My brother attached a new HDD to our PS4 (previously having 500GB, now something like 2TB), and he told me to get the PS4 working. We had already backed up the data from the other HDD into a flash drive, thinking we were set.
Starting the PS4 in Safe Mode, I followed the instructions, and chose option 7. Initialize PS4 (Reinstall System Software), as it was the only one available. It tells me to
Connect a USB storage device that contains an update file for reinstallation for version 6.20 or later.
You can download the update file for reinstallation from playstation.com.
And so I went to the website and found the file and downloaded it to a separate flash drive from the one we used to backup the data (I had already tried using the same drive as the data, and it couldn't find the file). I had previously read posts on similar topics to find that I needed to format my flash drive to exFAT or FAT, so I made sure it was (it was formatted to FAT).
So, with everything ready, I plugged the flash drive into the PS4 and pressed 'Ok'. It couldn't find the file. I then took it out to format the drive to exFAT, but to no avail. It continued to tell me that it couldn't find the file. So, being stupid as I am and desperate, I singled out the update file (as in remove both folders so the file was the ONLY thing in the flash drive), and tried again. This time, it had a different message, in effect telling me that the PS4 wasn't compatible with the drive, and that I needed to format it to exFAT.
But it was already exFAT. I can't find any solution to these problems. Help?