⭐ Merited by vapourminer (1)
He doesn't have the 24 word pass phrase so I don't want to update the firmware which will reset the device.
How do people end up in this situation? 
Without that backup seed mnemonic, users are sitting on a ticking time bomb... one small accident and all their funds are gone. 
My Ledger Nano S suddenly reseted once. I didn't even try to put my PIN, and it just reseted when I touched the device while plugged in.
That's scary.
On to trying to solve your situation without updating the firmware: you can try MEW: https://www.myetherwallet.com
You can also try Mycrypto.com
Both myetherwallet and Mycrypto.com are supported by ledger.
https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008268594-Set-up-and-use-MyCrypto