getting past white screen of death

[Mr Downtown]

I can't get it to accept any key presses and do anything other than immediately go white. I mean it goes white simultaneously with the chime, suggesting it's in the initial boot.

I took the SSD out and put it on a USB connector. My laptop can't mount it, though it will mount my old (pre-November, smaller) SSD.

Could the system update have somehow bricked the SSD?

Frustrating, but SSDs are cheap nowadays, so I asked my buddy Jeff to send me one by Tuesday.