MacBook Air Disk Utility doesn't recognize SDD

Pcfreak wrote:

The other mac is serial number FVF***1WK

Please do not post your system serial numbers on the forums. Use the Apple article linked here to identify your Macs by system serial number:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

From the serial number it appears this second laptop is a MacBook Air 13" (2017) model which is very similar to the 2015 Air which is not currently working.

a picture of the ssd

I need a picture of the other side of the SSD which contains the product label. Since this SSD fits the OWC enclosure, it is an Apple SSD, but like I said Apple has a lot a different versions even with the same connector. The exact model details of this SSD is probably no longer too important at this point.

So, with a 2017 MBAir running Monterey, then you should be able to see the data on the SSD in the OWC enclosure. Since that SSD is appearing blank to macOS Monterey, then something happened to the data on that SSD. With the external OWC SSD & enclosure connected to your 2017 MBAir, launch the Terminal app and issue the following command so we can see the drive layout of that SSD from the 2015 laptop (you will need to press the "Return" key at the end of the command to execute it):

diskutil  list  external

Make sure to disconnect all other external devices from the 2017 MBAir so the output of this command will only include the OWC enclosure & SSD. Post the output here.

In order to check the health of the SSD taken from the 2015 laptop I think we will need to reinstall it into 2015 laptop (internally) and boot from an external USB drive containing a full copy of macOS 10.13+ so we can use the third party DriveDx app (has a free trial period) to check the health of the SSD. Just make sure that you install macOS 10.13+ to the external drive and not the internal drive or the data on that SSD will be permanently gone (may already be gone). The spare external drive will need to be erased using Disk Utility as GUID partition and APFS (top option) before it will be a valid destination for macOS. You can find instructions for downloading various macOS installers using this Apple article:

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

You can also create a bootable macOS USB installer by using the instructions in this Apple article:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

I guess you can try running DriveDx on your 2017 MBAir to see whether DriveDx can access the health information from the SSD in the OWC enclosure, but I doubt the OWC enclosure will allow it. DriveDx will ask to install a special USB driver when you attempt to access the health information for the external SSD, but even with this special USB driver installed some external enclosures/docks/adapters will not allow the necessary communication to access the health information on the external drive. It is up to you whether you want to have this driver installed on the 2017 MBAir.

If you manage to get the health information from the SSD from the 2015 laptop, make sure to post the complete DriveDx text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

Since the SSD from the 2015 laptop appears to be blank to macOS Monterey, then most likely the data has been lost due to how SSDs work. Do you need to try to recover data from this SSD or do you have a backup of that laptop? I want to see the SSD's health report and the drive layout shown by the output of that Terminal command before suggesting any other options.

From the system serial number it appears you have a MacBook Air 13" (Early 2015) model. FYI, you should not post the serial number on the forums as that is considered personal information.....I wanted you to enter the serial number on the Apple check coverage page which would have given you the exact model.

Pcfreak wrote:

MacBook Air not booting up from monterey

Is Monterey the OS on the internal SSD, or an external boot drive, or booting Recovery Mode?

and if she plugs into another mac sdd it is not recognized in Disk Utility

This is too vague.....plugs what into another Mac (or did you mean: plugs into another Mac SSD....not sure what the latter would even mean, but with no punctuation I'm not sure how to interpret that sentence). What exactly is not being recognized in Disk Utility when this occurs? If the internal SSD from the non-booting laptop is being connected to another Mac, then how you are doing this...you must provide specific details such as is it internal installation or are you using an external enclosure (if so, what enclosure).

While booted to macOS 10.13+ (either from a full macOS bootable external drive, or even from a macOS installer....USB or online), launch Disk Utility and click "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drives appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Can you now see the internal SSD on the left pane of Disk Utility? It should be the top most item.

If you don't see the physical SSD while booted to macOS 10.13+ using this method, then it means you have a hardware issue of some sort. Most likely the SSD has failed assuming there is no accidental liquid damage to the laptop. Or if the laptop has a third party SSD installed, then perhaps the third party SSD or third party SSD adapter is bad or even incompatible.

FYI, you cannot just take an Apple OEM SSD and install it internally into another Mac since macOS may not work with that configuration. Apple has several different versions of these OEM SSDs even when the SSD connector is identical. These Apple OEM SSDs will only work in very specific Macs....some of them will work in multiple different models, but others will not. I know this from personal experience...macOS knows which SSD belongs in which model Mac.

I hope this helps you to understand why it is critical you provide very specific & clear details. Every little detail matters since we cannot see what is happening with this laptop or what you are doing when tell us you are connecting things.

The Terminal output is not showing the OWC enclosure or SSD. This is just showing a mounted .dmg for the iBoysoft NTFS driver.

FYI, it is usually best to also include the command you used so we can confirm the correct command was used since the command line is very unforgiving. If you copy & pasted the command I provided into the Terminal window and this is the result, then either the OWC enclosure with SSD is not actually connected to this laptop, or the SSD or enclosure is not working.

I'm thinking the SSD has most likely failed. You can try reinstalling the SSD back into the 2015 laptop and running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected. If the SSD is not recognizable, then I would hope that the diagnostics would report it. Assuming the Apple SSD has failed and no other issues are reported by the diagnostics, you could install a third party SSD into the 2015 laptop (OWC sells a drop in replacement...does require using macOS 10.13+). I'm assuming there is no accidental damage to the laptop and this is just a simple SSD failure. Keep in mind macOS 12.x is the last supported version of macOS for the 2015 laptop (same for the 2017 MAir as well).

You can try having Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider confirm the SSD failure. Apple does consider this laptop "Vintage". If the SSD has failed and you want a replacement SSD, then I would go for the OWC Aura SSD as the OWC Aura SSD will be faster & less expensive than having Apple install an OEM replacement.

Just to confirm this laptop was purchased new from Apple and the internal SSD was never replaced? Because if the laptop was purchased used, then it may not be easy to detect if the original factory SSD is still installed.

Thanks for confirming the exact model of the enclosure being used.

Pcfreak wrote:

and I also connected another laptop via the external housing type OWC Envoy Pro 1A USB-A 10Gbps there it knows an ssd but stares at unknown not initialized

What is the exact model of this other laptop and version of macOS being used? You can get this information by clicking the Apple menu and selecting "About This Mac". If it is running macOS 10.6 - 10.11, then it won't be able to recognize the new drive layout utilized by newer versions of macOS....so an older version of macOS may see a blank uninitialized drive. Again, specific details are very important for us to know.

Since this other laptop sees an uninitialized SSD within the OWC enclosure, then the SSD is at least communicating so the SSD is not completely dead. Can you please post a picture of this SSD so I can see the label on it so I can try to properly identify the model of SSD here?

Was Filevault enabled on that MBAir SSD?

Do you have a spare USB hard drive or SSD handy which can be erased?

Once I know the exact model of this other laptop and version of macOS on it, I'll know what you have to work with so I can try to come up with a plan with how to proceed further.

Have you verified the format on the Envoy is an Apple one? Or checked to see it it's formatted at all?

This may be a super obvious question, but you mention an Envoy enclosure. Is there an actual SSD in the enclosure? I'm unfamiliar with the Envoy, but enclosures do not come with drives already installed. That would make them just a portable drive.

It really helps to know the exact model of your Mac. You can get this information by entering the system serial number here:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

What version of the macOS installer are you booting?

Does this laptop have the original Apple OEM SSD installed or a third party NVMe SSD?

Pcfreak wrote:

how can remove it from the form serial number

I've reported the issue to the forum moderators on your behalf so the serial number will most likely already be removed before you even see this response.

To have the moderators review a post, you can click the icon which has the exclamation point inside the circle which is located to the bottom right of each individual post. Just make sure to click the icon associated with the post you want to have examined by the moderators.

Pcfreak wrote:

what do you mean please?

Below is a screenshot of your post where I circled in red the icon used to report a post to the forum moderators for review. Clicking that icon on a forum post opens a pop-up window which will allow you to inform the moderators the reason you want the post associated with that icon reviewed. Each post has those those icons at the bottom right...one for getting a direct link to a specific post, and the other icon which I circled in red is for reporting a post to the moderators for review. Sometimes you may see a third icon there which looks like a pencil which you can use to edit your own post (the edit option disappears after about 15 minutes).