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I have recently received an MBA 13” e2015 with a bad options board and no SSD or HDD. The previous tech could not find the problem with the options board so they removed the original SSD to recover data from it, but never replaced or returned the original drive. I have purchased an Aura Pro X2 SSD to install but am running into problems. After installing the SSD in the empty SSD slot and, boot the machine up while holding the options button > online recovery > Disk recovery option > Disk Utility, the disk utility is unable to recognize anything but the 2GB internal memory. I have already tried unseating and reseating the SSD and making sure it is pushed into the socket firmly, with no change in results. I have read the might be an OS problem with the machine not previously operating on High Sierra 10.13, but not having the original drive, I’m not aware of what OS was previously running. At this point, there is a lot I could do to troubleshoot the issue but before going out and buying tools I don’t need I wanted to see if anyone knew of a fix.
I’m a bit lost in your description. The MacBook Air systems use a blade SSD (PCIe 2.0 x2) there is no HDD. The OWC Aura Pro X2 should be fine. What is the “Option Board” are you talking about? The MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-2017) I/O Board so I’m not sure why thats in the dialog here. It maybe you have issues with it as well but thats not going to effect the SSD drive. Here’s the iFixit guide to gain access to the SSD in this system MacBook Air 13" Early 2015 SSD Replacement Your next statement on using Disk Utility has me scratching my head “Disk Utility, the disk utility is unable to recognize anything but the 2GB internal memory.” Disk Utility can’t see RAM are you looking at the virtual disk in RAM the installer is using? If you can’t see the drive then either the SSD is not properly seated or its possibly bad. Or the OWC Aura Pro X2 may need a firmware update. But, I’m thinking you maybe booted up in the wrong OS which is messing you up. Let’s try this again this time let’s press the Command (⌘) and R keys that way you get to what the system had before. Reference: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery Are you able to get to disk utility under it and can now see the drive? If not lets get a snapshot so I can see what you have Adding images to an existing question
