pa321 , you could try using S1clone here
http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/~uw...?Tools.s1clone
Use it to extract a working firmware from another working player, and then flash the firmware image file into the dead player. But for it to work, both players must be exactly the same, in terms of hardware and original firmware.
However, as it is not fully tested, some users reports it works, and some don't. Do let us know of the outcome.