I thought that I could just get a copy of the bootloader and then use the manufacturer's software to update the firmware. However there seems to be much more going on in the background of the 'simple' bootloader. Also there is the little problem of the serial number. I will look through the links you kindly included and see if I can glean more information and look if there is anything on the Internet. It's interesting stuff, I've learnt a bit and I'm not afraid to download files to a device that is already non functional but not broken.