Playstation 3 firmware update problem, console no longer working

I was prompted to update to the new version of sonys firmware (dont remember which version, didnt even bother looking). after the download was "done" and the update "installed" the playstation 3 reset itself. The opening sony screen comes in and then nothing happens after that, just the waves (background) showing, no icons, no anything. Ive been told to turn off my router and try restarting it again, i dont see why that would work, and of course it didnt. Should i just stop wasting my time and just send it back to sony and pay 150$? I have not seen any good solutions. I even tried replacing my hard drive with another seagate 5400 hdd. Let me know if you have any ideas.