Taking the battery out *is* a hard reboot.

Next time, after hitting RESET hold down the scroll wheel during bootup. This will access a special setup menu. Configure all network options manually - IP, DNS server, wireless settings, etc. This should allow it to connect to the update server and re-flash the firmware. DHCP sometimes doesn't work right.

For another else with a similar problem - remote locking up on reboot - do the same thing but also access the configuration option that marks the remote for update. If you already have the latest firmware, when you reboot it will check everything and say you don't need an update - but then gives an option to force an upgrade. This has solved all "lock on reboot" problems I've had.