try a different hdd. ps3 will format it. you can out old one back in again and it will not be formatted.How do you know it's actually bricked? Is it not possible to enter the recovery mode?
Have you tried to boot without HDD? If it displays a warning message than it's not bricked.
BTW. @bguerville, would you have any idea why HEN would not work for me? It's almost like something's blocking it...
Any ideas will be much appreciated.
Thanks.

