The TPM setting was incorrect causing the included activation code on the NVME to not be found. The Gigabyte MW34-SP0 motherboard has a header for a TPM module. The BIOS was initially set to point to this. TPM device was set to dTPM. There was much pulling of the hair that I do not have to find the answer. Remediation: In the BIOS goto: Advanced->ME-Configuration->PTT Configuration->TPM Device Selection==PTT Posting because I did not find the answer in any forums.