FileVault Failed - An internal error has occurred

From reports I’ve been receiving from clients, it seems to be a bug in Sequoia. After speaking to one such caller, I tried updating a spare computer to Sequoia (FileVault was already enabled in Sonoma), turned FileVault off and tried to re-enable it. Same message: it failed because “An internal error has occurred.” Hang in there and hopefully it will be fixed in macOS 15.1.

And yes, I tried a reformat and clean install but got the same error message when I tried to enable FileVault.

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Now fixed with Sequoia 15.1

BlueWhale627 wrote:

Does anyone know how to fix this error when attempting to turn on FileVault ?

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/5f214b12-c26e-465f-a03d-b086dc96e12e

You need to paint a bigger picture here...

is this related to your external drive previous post —

ref: Decrypt backup disk - How long does it ta… - Apple Community

or your internal drive(?)

I would suggest erasing and reformatting an external drive if you have issues and start over

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

If you can't turn on FileVault on Mac

I suffer from the same issue in a just installed Sequoia and updated to Sequoia 15.0.1 iMac Retina 4K 2019, FileVault Refusses to Active, same for the Local generated Key or iCloud safe activation.

Even don't asks for the Local Generated Key, few seconds after trying to turn on, FileVault shows the Error Message.

Of course, first of all verifyed disk volumes integrity with the Disk Utility, but the problem is not solved.

I also wondered whether a third-party extension might have been blocking FileVault, so I started up in Safe Mode but still got the same message when I tried to enable it.

Just updated to 15.0.1 and still the issue remains. All should report this bug and perhaps it will get some attention:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Interesting. I just used CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) to make a bootable external drive and then booted and tried to turn on FileVault and got the same error message. No issues with Sonoma. I thought it was the CCC program but I guess not.

That’s interesting. I should add that my own experiments with the FileVault issue have been on an Intel Mac (2019 iMac), and I’m pretty sure all the clients who’ve reported the issue to me are also using Intel Macs. One at least has a 2018 Mac Mini.

Same issue here. Tried to enable FileVault through Terminal using 'sudo fdesetup enable', but this gets me an error message too: 'Error: A problem occurred while trying to enable FileVault. (-69596)'

In verbose mode, it adds 'fdesetup startEncryption startMigrationToEncryptedVolume error = -69596 (APFS Volume encryption failed to begin)'

Thank you so much for sharing this! I have a 2019 Intel Core iMac and have been dealing with a similar issue regarding FileVault and my keyboard. I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to coding or system setups—definitely not my strong suit—but I’ve been facing a variation of this problem. In my case, using the keyboard with a cable actually creates issues, like some keys (N, M, and a few others) becoming unresponsive. Strangely enough, the wireless keyboard has been my saving grace so far.

I’ve spent over 20 hours on the phone with Apple Support, following various troubleshooting steps that haven't really worked. The advisors seem to be guessing their way through it, and none of the fixes have been successful. Now, they've booked me an in-store appointment, but after reading your post, I’m second-guessing whether it’s worth lugging my iMac to the store. I'm worried that I'll just end up wasting another day only to hear that there’s no solution until a future software update—if that even happens.

Any advice on whether it's worth pursuing the store appointment or just waiting for a possible update?