Hi guys, thanks for the info.
I have not tried on an XP machine yet, I will, but given that the network card in my win 7 machine won't even show as having a cable plugged in at this point I don't hold out to much hope, I don't think it's stuck in flash mode, this is a different combo of LEDs, I think it's stuck in not having ANY firmware mode :p
I tried the reset button shinnanigans but to no avail
I don't have a Linux box set up right now but I do have a spare machine and I do need to brush up on my Linux so I will have a good read of those other sites and give it a go when I hve some spare time. As it's not my main router it's more of a project at this point
thanks again for the suggestions!