Sparse Disk Image Bundle won't mount disk after encryption

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Sparse Disk Image Bundle won't mount disk after encryption

I have an encrypted Sparse Disk Image Bundle. For years I've been able to decrypt it, and once done it mounts a disk on Finder. Within that disk I have all sorts of important folders and files including tax information and other sensitive personal information. However recently when I enter the correct password, nothing happens. I can't see the disk being mounted in Finder, and thus can no longer access my critical files.

Additional details / things I've tried:

I'm running MacOS Monterey, v12.5.1. I have all file types turned on to show in Finder->Preferences->General->Show these items in the desktop. I know I'm typing the right password (it prompts me again if I enter the wrong password). Ditto on the Locations for the Sidebar. I have enough space on my hard drive to support the decrypted files (the Sparse Disk Image Bundle is about 600 MB and I have about 600 GB available). I've also tried simplistic things like rebooting, etc. but all to no avail.

One odd things that I noticed a few months ago was that I got a warning message about that file, something about that disk might harm my computer or something. I didn't know what to do when I got that, there's no reason I should have gotten the message, and for a while it kept decrypting just fine so I ignored it and the message never came back. But now, nothing happens when I when I decrypt the file.

Help? These are very important files and I really need to get them back! I'd appreciate any suggestions folks might have.

Thanks much.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Oct 31, 2022 9:49 AM

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Answer 1

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araym Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 2, 2022 2:12 PM in response to araym

I got it working again. I ran a Disk Utility First Aid on both that disk image and it fixed it right up. I'm able to mount it, dismount it, and access all of my files.

Thanks much. I wouldn't have pursued this line of thinking without your suggestions.

Lesson learned for me though. I'm going to make a second copy of my most important files and keep them in a separate place. Yes, I do run backups as well, but this stuff is so important to me that a copy needs to be kept elsewhere.

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Answer 2

araym Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 2, 2022 12:09 AM in response to Barney-15E

That was an excellent suggestion. Thanks! I ran Disk Utility and saw my partition. So how do I mount or display it now? I can't do that directly from Disk Utility can I? And since I have everything turned on in Finder->Preferences I don't know why it stopped showing the virtual disk nor how to get back to accessing it normally via Finder.

Regardless, this is great progress and I'm very appreciative of your help. Thanks so much!

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Answer 3

araym Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 2, 2022 1:19 PM in response to Barney-15E

I'm not sure what you mean by Go > Computer, however I can see it in Disk Utility. It shows on the sidebar. When I click on that Disk Image (that shows Apple Disk Image) it has the ^ mark that would normally be unmount. Indented underneath the Apple Disk Image line it shows Encrypted, which is indeed the folder I stored all of my sensitive encrypted files. When I click on Encrypted on the side bar, the main Disk Utility app gives me all sorts of information in a table. However Encrypted is not mounted. I can confirm that by dropping into the Terminal app and (using my long forgotten Unix commands I can "cd /" then "ls" and it does not show any mounted disks other than my Machintosh HD.

So then I tried to mount it using the Disk Utility Mount icon which lights up over Encrypted, only to get the following error message: "Could not mount “Encrypted”. (com.apple.DiskManagement.disenter error 49153.)"

That is the only error message I get in the entire process.

I do note that within the Disk Utility it shows Encrypted has zero space left, that's probably true, I filled it up some time back, but that shouldn't cause me not to be able to mount it.

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