MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

[ACS-Repair]

So, this is a continuation of an 820-3437 that i've been working on for a while. it originally wouldn't power up because of a PP3V3_S0 short, but all of that has been sorted out.

I ran this successfully on an external flash drive while I awaited the arrived of a SSD from ebay. To my surprise the new SSD was not recognized in the computer. I found that the PP3V3_S0SW_FLT was missing from Pins 1-5 on J3700. I changed U8070 twice but realized the problem was a poor connection of C8071 (PP3V3S0SW_SSD_FET_RAMP). after fixing the trace i have PP3V3_S0SW_FLT now, and I thought I would be done.

Even at this stage now the SSD is still not recognized at all. The SSD works fine in a 2014 Mac Mini, and I used it to install High Sierra on the drive.

Voltages that i get on J3700:

PP3V3_S0SW_FLT 3.3v
PP3V3S0 3.3v
SSD_PWR_EN 3.3v
SMC_OOB1_R2D_CONL 3.2V
SMC_OOB1_D2R_CONL 3.2V
SSD_PCIE_SEL_L 3.3V

This is the first time i've had a problem with an internal SSD so i'm not 100% sure what a couple of these values should be. I would appreciate it if someone has any thoughts on this.

[reformatt]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Apple SSD or 3rd party via adaptor? SSD_RESET_CONN_L needs to be high IIRC, so check U3740 and and SSD_RESET_L from the PCH.

[mcplslg123]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

It could be a bios issue. recently i faced same problem on 820-00165A,emc 2925 board and i requested a bios in bios section but unfortunately got no response. Anyway,if you need the bios i can post it for you.First,rule out the hardware issue. In my case SSD_RESET_CONN_L was indeed high.

[ACS-Repair]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Thanks for the comments guys...
The SSD is a genuine Apple Sandisk 128GB flash drive. SSD_RESET_CONN_L measures 3.41v, SSD_RESET_L is 3.09v.
Interesting thought about the EFI BIOS. I think there is something I can drop in just to see if it make a difference. if you have a clean ME BIOS for the 820-3437A I would appreciate getting it to try.

[mcplslg123]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

I dont have one for 3437A.I have one for 00165A

[dellxps15]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

820-3437 clean me bios. replace serial number with your. piernov made a great video about it.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...01&postcount=4

[reformatt]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Apple did update the NVMe driver some time back in the BIOS, I think to accommodate some newer variants of SSD that were being made for them. Without that, 3rd party SSD's don't get detected. It's possible that the SSD you bought may have needed the newer BIOS.

Unfortunately, the NVMe driver therein is not compatible with the latest Gen 3 SSD's on the market. For example, Crucial P2 drives were fine (but sadly EOL), but the P3 or later drives are not detected. Kingston NV2 drives were working up until my last shipment but are now no longer being detected with the latest revision. I doubt that Apple will do any more changes to the BIOS for the older systems other than security.

[ACS-Repair]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Thank you @dellxps15 and @piernov for the clean ME EFI file. I'll give it a shot.

[ACS-Repair]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Installed the EFI with a clean ME after updating the serial number but the SSD is still not recognized. Good thought though and it rules out that as an issue.
This is stumping me. makes no sense at all. The SSD has High Sierra installed which should work on any of these without trouble.

[reformatt]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

I took a look at the BIOS supplied and it is quite old (V117.0.0.0), so not sure if that one has the updated NVMe driver in it. Current version is V474.0.0.0. I'll see if I can upload a clean ME with dummy serial later.

[mcplslg123]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Going by my experience with 820-00165A and your measurements of SSD, i'll still bet for bios.

[kevingill]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

How did you format the SSD? In the Mac mini?
APFS or Macos Extended?
If the Air EFI is old it won't recognise an APFS file system.

[dellxps15]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

yes the bios is a bit old, and i had to update bios to get appfs recognized.

if u can install os on another ssd and upodate bios or with a guide posted here by reformatt, or install an os version prior to big sure then update to big sure. that also update firmware.

ofcourse long procedure. otherwise maybe wait for newer bios version with clean me( i used that as other clean me bios ive found didnt work)

[Rezid]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

I had sort of the same issue earlier this week. Same 820-3437 board wouldn't recognize any SSD I put in if I tried to boot to Big Sur, Catalina, or High Sierra installer. I ended up just using internet recovery which did detect the drive. I installed Mavericks through that then just went through the slow process of upgrading to Big Sur. I believe it was a BIOS issue and not recognizing APFS but can't really confirm that.

[ACS-Repair]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

So, to answer a few of these....
The EFI file is from November 2019, but the computer is from 2014 so I don't know if an update is required.
The drive is formatted MacOS Extended Journaled to install High Sierra. I know APFS formatted drives can be unreadable on an older OS. Drive utility doesn't see the drive no mater Which OS I try to use including El Capitan.
The drive is not detected when I load from Recovery, which loads Mavericks interestingly enough.
I haven't been able to master the art of doing a clean ME but I could post my original EFI if someone would do the honour of cleaning it for me. I would clear the serial number first so that it could be made available to anyone.
I've also done a PRAM and SMC reset but still no joy. This board originally had a PP3V3_S0 short that I could not resolve through voltage injection. I moved several caps on the line until I found the offending one. it may be that I have disturbed something and I need to retrace to see if there is something that I have caused.
Thank you all for your responses. I'm sure I will get this fixed one day with your help and hope it will then help others, which is the whole point of the forum.

[reformatt]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

CleanME dump added here of the latest version I have (V474.0.0.0). Serial number altered to that of original but checksum updated.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=145

[ACS-Repair]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Thanks @reformatt. I'll give that one a try.

[ACS-Repair]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Unfortunately, that EFI didn't make a difference. This is for sure no simple issue. Maybe there is a deeper fault with the PCIe bus or processor related to the internal SSD. I may take a break and go over the lines to the SSD to see what is different between an early 2013 MBA that I have. I'm considering just installing the OS on an external USB flash and running the computer that way. Not the best option but at least it would work that way.

[spidertnt]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

I struggled with 820-0165 Air ...liquid damage that would not see SSD ...tried clean bios etc.. gave up.

Months later i had been upgrading customers to NVME using adapters . I tried using NVME on it and it worked fine ...detected and worked with no issue . Tried original Apple SSD again no go.

[mon2]

Re: MacBook Air 1466 Internal SSD not detected

Check the diode mode readings of the following pins at the SSD connector:

PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_P<0>,
PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_N<0>,
PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_P<1>,
PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_N<1>,
PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_P<2>,
PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_N<2>,
PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_P< 3>,
PCIE_SSD_R2D_C_N<3>