Wait what. A9lh lasted through a ctrnand transfer. Weiird man. K try USA. Might have just gotten a U device. Like @Jayro said.
If CTRtransfers did lose a9lh your suggestions would have been reckless. As he would have a full brick (black screen on stock firmware + no NAND backup).
This is REALLY strange. You said one of the transfers allowed you into safemode? It may have errored out because it couldn't find an access point or wifi was disabled.