Hi all, and cheers...
D-U-R-X, Android AIO flasher is this:
Android AIO Flasher Makes ADB and Fastboot Easier – xda-developers - looks useful but no luck with it so far.
Ral, booting the phone without SD card doesn't make a difference, phone acts the same. I can get to the HBOOT menu however. I did set the phone up for USB debugging a while ago but have done a factory reset since then so I guess that its not set up anymore.
Scotty: thanks - I'd tried getting that number before but had no luck, must have been missing the drivers. Here's what I got:
INFOversion: 0.5
INFOversion-bootloader: 0.85.0024
INFOversion-baseband: 26.09.04.28
INFOversion-cpld: None
INFOversion-microp: 0438
INFOversion-main: 2.50.771.2
INFOserialno: HT0C7RX08056
INFOimei: 352668049062746
INFOproduct: ace
INFOplatform: HBOOT-7230
INFOmodelid: PD9810000
INFOcidnum: H3G__001
INFObattery-status: good
INFObattery-voltage: 4057mV
INFOpartition-layout: Generic
INFOsecurity: on
INFObuild-mode: SHIP
INFOboot-mode: FASTBOOT
INFOcommitno-bootloader: a3d4fa0f
INFOhbootpreupdate: 11
INFOgencheckpt: 0
INFOregion-id: 0
all: Done!