ASUS L3400

Recommended by Wim's BIOS...

I've tried upgrading the BIOS on a friend's ASUS L3400. Strangely enough, that model is not listed on asus.com, but searching around I determined it's a L3C/S. I've downloaded ASUS Update and a v. 122 bios image for the L3C/S. The update utility said the bios version and model matched the existing bios, updated succesfully the eeprom and... failed twice to verify it . Subsequently the notebook wouldn't boot properly anymore: the on switch switches on only the fans, no video, no boot, and the system powers off in a few seconds. The 'battery' key keeps the fans running indefinitely but again, no boot. ASUS tech support says the WHOLE MOTHERBOARD needs to be replaced. Isn't there a less radical solution ? Isn't there a recovery bios capability ??