which said that a certain series of 89v51rd2 was supposedly shipped without the bootcode.
two possibilities
1) they were, indeed, "shipped without the bootcode", so return the defective chips. Also, in such a case the local FAE would be obliged to parallel program it in, if replacements were not immediately available.
2) as stated in my previous post, someone did not read the datasheet and erased the bootcode.

Again, where the 89C did have the bootcode in ROM (indestructable) the V51 has it in a separate flash (erasable) so if you pop a v51 in instead of a c51 and do not read the datasheet it is emminently possible that you erased the bootcode.

If you read the datasheet (and FlashMagic manual) so you know what you are doing and, if so, return defective chips there is no problem with the v51.

So often a feature added to the benefit of some (you can now put your own code in the bootcode memory) hurt those that ignore its existence. If a chip has a feature that you are not interested in, that does not alleviate your responsibility to know its existence.

Erik