EVILNAT CFW broke? PKGs won’t install, multiMAN blank, – tried everything

PS3 Fat (CFW compatible) - this all worked before and now nothing does.

Current situation:

• Was running EVILNAT CFW + multiMAN (mmCM) - No issue whatsoever
• Stepped away from it for a few months.
• multiMAN opens blank and never fully booted
• Deleted multiMAN to reinstall
• Now PKGs fail to install (error 8001003A)
• FTP via FileZilla refuses connection (ECONNREFUSED)
• ISOs mount but freeze on first loading screen
• Safe Mode Restore File System + Rebuild Database did nothing
• Reinstalled EVILNAT 4.92 CEX → no change
• Reinstalled EVILNAT 4.92 PEX → no change
• USB is FAT32, proper PS3/PKG structure, tried multiple PKGs and USB ports
• Blu-ray drive worked last time I used it
• This setup used to work fine, nothing major changed

At this point I’m lost.
Could this be:

• Corrupt HDD?
• Blu-ray drive board starting to fail?
• Corrupt dev_flash?

If anyone has seen this exact combo of issues and fixed it, I’d really appreciate some guidance. I’m down to replace the HDD or reflash if needed, just don’t want to brick it.

Thanks 🙏