PS3 remote not working after shutting off PS3 during restore

From the PS3 Backup Utiltity page:

The following copy-protected content will not be transferable:

• Digital Right Management (DRM)
• PlayStation® format software game data
• PlayStation®2 format software game data
• PlayStation®3 format software Game Save Data flagged as unexportable
• Trophy data, trophy data is saved onto your Sony Entertainment Network account

It's possible all your game saves were "flagged as unexportable". I don't know of any way to check, especially since your old drive is gone.

You could buy a new drive for your old PS3, restore back to it, then use the Data Transfer Utility to transfer everything to the new PS3. This works because the two consoles are connected via Ethernet and the old PS3 decrypts everything, and sends it to the new PS3, where it is encrypted with the new PS3's encryption keys.

After restoring to the new drive on your old PS3, you could join PlayStation Plus. Subscribers get up to 1GB of online storage for game saves. Sign in to your old PS3, let the saves transfer online, then sign into your new PS3.

You need to sync the controller with the PS3 before it'll work with your console.

To sync your controller, connect it to the console via the USB cable, the 4 lights on the top should flash. Now press the PS (i.e. Home) button (large round button in the middle of the controller, between Start, Select & the analog sticks). Only one light should flash now. You should now be able to disconnect the controller and use it normally.

If this doesn't work, it could be your controller or console are faulty.