If you hold nCS low, hold MOSI low and toggle clock 40 times you should get 0xFF followed by the device ID on MISO. If you don’t there is some fundamental hardware issue with the way the module is connected. The first places I’d check would be that:
The SPI bus is wired correctly
The reset line is wired correctly (from memory you should be able to leave it unconnected, it should idle high but pulse low on startup)
The power supply is the correct voltage, all the VCC and GND pins are correctly connected and that the supply can source sufficient current.
Don’t trust the firmware that the SPI / control pins are all doing what you expect, check them with a scope.