Error 1014 on 3GS

I have a Iphone 3GS for the past 18 months, and I orginally purchased it in Belgium, which meant no need to tie it to one provider. I have updated the phone as the updates have been available and completed my last update in mid April. It worked well for a week until I awok one morning to see the screen with the graphic telling me to connect to Itunes. I did this and tried to restore the phone with no success. It recognises the phone, checks with Apple and goes through the process and then gives the 1014 error. it also shows the following in the home screen page:

Name: N/A

Software Version: N/A

Serial No: N/A

IMEI: N/A

I have tried every solution i have seen on the internet (different USB hub, cable, PC, upgrade, downgrade, and various forums but I have not found a solution to date. I can't accept that the hardware is broken. Surely it should last longer than 18 months at more than €550 a piece??

Any Ideas??