I will only give maybe 2 shots of ether then I am done. Ether will dry out the cylinder walls and cause damage. Pour a little gas into the carb if needed. If you had raised the portable gas tank above the carb and ran that fuel directly into the carb, you would have gotten it running right away. By pulling the fuel line off the carb and then cranking the engine, you can see if the fuel pump is pumping. I am not trying to be critical, just trying to save someone a lot of time when doing this. I usually bypass most of the safety switches because I run the machines myself and they are a source of many problems on older machines. I may leave the brake switch and/or the neutral switch intact. Google lawn mower ignition switch schematics and you can usually see where all the wires go on your type switch so you can power an electric fuel pump etc...