Mac SSD adapters - hopefully comprehensive view

[xanderx007]

All those classes are drivers.
For NVMe, there's a IONVMeController with IOPCIDevice as provider and below that is a IONVMeBlockStorageDevice
use ioreg -iw0 to get the object inheritance and make the width unlimited. You'll see that the IONVMeBlockStorageDevice is a IOBlockStorageDevice.

I know they are drivers, I said it doesn't say what the actual device driver/s is/are.

You'll have to grep the info.plist files of the kexts to determine where the drivers are from.

Care to share the terminal command? (I'm not a coder, though I do understand code.)

 

[joevt]

Care to share the terminal command? (I'm not a coder, though I do understand code.)

IONVMeController is used by two IOKitPersonalities: GenericNVMeSSD (class 01:08:02 for ARM and Intel), and GenericInternalNVMeSSD (pci 144d:a804, 144d:a806; for Intel only)
grep -i -e 'IONVMeController' -R --include '*Info.plist' /System/Library/Extensions /Library/Extensions

IONVMeBlockStorageDevice is not controlled by IOKit Info.plist personality matching so you have to search for it in the binaries which takes longer.
grep -i -e 'IONVMeBlockStorageDevice' -R /System/Library/Extensions /Library/Extensions
It is, of course, defined in IONVMeFamily.kext but you can see references to it in AppleSMC.kext, IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext, and AppleACPIPlatform.kext.

The binaries in Monterey may include code for ARM and Intel (they are separate parts in the same file). It may be that a class or string is defined in only one of the architectures. The strings command, which attempts to list all possible strings in a binary, has as an -arch option to limit the search to one architecture.

 

[tk_mac]

If your machine is still getting MacOS updates, you will want to keep an OEM Mac drive handy, because some recent updates included firmware updates for the Apple drive, and, upon finding none, the entire update failed. Note that some have had this issue even when they had an Apple drive, just not one that was OEM for their machine.

Is this issue only for updating to Monterey after a third party SSD is installed, or can it affect updates to earlier systems such as updates to Catalina or Big Sur? Once updated to Monterey, does this issue repeat for each point release of Monterey?

 

[EugW]

Once updated to Monterey, does this issue repeat for each point release of Monterey?

Not an issue with 12.0 --> 12.1, but that's the only point update Monterey has had so far.

 

[enplaned]

Is this issue only for updating to Monterey after a third party SSD is installed, or can it affect updates to earlier systems such as updates to Catalina or Big Sur? Once updated to Monterey, does this issue repeat for each point release of Monterey?

A related discussion occurred in the master 2013-2015 Macbook NVME thread recently. Look at the thread starting at about the following point and going for the next 5-10 posts. It may or may not be exactly on-point, but it's certainly related:

Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

Anyone got any advice for someone who can’t upgrade to Monterey because of the firmware? I installed an NVME adapter in the past but I do not have my original drive anymore.

forums.macrumors.com

 

[tk_mac]

A related discussion occurred in the master 2013-2015 Macbook NVME thread recently. Look at the thread starting at about the following point and going for the next 5-10 posts. It may or may not be exactly on-point, but it's certainly related:

Thanks, but it does not address the questions I asked here, e.g.

Is this issue only for updating to Monterey after a third party SSD is installed, or can it affect updates to earlier systems such as updates to Catalina or Big Sur? Once updated to Monterey, does this issue repeat for each point release of Monterey?

 

[tk_mac]

Also, would this be the right adapter for 2019 iMac 21.5 to use an M.2 drive"? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CWWAENG/?tag=mrforums-20
Not sure how to tell if it is NGFF2013-C.

 

[dopeytree]

Anyone know which adapter one needs to do the opposite to use an old apple ssd in a new m.2 slot'd motherboard

 

[joevt]

Anyone know which adapter one needs to do the opposite to use an old apple ssd in a new m.2 slot'd motherboard

This one? http://www.pc-adapter.net/product/836.html
It's a bit wider than a normal M.2. If it doesn't fit, then you might be able to stack adapters.

 

[joevt]

It's a bit wider than a normal M.2. If it doesn't fit, then you might be able to stack adapters.

This one has an extension: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DZGCLSS?th=1 in case the other one can't fit.

 

[kocoman]

is there any way to convert the 6+12 wifi/bt broadcom board into a pcie/minipcie slot for nvme or egpu? (for the around 2012 year units). could i use a mba 2011 adapter to mod it/solder ? is the width pitch of the golden connector the same? 0.65 inch or 0.8?

also is there pinout table of the 7+17 msata for the 2012 retina? thx

 

[agustinjau]

Hello everybody.
I NEED HELP PLEASE!!!!!
My son have a Macbook Air A1369 and the SSD stopped working.
I bought an adapter and a NVMe 512GB for upgrading capacity.
When the old/broken SSD is on place the Macbook starts normaly in Internet recovery but I dont see the SSD disk. But when I insert the new adapter with the new SSD NVMe the Macbook doesnt even start or show any kind of activity whatsoever. As soon as I took out the new SSD(Even leaving the adapter) the Macbook starts normaly again and goes to Internet recovery again. To be honest I dont know which OS was installed before the SSD didnt work anymore but I have read that High Sierra should have been installed before in order that the new NVMe can work normally. Is this true? How can I solve this.
I really appreciate your help.
Cheers.
Agustin.

 

[Audit13]

Hello everybody.
I NEED HELP PLEASE!!!!!
My son have a Macbook Air A1369 and the SSD stopped working.
I bought an adapter and a NVMe 512GB for upgrading capacity.
When the old/broken SSD is on place the Macbook starts normaly in Internet recovery but I dont see the SSD disk. But when I insert the new adapter with the new SSD NVMe the Macbook doesnt even start or show any kind of activity whatsoever. As soon as I took out the new SSD(Even leaving the adapter) the Macbook starts normaly again and goes to Internet recovery again. To be honest I dont know which OS was installed before the SSD didnt work anymore but I have read that High Sierra should have been installed before in order that the new NVMe can work normally. Is this true? How can I solve this.
I really appreciate your help.
Cheers.
Agustin.

The a1369 will not support NVMe drives. Only the mid-2013 a1465/a1466 and newer MacBook Air will support NVMe.

 

[agustinjau]

The a1369 will not support NVMe drives. Only the mid-2013 a1465/a1466 and newer MacBook Air will support NVMe.

Thanks very much for your quick answer.
I thought so but the adapter that I purchased said it is for a1369 model and it’s not only one, there are dozens of sites and brands selling this adapter for the A1369 model. Are they all scams?
Any idea?
Thanks.

 

[Audit13]

Thanks very much for your quick answer.
I thought so but the adapter that I purchased said it is for a1369 model and it’s not only one, there are dozens of sites and brands selling this adapter for the A1369 model. Are they all scams?
Any idea?
Thanks.

The air a1369 will not work with any NVMe drives. The issue lies with the MacBook, not the adapter.

 

[Johnny Jackhammer]

Just failed with "Sintech M2 NGFF as 2013-2017 macbook SSD"

iMac 2019 27"
Model Identifier: iMac19,1
EMC No.: 3194
Model: A2115

SSD:
Samsung 980 PRO Mz-V8P1T0

Symptoms:
Machine took 5 minutes to startup
Fans randomly running for no apparent reason
Background system processes crashing and beach-balling


To be fair this SSD is not listed as compatible with the Sintech M2 NGFF, it's also not yet listed as incompatible.

The Samsung 970 is three times as much money and is listed as compatible.

I have read that PCIe 4.0 drives are backwards compatible with PCIe 3.0 drives but it appears that might not be true with adapters like this.