OWC Aura Pro SSD not recognized with latest OS

480GB OWC Aura Pro NT High-Performance NVMe SSD - I've tried resetting the SMC and PRAM, selected show all devices in Disk Utility, and still nothing.

@stephaniep52782 - Sorry was in zzz land when you posted your update.

Well this is a bit tricky! The SSD needs High Sierra or newer to work. As the OS drivers for NVMe drives is within the OS. But the second issue is the Internet recovery only installs Sierra and the Sierra disk Utility likewise won’t access the disk either.

So we first need to create an external bootable drive with High Sierra or newer. Then using the High Sierra or newer OS installer install the OS onto the new drive internally.

So if you have access to a second Mac which is already running the needed OS version just setup a USB thumb drive (USB-A) with a bootable OS installer setup (First reformat the drive to Mac GUID format). Then access the installer file from here How to download and install macOS, then convert it following this Create a bootable installer for macOS.

You will need USB-A to USB-C adapter to get your system to accept the drive physically. You don’t want a hub in this case.

First run Disk Utility to check the drive then run the installer. That should get you going. During the process the systems firmware will be updated one or two times depending on what you are going for.

I did use a bootable drive to install Ventura before installing the new SSD - I used a small external HD and do have an adapter. Are you saying I need to use the bootable drive post install? I’m not sure I understand what a hub is (sorry).

Here's what I've done so far...

Installed new SSD - no drive

Reinstalled old SSD - used bootable to install Ventura OS

Reinstalled new SSD - no drive in disk utility. Reset SMC and PRAM still no drive.

Thanks for your help!

@stephaniep52782 - The new drive needs to be installed before you install the OS, as the drive is blank!

So yes the task will need to be done again. Remember the OS sits on the drive so the original drive is what you upgraded you didn’t install the OS on the new drive.

If that fails let’s go back to a lower MacOS version. What where you running before you upgraded? I would get to it Ventura maybe a bit to high. Sometimes less sold systems like yours don’t get the needed QC testing.

A hub is a USB-C device hat allows other USB devices to connect to it could also be a external drive which offers two or more ports.

Thanks, Dan! I tried to do a lower OS (Big Sur was the oldest I could download to my other computer) but it's not recognizing the bootable drive. I did reach out to OWC and they said I can exchange the SSD so I might do that unless you have any other thoughts. Thanks again!