Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

[unphased]

I have the Crucial P3 drive on hand but unfortunately my mbp seems to reboot into a reboot loop when I put the usb drive with Monterey installer in it. makes me worry something else is wrong with the computer. I was able to initiate internet recovery via Cmd+R and it loaded for a good 20 mins but went to apple logo and reboot sound again, and back to the USB drive reboot loop...

OK i can start internet recovery without having the USB drive in, so I guess this recovery method will not work with too old BootROM on the machine to talk to the new NVMe SSD. It's also possible my usb drive is on its way out, but I doubt that.

Also somehow this time I Cmd+R'd into internet recovery without the usb drive (so it only has NVMe that I expect it not to be able to read, inside) and it did not ask again for wifi? No clue what is going on in there.

i guess I'll try like 5 more things but I probably will need to bring it to the apple store. Was hoping to avoid that.

 

[leodoct]

Weekend update....
Format from windows 10 PC as NTFS the no luck the disk is not shown on MBP2015.
I made a four hours low level format with Tech Tool Pro 10 on my MacMini 2014 (in this computer as i stated before the disk is shown normally) writing zeros, no luck, the disk is not shown on MBP2015.
I borrowed an another Nvme (Kioxia) and installed inside MBP2015 and appeared normally in disk utility.
So i think the problem is: In the first installation of Monterey (when my laptop freezed) something "wrong" was written in this particular SN580 and the MBP2015 not recognized it at all.

As for the MacMini 2014 the SN580 works perfect, i tried Mojave, Catalina and Monterey everything perfect!!!

I am going to sell it as second hand. I have spent a lot of days with no result.
Thanks for your replies.

 

[fabiansirju]

Hi guys. Any help or advice you can offer me will be greatly appreciated. I need to upgrade the SSD of my early 2015 MacBook Pro 13 inch so I purchased the following below. I have installed OS Monterey on the Kingston SSD but when trying to boot I get an icon with a folder and question mark. The computer never boots. Does anyone know if the combination of SSD + adapter above works? If not which should I change? Is it the firmware of the SSD that needs upgrading? If so is there a firmware update that works?

M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter, 12+16pin M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card​

JESOT M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter, 12+16pin M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card for MacBook Air Pro Retina Mid 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017, NVME AHCI SSD Upgraded Kit for A1465 A1466 A1398 A1502

JESOT M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter, 12+16pin M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card for MacBook Air Pro Retina Mid 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017, NVME AHCI SSD Upgraded Kit for A1465 A1466 A1398 A1502

www.amazon.com

Kingston NV2 500G M.2 2280 NVMe Internal SSD | PCIe 4.0 Gen 4x4 | Up to 3500 MB/s | SNV2S/500G​

Kingston NV2 500G M.2 2280 NVMe Internal SSD | PCIe 4.0 Gen 4x4 | Up to 3500 MB/s | SNV2S/500G

Kingston’s NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is a substantial next-gen storage solution powered by a Gen 4x4 NVMe controller. NV2 delivers lower power requirements and lower heat to help optimize your system’s performance and deliver value without sacrifice. The compact single-sided M.2 2280 (22x80mm) design...

www.amazon.com

Any advice appreciated

 

[leodoct]

Monterey OS has issues with 3rd party SSD's. Monterey checks if the ssd is Apple geniue and refuses to boot, if not.
A method to install Monterey is

Good luck...

 

[leodoct]

See also: https://blog.goeb.eu/2021/10/30/updating-to-macos-monterey-with-an-aftermarket-ssd/

 

[xboxbml]

Monterey OS has issues with 3rd party SSD's. Monterey checks if the ssd is Apple geniue and refuses to boot, if not.
A method to install Monterey is

Good luck...

Must have been a MBP issue? I don't recall ever having an issue going from Mojave all the way up thru Monterey on my 2015 MBA on the 3rd party drive. I wish I could get my hands on a 2015 MBP...

 

[natus.w]

I have the Crucial P3 drive on hand but unfortunately my mbp seems to reboot into a reboot loop when I put the usb drive with Monterey installer in it. makes me worry something else is wrong with the computer. I was able to initiate internet recovery via Cmd+R and it loaded for a good 20 mins but went to apple logo and reboot sound again, and back to the USB drive reboot loop...

OK i can start internet recovery without having the USB drive in, so I guess this recovery method will not work with too old BootROM on the machine to talk to the new NVMe SSD. It's also possible my usb drive is on its way out, but I doubt that.

Also somehow this time I Cmd+R'd into internet recovery without the usb drive (so it only has NVMe that I expect it not to be able to read, inside) and it did not ask again for wifi? No clue what is going on in there.

i guess I'll try like 5 more things but I probably will need to bring it to the apple store. Was hoping to avoid that.

The BootROM should stay constant (Apple engineers the EFI in such a way that original images can boot factory OS installs, it should not be overwritten unless it is either corrupted and needs recovery or a new image is needed for an OS update)

What did you have on the machine period to the NVME install? (you may want to update to the latest OS using the OEM Apple SSD and then try swapping the drive..)

 

[natus.w]

See also: https://blog.goeb.eu/2021/10/30/updating-to-macos-monterey-with-an-aftermarket-ssd/

Is that the exact error you got or something else? (an outdated BootROM shouldn’t be the culprit as you did state earlier you did have the updated version prior)

Which firmware should your Mac be using? (version 6)

This article lists the firmware versions of Macs which have been successfully updated to run macOS 12.7.6. Apple doesn’t provide an official list of the current firmware versions which should…

eclecticlight.co

You did not try running first aid on the Apple disk? Or reinstalling? (that may have fixed any corrupt EFI or anything that may have caused that..)

Diagnostics showed anything? (hold D when booting MacOS; if there was damage done there should have been something that showed up there..)

Weekend update....
Format from windows 10 PC as NTFS the no luck the disk is not shown on MBP2015.
I made a four hours low level format with Tech Tool Pro 10 on my MacMini 2014 (in this computer as i stated before the disk is shown normally) writing zeros, no luck, the disk is not shown on MBP2015.
I borrowed an another Nvme (Kioxia) and installed inside MBP2015 and appeared normally in disk utility.
So i think the problem is: In the first installation of Monterey (when my laptop freezed) something "wrong" was written in this particular SN580 and the MBP2015 not recognized it at all.

As for the MacMini 2014 the SN580 works perfect, i tried Mojave, Catalina and Monterey everything perfect!!!

I am going to sell it as second hand. I have spent a lot of days with no result.
Thanks for your replies.

Was the firmware updated? (you should be able check any stats with Toolbox under your PC; if the disk firmware went wonky an update would have wiped that out as well)

Second time around for install you use your long generic adapter or the Sintech short? (given the issue happened first with the long one I’d be using the latter first and ensuring you do have proper connections..)

 

[Matejh]

The first page post is informative however leaves specific purchase choices open-ended.

I have a mid-2015 rMBP that I got as part of a $199 battery "replacement" for my 2012 rMBP (the OG retina macbook). I suspected this machine was part of the recall that was going around for this model, but the model number was not a hit for that.

I gave it to my mom a few years ago since by this time I'd moved on to an M1 Max 64GB machine which I'm still rocking. Probably gonna drive it into the ground, it's still such a beast. The M1 Max may become a solid mobile gaming machine soon going by the looks of how well people are getting games running with GPTK2. I digress.

I came to visit my parents again now, and lo and behold the battery has puffed to high hell on the ol' MacBookPro11,5. It's 6 packs of spicy pillows, 1 out of the 6 is not as filled as the others but 5 are very very high pressure puffed up. The lid couldn't close, I mean it wasn't even close. The trackpad corners were sticking out, the entire keyboard and case was bulging. The bottom cover was quite bent from the pressure. I opened it up and ripped the battery out promptly, and now it looks like the OEM AHCI SSD is more or less kaput as well, as I'm generally unable to restore any semblance of functionality to it, keeps rebooting when logging in or trying to initiate an OS restore. So I'll need to get a new SSD in addition to battery for this machine.

Anyway that's my story that nobody needed to follow, but there it is.

From what I've seen the best choices are clearly either the Crucial P3 or the SK Hynix Gold P31. I will be choosing a 1TB SKU of either, and likely the long sintech adapter as that seems to be a popular choice. it is more expensive than the deal4go small adapter and maybe countless others. But I'll go with the sintech one.

The question is WHICH ONE TO CHOOSE? P3 or P31? The P3 is cheaper by a bit.

I am concerned that it may be difficult to install an OS with this if the drive in an adapter won't boot up internet macos recovery out of the box...

MacBook Pro 15 (2015) will not boot into MacOS if the battery is not connected.
You might be able to boot it without battery if you also disconnect trackpad, but that causes other problems...

 

[macpro_mid2014]

MacBook Pro 15 (2015) will not boot into MacOS if the battery is not connected.
You might be able to boot it without battery if you also disconnect trackpad, but that causes other problems...

When I bought a new battery for my MBP11,2 I removed the old battery prior to the arrival of the new one.
The laptop booted but it was very slow, almost impossible to use.
This is documented elsewhere and it is a known behaviour.

 

[fabiansirju]

Hi guys. Any help or advice you can offer me will be greatly appreciated. I need to upgrade the SSD of my early 2015 MacBook Pro 13 inch so I purchased the following below. I have installed OS Monterey on the Kingston SSD but when trying to boot I get an icon with a folder and question mark. The computer never boots. Does anyone know if the combination of SSD + adapter above works? If not which should I change? Is it the firmware of the SSD that needs upgrading? If so is there a firmware update that works?

M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter, 12+16pin M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card​

JESOT M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter, 12+16pin M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card for MacBook Air Pro Retina Mid 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017, NVME AHCI SSD Upgraded Kit for A1465 A1466 A1398 A1502

JESOT M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter, 12+16pin M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card for MacBook Air Pro Retina Mid 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017, NVME AHCI SSD Upgraded Kit for A1465 A1466 A1398 A1502

www.amazon.com

Kingston NV2 500G M.2 2280 NVMe Internal SSD | PCIe 4.0 Gen 4x4 | Up to 3500 MB/s | SNV2S/500G​

Kingston NV2 500G M.2 2280 NVMe Internal SSD | PCIe 4.0 Gen 4x4 | Up to 3500 MB/s | SNV2S/500G

Kingston’s NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is a substantial next-gen storage solution powered by a Gen 4x4 NVMe controller. NV2 delivers lower power requirements and lower heat to help optimize your system’s performance and deliver value without sacrifice. The compact single-sided M.2 2280 (22x80mm) design...

www.amazon.com

Any advice appreciated

Test reply. Doing this because I don't understand how to follow the post I made.

 

[MacbookPro2015]

Just reporting that I'm running OCLP Sonoma with SK Hynik P41 and it's working flawlessly. Getting 2.8 gb Write and 3.2 gb Read speeds.

 

[natus.w]

Test reply. Doing this because I don't understand how to follow the post I made.

Check your notifications, you should have gotten a reply from me..

 

[fabiansirju]

Ok if it says "Check your notifications, you should have gotten a reply from me..?" then I got it. Thanks.

 

[leodoct]

Is that the exact error you got or something else? (an outdated BootROM shouldn’t be the culprit as you did state earlier you did have the updated version prior)

Which firmware should your Mac be using? (version 6)

This article lists the firmware versions of Macs which have been successfully updated to run macOS 12.7.6. Apple doesn’t provide an official list of the current firmware versions which should…

eclecticlight.co

You did not try running first aid on the Apple disk? Or reinstalling? (that may have fixed any corrupt EFI or anything that may have caused that..)

Diagnostics showed anything? (hold D when booting MacOS; if there was damage done there should have been something that showed up there..)


Was the firmware updated? (you should be able check any stats with Toolbox under your PC; if the disk firmware went wonky an update would have wiped that out as well)

Second time around for install you use your long generic adapter or the Sintech short? (given the issue happened first with the long one I’d be using the latter first and ensuring you do have proper connections..)

Well, many thanks for your response.
First of all on Apple diagnostics i get an error VDH002 which states that something is wrong with the SN580.
Second I installed the SN580 in an another friend's same MBP2015 and everything OK!!! The disk appeared normally.
So i install with a USB boot in the other machine (Monterey Os) and everything was ok.
The other Machine booted perfectly, so i swapped the disk to my machine (with the new installed OS) and NOTHING ...
I get the question mark folder com.apple startup.disk etc...
At the end i installed the other machine's SSD (Crucial P2 500GB) to my laptop and everything Ok. My Laptop booted successfully with the (Crucial P2 500GB) on Monterey I also swapped the adapters to be sure for the compatibility and find that all the adapters i have (Sintech & Chinese) are compatible also.
So i suspect that something corrupted in my MBP EFI chip (hardware issue ??) at the first install when my laptop freezed and after that, my machine 'does not like' this particular SN580.
Any more ideas ???

 

[leodoct]

I forgot
Firmware is the latest according to the 'eclecticlight.co' version 6
My machine (I type now) boots from usb to sata adapter with Mojave Os and system info is shown below
Boot ROM Version: 489.0.0.0.0
SMC Version (system): 2.28f7
If i boot from Monterey with Apple geniue NVME ssd i get t the same results

 

[natus.w]

I forgot
Firmware is the latest according to the 'eclecticlight.co' version 6
My machine (I type now) boots from usb to sata adapter with Mojave Os and system info is shown below
Boot ROM Version: 489.0.0.0.0
SMC Version (system): 2.28f7
If i boot from Monterey with Apple geniue NVME ssd i get t the same results

That should be fine (EFI/BootROM should never be downgraded

I forgot
Firmware is the latest according to the 'eclecticlight.co' version 6
My machine (I type now) boots from usb to sata adapter with Mojave Os and system info is shown below
Boot ROM Version: 489.0.0.0.0
SMC Version (system): 2.28f7
If i boot from Monterey with Apple geniue NVME ssd i get t the same results

That is correct, it shouldn’t change at all (you cannot downgrade or upgrade it at will)

Well, many thanks for your response.
First of all on Apple diagnostics i get an error VDH002 which states that something is wrong with the SN580.
Second I installed the SN580 in an another friend's same MBP2015 and everything OK!!! The disk appeared normally.
So i install with a USB boot in the other machine (Monterey Os) and everything was ok.
The other Machine booted perfectly, so i swapped the disk to my machine (with the new installed OS) and NOTHING ...
I get the question mark folder com.apple startup.disk etc...
At the end i installed the other machine's SSD (Crucial P2 500GB) to my laptop and everything Ok. My Laptop booted successfully with the (Crucial P2 500GB) on Monterey I also swapped the adapters to be sure for the compatibility and find that all the adapters i have (Sintech & Chinese) are compatible also.
So i suspect that something corrupted in my MBP EFI chip (hardware issue ??) at the first install when my laptop freezed and after that, my machine 'does not like' this particular SN580.
Any more ideas ???

The VDH error code simply means the EFI cannot communicate with the drive (but it does not indicate any specific cause and there are likely a few)

If your EFI was totally shot I would not expect anything to happen at all (no boot no chime), or other strange behaviour on startup.

Damage to the bus could cause a similar issue, but it may not be the case here (I have seen cases where the code pops up even with no drive installed; given you have multiple drives working including Apple OE this is not the case here)

I would try a reinstall of 12.x on the troublesome machine (should be able to clean the firmware image) and use WD Dashboard under Windows to update the SSD firmware (there have been cases where drives which have not initially worked with original firmware have worked with later revisions; there is no way to tell what you’re getting until inspection is done..)

 

[leodoct]

This week i updated the SN580 in a Windows PC with the latest firmware (281040WD) version. The disk had 201010WD version. After that update, the laptop had a strange behavior... When powered on after the chime NO apple icon only black screen. So i left it on black screen with working keyboard (caps lock was lit on/off) hoping that the update was the cause and the machine could managed to boot at last. Waited about at about 10 minutes. Nothing... I made a force shutdown and after that, the laptop did not boot at all, even with the USB to SATA attached disk!!! so i made a NVRAM reset and the machine booted normally from the external enclosure, but not from the installed SN580 (not shown at all). I will try a clean install of 12.x on the troublesome machine via internet recovery first and after from bootable USB with the updated SN580 firmware as last hope... I will update
Thanks again.

 

[natus.w]

This week i updated the SN580 in a Windows PC with the latest firmware (281040WD) version. The disk had 201010WD version. After that update, the laptop had a strange behavior... When powered on after the chime NO apple icon only black screen. So i left it on black screen with working keyboard (caps lock was lit on/off) hoping that the update was the cause and the machine could managed to boot at last. Waited about at about 10 minutes. Nothing... I made a force shutdown and after that, the laptop did not boot at all, even with the USB to SATA attached disk!!! so i made a NVRAM reset and the machine booted normally from the external enclosure, but not from the installed SN580 (not shown at all). I will try a clean install of 12.x on the troublesome machine via internet recovery first and after from bootable USB with the updated SN580 firmware as last hope... I will update
Thanks again.

Can you not use a bootable disk first and not internet recovery? (that should be far faster installing and recovering compared to internet recovery..)

Is this using the Sintech or the generic adapter? (was that behaviour replicable across both? Only occurs with generic, etc?)

 

[leodoct]

All the last attempts was with the Sintech short adapter. I tested both to my friend's same MBP2015. Both of them are working fine. Concerning the installation, neither with internet recovery, nor with Bootable USB the SN580 does not appear as physical internal disk. In Disk Utility and Terminal command the disk is not there.
I think that something happened to the 'BIOS' chip. I do not know exactly the booting process of a MBP but if i am correct this chip is programmed to boot the machine (boot screen,recovery environment with Disk Utility & Terminal reset NVRAM-SMC combination keys, diagnostics, etc) even if there is no disk. If a 'compatible' disk is installed, will be shown with option key on booting,or in the installation enviroment.
The strange thing is, that in booting sequence all the third party SSD's i tried (KIOXIA, CRUCIAL) appeared normally but not this particular SN580. Something wrong was written (when my computer freezed in the first installation) in both Bios Chip and SN580. The SN580 is recognized in the other MBP but not to mine. SN580 is recognized as External disk but not as internal (in my machine). It is something like, my machine has 'blacklisted' this particular SN580 as internal device. It is crazy!!!!

 

[natus.w]

All the last attempts was with the Sintech short adapter. I tested both to my friend's same MBP2015. Both of them are working fine. Concerning the installation, neither with internet recovery, nor with Bootable USB the SN580 does not appear as physical internal disk. In Disk Utility and Terminal command the disk is not there.
I think that something happened to the 'BIOS' chip. I do not know exactly the booting process of a MBP but if i am correct this chip is programmed to boot the machine (boot screen,recovery environment with Disk Utility & Terminal reset NVRAM-SMC combination keys, diagnostics, etc) even if there is no disk. If a 'compatible' disk is installed, will be shown with option key on booting,or in the installation enviroment.
The strange thing is, that in booting sequence all the third party SSD's i tried (KIOXIA, CRUCIAL) appeared normally but not this particular SN580. Something wrong was written (when my computer freezed in the first installation) in both Bios Chip and SN580. The SN580 is recognized in the other MBP but not to mine. SN580 is recognized as External disk but not as internal (in my machine). It is something like, my machine has 'blacklisted' this particular SN580 as internal device. It is crazy!!!!

Not sure if the is a ‘BIOS’ issue per se (Macs do not use this system format, FYI..)

https://eclecticlight.co/2018/08/21/booting-the-mac-efi-firmware/

Before boot.efi: the Mac’s initial self-test routines

What happens in your Mac when you press the Power button? Before it loads the EFI firmware, it goes through self-testing, and initialising key chips.

eclecticlight.co

What was it formatted as when you tried installing?

Does it still work in the external enclosure?

If it still does not work I would suspect a more deeper issue (from the symptoms described it could be partial damage to the SSD bus or that particular config of the SN580 not behaving, with no logs or otherwise it is now impossible to determine what happened on that particular install that has caused the behaviour to be replicable..)

 

[leodoct]

I think that in the first format was AFPS because Monterey refuses to install in other file system.
Concerning the external enclosure yes indeed the SN580 works perfectly with USB to SATA adapter (UGREEN), as boot device or as storage (Time Machine) also.

 

[natus.w]

I think that in the first format was AFPS because Monterey refuses to install in other file system.
Concerning the external enclosure yes indeed the SN580 works perfectly with USB to SATA adapter (UGREEN), as boot device or as storage (Time Machine) also.

So that rules out the SSD mostly out (you can at least boot from it in some way so it isn’t hosed)

I’d be more concerned about the cMP now (this now leaves either an EFI first aid or an issue with the bus communicating with the drive; that may be very difficult to solve..)

 

[leodoct]

cMP?? Can you please be more specific? I have free time to spent with this.
I already have uploaded to sell the SN580 as used (25% less the price) and wait...
I am now working with this laptop swapping one time the Apple 250GB SSD and then the SN580 or SATA to USB3 my old 860EVO.

 

[natus.w]

cMP?? Can you please be more specific? I have free time to spent with this.
I already have uploaded to sell the SN580 as used (25% less the price) and wait...
I am now working with this laptop swapping one time the Apple 250GB SSD and then the SN580 or SATA to USB3 my old 860EVO.

Sorry, meant MBP.