Brake Warning Icon Lit

Hi folks! I have a 2005 and the yellow brake warning icon is now lit all the time but the car stops fine. This is the only Prius I've driven so I don't know what it is supposed to feel like or what is supposed to happen when you jam on the brakes. The car will lock all wheels on a slippery surface though the front wheels lock a lot easier and I don't think the ABS is working. The skid icon will flicker a little when I lock the brakes but I'm assuming that the pedal should pulse and the ABS icon should lite. Basically the car feels like a normal car without ABS. What is normal for a Gen.2? I took the car to a shop that had the words "Auto-Electric" in the name and they were less than helpful with the lite but my wallet was lighter when I left. The shop said that the problem was maybe Code 1378, capacitor communication circuit malfunction, possibly skid control ECU or wiring problem. They said that they couldn't fix it and that I should take it to the dealer. That is not an attractive option for me as I usually fix all my own stuff and have a small income. I'm really tempted to try a junkyard controller and I can check the wiring with my VOM. I would like to hear everybody's thoughts on this situation and wonder if anybody has solved this brake warning problem? I would also like to find a shop or good fixit person that really knows Gen,2's and has Techstream close to where I live. I'm located at the fringe of the North Bay Area in South Lake County, California, not far from Calistoga. I bought a bootleg copy of Techstream but could not bring myself to let Borats neighbor have control of my laptop. Also my phone died so I've lost Torque and Dr. Prius. I'm sort of stuck at the moment. Thanks!