I tried soldering to the legs like that, but I couldn't do it. You've got better eyes, a steadier hand, and better soldering skills than me. Are those the only 4 pins you have to have connected? Looks like you don't have 6 or 7 (SCK and MISO). When I was playing around I didn't think I needed 5 (SCK) which you are using.
On drivers with stars, I'm guessing you could solder to the stars instead of the IC pins or pads for some of them, but I don't know if the ones connected to the stars are needed for communication.
Can't be of help on setting modes right now. I was thinking the extended modes UI wasn't programmable, it just gave you a way to get to additional modes if needed. I thought only the programmable was user programmable.