always get it to work. Then, yesterday, it went through its prewash and drain cycles, then got stuck in drain mode. None of the buttons worked. No flashing lights. We had to kill the power to stop the drain cycle.
Solutions: I spent most of the day trying solutions I found online plus a few of my own. I also opened the panel, and looked underneath the unit, to see if there was a short in the wiring - none found. I made sure the drain hose was not plugged up at the disposal. Convinced it was the control panel, I had resigned myself to failure and the undesired expense of a new dishwasher. After hand washing a load of dishes and a late lunch, I decided to give it one more try. I found this website, and tried the solutions above. One of them worked - not sure which one. I will add to this post if, once we load the dishwasher again and try it, it fails again. If you do not hear from me again - its good news.