OK, I had some trouble getting the nor writer to work myself.
Make sure you got the file on USB correctly, check md5.
Make sure you have cleaned cache in browser and set start page to about:blank
If it freezes for 10min, turn off and try again.
I also used my own host after a couple of freezes and that worked (may have been a coincidence though), did you use the unofficial public one?
BTW: the writer does not write to HDD, so there is no need to check the HDD after successful exploit/shutdown.
System restore should also not be necessary (the firmware stays the same anyway).
Cleaning browser cache let it finally reboot on its own after success on NOR!
edit: You are the man, it made it all the way thru cobra update!! Whats differnt between this and standard btw?