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Updating the OSX on my OSX Base System disk (Mac Air)

Hi everyone!


The main disk in my Mac Air (mid 2013) died. I got a new SSD but it will not be recognized by the current OS (Maveriks) so I need to update it to at least High Sierra for the SSD to be recognized. I cannot figure out how to do this though :) I only have the OSX Base System drive available when I boot up in disk utility so I was hoping I could upgrade it there since the computer is connected to the internet but I do not see an option to do that.


So I cannot install the current version (Maveriks) because there is no disk to install it to and I cannot use the disk without upgrading the OS :/


Please help.


Thanks!

Joe

Posted on Jul 31, 2021 7:54 AM

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3 replies

Jul 31, 2021 5:07 PM in response to joemiangelo

Mavericks and any macOS version of 10.12 or earlier will not be able to work with an NVMe SSD.


If your laptop has never had macOS 10.13+ installed, then you cannot use a third party NVMe SSD since the laptop's firmware doesn't know how to communicate with an NVMe SSD. You will need to install the proper Apple SSD for this specific laptop and install macOS 10.13+ to the Apple SSD before you can attempt to physically install an NVMe SSD. Maybe you can use a standard M.2 SATA based SSD with a Sintech adapter (not sure if it works with a SATA based SSD), but there are no guarantees this option will allow you to install macOS 10.13+.


If your laptop has had macOS 10.13+ installed, then you will need to boot to a macOS 10.13+ installer either through Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R) or from a bootable MacOS 10.13+ USB installer. If the laptop had macOS 10.13+ installed at some point in the past and you are are booting to a macOS 10.13+ installer, then perhaps the SSD adapter you are using is incompatible if you are using a standard M.2 SSD (the Sintech adapter seems to be the recommended adapter for using a standard M.2 SSD).



Aug 1, 2021 12:53 AM in response to HWTech

It seems to be a firmware issue with the OWC Aura Pro X2 SSD I bought. It was the only compatible drive I could find. The manufacturer suggested the same solution - buy an Apple drive, update the OS (and thus the firmware) and then pop the OWC drive back in. But that will take a long time and sort of defeats the whole purpose of buying the OWC drive to begin with (only one I found and much better price).


Is there no way to make a bootable USB with the necessary firmware upgrade for the motherboard and install the firmware so the drive will be recognized?


Aug 1, 2021 9:00 AM in response to joemiangelo

Unfortunately the system firmware updater included with macOS 10.13+ installer requires a properly formatted internal drive which means it must at least be a SATA based PCIe SSD (not sure is a third party SATA based PCIe SSD will work). You need to make sure that the Apple SSD is made for that specific model laptop. While Apple SSDs for some other models may fit the SSD slot macOS can detect the SSD is not made for that particular system and may not work properly or even allow the SSD to be used even though a non-Apple OS may work completely fine with that same SSD. Apple expects things to be the way they shipped from the factory and any deviation may cause unexpected side effects. This is from first hand personal experience.


Perhaps there is a way to separate the system firmware updater from the macOS installer and make it work from an external drive, but I don't have that information and have never seen any instructions to do so. Unfortunately you are stuck trying to either use an original Apple SSD or trying a third party SATA based PCIe SSD (OWC made them at one time for certain models not sure about a 2013+ laptop, or try an M.2 SATA SSD with an appropriate adapter -- Sintech is the recommended one, but I don't know if it works with a SATA based SSD).



Updating the OSX on my OSX Base System disk (Mac Air)

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