zinnjd

Q: FileVault stuck on "Encryption Paused"

After upgrading my MPB to Yosemite, I elected to turn on FileVault. In the Security & Privacy panel of System Preferences, the status shows "Encryption paused" and the text under the progress bar reads, "Connect power adapter to resume encryption." Trouble is, I am running from the power adapter!

 

I have rebooted and tried another power adapter. The battery icon in the menu bar correctly changes from battery to power adapter as I connect and disconnect. However, the encryption status never changes. I have left the machine running overnight with no change.


Any ideas?

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Oct 17, 2014 7:25 AM

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Q: FileVault stuck on "Encryption Paused"

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  • by gerjant,

    gerjant gerjant Nov 20, 2014 4:35 AM in response to zinnjd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2014 4:35 AM in response to zinnjd

    I can just encourage everybody with this problem to

    1. File the bug here: https://bugreport.apple.com/

    2. Call Apple Care as they can not solve the problem and possibly realize its a bug.

     

    Regarding reinstallation of Yosemite, what happens if the bug is returning at some point. I think there must be something wrong with FileVault. For me this bug occurred on a brand new, third party software free, mac book.

  • by hogbobkillerbob,

    hogbobkillerbob hogbobkillerbob Nov 20, 2014 4:48 AM in response to gerjant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2014 4:48 AM in response to gerjant

    Well I can say that encryption ON is NOT an option for me ... Been though i all in these thread .. I did not have to reinstall, instead I WAITED ... Encryption took 3 days - then Optimizing took 8 days ... After that FileVault was on.... BUT .. system seemed SLOW. (Early MBP i7 2,2 with 16 g ram - AND Crucial 960gb SSD) Meassuring Disk performance resulted in 20-30 mb/s !!!!.. Ended turning FileVault OFF - that took another 2 days... When finally off disk performance was back @ 480-500 mb/s .... HUGE difference..

     

    Don't know if this has to do with my SSD or the fact that Apple don't support 3rd party SSD anymore..

  • by TMB80,

    TMB80 TMB80 Nov 20, 2014 5:50 AM in response to gerjant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2014 5:50 AM in response to gerjant

    Thanks, gerjant.   Regarding the "revert" message on the battery, I originally saw that message.  I then followed the steps suggested by others--reset PRAM...immediate reboot with cmd R...checked for disk errors (none)...checked battery again and revert message was gone so nothing seems to be working in the background (or so it seems).  Perhaps you might try these steps (again) if you still have the "revert" message.  Hope this helps. 

  • by Thomas O'Connell,

    Thomas O'Connell Thomas O'Connell Nov 20, 2014 10:34 AM in response to gerjant
    Level 1 (36 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 20, 2014 10:34 AM in response to gerjant

    Gerjant-

     

    I would turn file vault OFF and leave it off unless there is some major update to it and months of wide usage that causes no problems.

     

    A clean install of Yosemite and reinstalling apps and data from Time Machine should erase any settings or system problems with file vault.

     

    Tom

  • by Thomas O'Connell,

    Thomas O'Connell Thomas O'Connell Nov 20, 2014 10:40 AM in response to TMB80
    Level 1 (36 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 20, 2014 10:40 AM in response to TMB80

    TMB80-

     

    I agree with Gerant - I would take care of the problem now and be done with it. Things like this tend to go south when you can stand it least and although he is right that you can always recover later if you have good backups, I'm of the opinion that the longer you wait, the more complications creep into the situation so you are better off dealing with it and be able to stop worrying about it.

     

    Depending on your backup speed and disk size, it will take you from 2-5 hours to do the complete backup (if you have 2 external drives, do a second one just for comfort - I have one with Time Machine and one with Super Duper). Then another hour or so to download and install Yosemite and then about the same amount of time the backup took to reinstall data. Actual time you need to spend is about 30 minutes, the rest is waiting time.

     

    It really isn't that bad.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Tom

  • by TMB80,

    TMB80 TMB80 Nov 20, 2014 2:54 PM in response to Thomas O'Connell
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2014 2:54 PM in response to Thomas O'Connell

    Tom/gerjant, thanks for the thorough and prompt reply.  I'm going to think about this for a while before I proceed through your suggested steps.  I have a moderate amount of computer experience, but it is all with PCs.  This is my first exposure to OS X so I am concerned about unintended consequences if I take a major action.  So I'm going to think for a while, and perhaps in the interim, someone will come up with a simple magic bullet (Ha!).  again, thanks.

  • by SvPurr,

    SvPurr SvPurr Nov 21, 2014 4:42 AM in response to zinnjd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 21, 2014 4:42 AM in response to zinnjd

    Thank you everybody for sharing your thoughts on the FileVault getting stuck issue. I literally tried every single trick in these comments before Nov 20th. My brand-new MacBook Air 13” was pretty badly stuck. I suspect the problem becomes increasingly severe the later in the encryption process you get stuck – I did when the encryption progress bar looked like it had just reached the end. Sudo fdesetup status in my case only ever said “status: pending”, no percentage given on the completion progress, seems I got stuck even a little later than hogbobkillerbob. Sudo fdesetup disable did not do anything at all. Following scafede’s recommendations (in various combinations of power supply and wifi on/off/interrupted, and different orders for disk and permission repair on partition and disk) just took me back to where I was before: everything looks fine, but FileVault still stuck, no change (never kicked in even briefly like described by others). Maybe this had something to do with this msg during partition and main disk repair: “The volume disk1s2 cannot be repaired when it is in use”. From wherever possible, “disable encryption” was always greyed out, no chance here. After my last attempt, randomly switching from FileVault to the Firewall tab in Systems Preferences > Security & Privacy and then back again got me stuck on colourful circulating cursor, but no switch to FileVault tab. No change when I left it like this running overnight, forcing the machine to stay awake with playing videos and plugged in (just in case it was actually doing its encryption business). I was not going to wait any longer for the process to resume after this – too risky to end up with a dodgy system. Followed potsky’s and OrangesandPears guidelines. Now running a clean, crisp new install of Yosemite with encryption turned off (I’ll wait until problems are sorted before I try this again). Just in case there are other Mac newbies out there with the same problem and who struggle to immediately understand what is meant by some of the shorthand instructions on these pages, here are the steps I took in longhand, with some slight variations (maybe related to my machine being a mid 2014 MacBook Air 13”), and with a few additional links I found useful. For the full erase and reinstall Yosemite also see http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201376. Since I am just migrating from being a PC user, I had no prior restore point or Time Machine backup: the whole process took about 30min (similar to davidsdiego).

    1. Boot from recovery (i.e. reboot holding down cmd+r from boot chime sound to recovery screen). Explained here: http://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT4718
    2. Select Disk Utility, click Continue.
    3. Select Macintosh HD partition; File > Unlock; select Erase tab, choose “Journaled Only” from drop-down (!!); click “Erase”; (no separate formatting step).
    4. Quit Disk Utility.
    5. Reinstall Yosemite without restoring anything.
    6. During set-up afterwards: make sure you de-select the standard, pre-selected option to use FileVault.

    Here are some more useful Mac startup key combos: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255.

    Insights on how and why to reset your PRAM (no, ladies: not the Bugaboo!): http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18761

    And finally, as quoted before, “Der Flounder”’s very helpful pages: http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/managing-mavericks-filevault-2-with- fdesetup/; http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/using-disk-utility-to-unlock-or-decr ypt-your-filevault-2-encrypted-boot-drive/; http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/decrypting-filevault-2-on-mac-os-x-1 0-8-4-unlock-first-then-decrypt/.

    Thanks to everyone commenting before – I’ve learnt a lot here (actual effort invested: 1 afternoon plus overnight waiting time plus 30min), and I am glad I did not risk grief with Apple support but did it myself. I have been pretty grumpy in the process, I must say. With a PC you know you might have problems (although things have improved enormously since Windows 3.1), but I thought this is not meant to happen with a Mac!

  • by Haliburtonfred,

    Haliburtonfred Haliburtonfred Nov 21, 2014 7:56 PM in response to SvPurr
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 21, 2014 7:56 PM in response to SvPurr

    Just got my Mac Book Pro today and went through the Yosemite update turned on the file vault  encryption process and got into the same problem, it paused even though power cord was plugged in ..... have not noticed any adverse effects to performance yet but this whole experience is annoying . Apple needs to supply a fix/patch/update whatever to restore my faith in this purchase. I'm going to take this Pro Book back to apple store and let them fix it .... I just bought about $7,000 worth of Apple products in the past 8 months .... they need to at least acknowledge this issue in this forum.

  • by Thomas O'Connell,

    Thomas O'Connell Thomas O'Connell Nov 22, 2014 12:24 AM in response to Haliburtonfred
    Level 1 (36 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 22, 2014 12:24 AM in response to Haliburtonfred

    Fred-

     

    this is a user group. It is not monitored by Apple employees.

     

    Although this problem is real for all of us in this thread, it does not seem to be a really widespread problem. If you really want to Apple to get the message, you should either leave feedback or call AppleCare and tell them your feelings about Apple stepping in.

     

    although it does sound like a windows solution, reinstalling Yosemite is probably the easiest way to solve it absent some sort of patchwork fix from Apple. In my opinion it's better to fix it now rather than wait since the solution really turns out to be a rather simple one… Though somewhat time-consuming.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Tom

  • by Haliburtonfred,

    Haliburtonfred Haliburtonfred Nov 22, 2014 4:11 AM in response to Thomas O'Connell
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 22, 2014 4:11 AM in response to Thomas O'Connell

    TTom... Thanks for that response I just realized it just a forum I will contact Apple for advice, not that technical LOL ... Regards Fred

  • by Haliburtonfred,

    Haliburtonfred Haliburtonfred Nov 22, 2014 5:35 AM in response to zinnjd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 22, 2014 5:35 AM in response to zinnjd

    I Have same problem with Mac Book Pro ... Just got off chat with Apple Support team ..here is the response

     

    Hi Fred, I understand you appear to be having an issue with FileVault, as it turns out, it’s a cosmetic bug and the encryption is still going on int he background, our engineering team is aware of the issue and is working on a fix for it already.


    THey told me to just keep it powered in ?? ...... Cosmetic ?? ...... I'm not showing any issues with degradation I'm going to schedule a call with the technical team tomorrow for further info ...... I would reload Yosemite but it takes ages to download via Satilite ..... Will update further

  • by TMB80,

    TMB80 TMB80 Nov 22, 2014 7:32 AM in response to Haliburtonfred
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 22, 2014 7:32 AM in response to Haliburtonfred

    Fred, thanks.  That's helpful news for me.  I have been thinking my problem is "cosmetic" since I have not perceived performance problems, not even a draw on the battery.  I have been reluctant to undertake a major re-install, partly because I don't have current problems and partly because I am new to OS X.   Please let us know when you learn more.  Thanks. 

  • by Muddasir31,

    Muddasir31 Muddasir31 Nov 23, 2014 5:01 AM in response to caboolture
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 23, 2014 5:01 AM in response to caboolture

    Add me too...!!!

    same issue with my Macbook Pro Retina too here...

  • by Muddasir31,

    Muddasir31 Muddasir31 Nov 23, 2014 5:21 AM in response to Haliburtonfred
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 23, 2014 5:21 AM in response to Haliburtonfred

    So, How much time do you think it'll take to clear this issue...???

    And should i keep my Macbook powered On till that..???

  • by ramartin5965,

    ramartin5965 ramartin5965 Nov 23, 2014 6:18 AM in response to SvPurr
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 23, 2014 6:18 AM in response to SvPurr

    you have successfully solved an issue which plagued me for over a month since I upgraded to Yosemite on day two of release,I was waiting to buy a new drive to start over as some suggestions said but i was successfully able to get the file vault to start decrypting using his suggestion and after five hours my macbook pro was as new thank you very much

    please note that when you choose encryption off in recovery mode it only starts when you reboot back to regular mode in the background but your macbook  is operational from the reboot is done even before the decryption is completed. (this works even when the encryption is halfway or paused )

     

    for those who missed it this is the solution which worked

     

    Thank you everybody for sharing your thoughts on the FileVault getting stuck issue. I literally tried every single trick in these comments before Nov 20th. My brand-new MacBook Air 13” was pretty badly stuck. I suspect the problem becomes increasingly severe the later in the encryption process you get stuck – I did when the encryption progress bar looked like it had just reached the end. Sudo fdesetup status in my case only ever said “status: pending”, no percentage given on the completion progress, seems I got stuck even a little later than hogbobkillerbob. Sudo fdesetup disable did not do anything at all. Following scafede’s recommendations (in various combinations of power supply and wifi on/off/interrupted, and different orders for disk and permission repair on partition and disk) just took me back to where I was before: everything looks fine, but FileVault still stuck, no change (never kicked in even briefly like described by others). Maybe this had something to do with this msg during partition and main disk repair: “The volume disk1s2 cannot be repaired when it is in use”. From wherever possible, “disable encryption” was always greyed out, no chance here. After my last attempt, randomly switching from FileVault to the Firewall tab in Systems Preferences > Security & Privacy and then back again got me stuck on colourful circulating cursor, but no switch to FileVault tab. No change when I left it like this running overnight, forcing the machine to stay awake with playing videos and plugged in (just in case it was actually doing its encryption business). I was not going to wait any longer for the process to resume after this – too risky to end up with a dodgy system. Followed potsky’s and OrangesandPears guidelines. Now running a clean, crisp new install of Yosemite with encryption turned off (I’ll wait until problems are sorted before I try this again). Just in case there are other Mac newbies out there with the same problem and who struggle to immediately understand what is meant by some of the shorthand instructions on these pages, here are the steps I took in longhand, with some slight variations (maybe related to my machine being a mid 2014 MacBook Air 13”), and with a few additional links I found useful. For the full erase and reinstall Yosemite also see http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201376. Since I am just migrating from being a PC user, I had no prior restore point or Time Machine backup: the whole process took about 30min (similar to davidsdiego).

    1. Boot from recovery (i.e. reboot holding down cmd+r from boot chime sound to recovery screen). Explained here: http://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT4718
    2. Select Disk Utility, click Continue.
    3. Select Macintosh HD partition; File > Unlock; select Erase tab, choose “Journaled Only” from drop-down (!!); click “Erase”; (no separate formatting step).
    4. Quit Disk Utility.
    5. Reinstall Yosemite without restoring anything.
    6. During set-up afterwards: make sure you de-select the standard, pre-selected option to use FileVault.

    Here are some more useful Mac startup key combos: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255.

    Insights on how and why to reset your PRAM (no, ladies: not the Bugaboo!): http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18761

    And finally, as quoted before, “Der Flounder”’s very helpful pages: http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/managing-mavericks-filevault-2-with- fdesetup/; http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/using-disk-utility-to-unlock-or-decr ypt-your-filevault-2-encrypted-boot-drive/; http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/decrypting-filevault-2-on-mac-os-x-1 0-8-4-unlock-first-then-decrypt/.

    Thanks to everyone commenting before – I’ve learnt a lot here (actual effort invested: 1 afternoon plus overnight waiting time plus 30min), and I am glad I did not risk grief with Apple support but did it myself. I have been pretty grumpy in the process, I must say. With a PC you know you might have problems (although things have improved enormously since Windows 3.1), but I thought this is not meant to happen with a Mac!

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