PS4 stuck in Safe Mode, can't update version 12.02 via USB CE-34788-0 (I know some of this has been mentioned before)

I have been given a friends PS4 to take a look at and the subject explains my issue.

Now I appreciate that this may have been requested previously, but the response to those were not very helpful (if any response had occurred).

So here is my saga
My friend does not have Playstation Plus therefore no cloud backup is available, however they do have lots of saved data and games that he really does not want to lose (many years of data).
If only he has Playstation Plus then this wouldn’t be so much of an issue.

His playstation did make a slight fall off his desk onto the floor recently, but during my inspection I see no major signs of damage externally, or internally. No rattles or loose components (always a good sign).

It keeps going into Safe Mode loop and requesting an update 12 or newer version.

Things I have tried:
.- Downloaded to a brand new (formatted) USB stick the latest Sony update PUP file version 12.02.

  • Tried with one of my older USB 2.0 sticks (formatted) and version 12.02 downloaded and installed.

The update file is recognised and tries to update, however it gets to about 37% then zips straight to 100%, with "PS4 could not update.

  • Rebuild Database

-Then tried to carry out the update task again.

Any advice would be really appreciated please

Update…
It turned out that the Hard drive was corrupted, and since Playstation (SONY) have locked down these consoles, the only thing left was to Re-initialise and reinstall System Software.

NOTE~ to anyone in this same situation, this is the reason why regular backups should be carried out, and ideally sign up to Playstation Plus which allows for Cloud storage. Be advised I am not being paid to sell this information, but just learnt a big lesson with Playstation data