How do I access an encrypted sparseimage in Windows or Linux?

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How do I access an encrypted sparseimage in Windows or Linux?

The hard drive crashed on my iBook G4 using OS X 10.4. I made every effort I could find to repair it without luck, but DiskWarrior did allow me to transfer my encrypted home folder (myname.sparseimage) to an external hard drive. But I cannot access it. I used MacDrive to access the external HD in Windows, and I tried opening the sparseimage with TransMac but it did not support encrypted images. I do not have access to another Mac. I searched for answers but the forum topics I found either applied to non-encrypted sparseimages or remained unanswered. The Linux solutions I found required a lot of command line wizardry that is way over my head, and I'm not sure if they would work on an encrypted one either.

I feel like I have searched the net and forums like this one pretty thoroughly, but I am really hoping a solution is out there that I missed. Any thoughts on this one? Is finding another Mac to open it my only solution?

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

iBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on May 5, 2011 12:37 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,183 points

May 5, 2011 10:16 AM in response to dkmajw

If it's 128 bit AES then this should work in Limux...

http://www.catacombae.org/dmgx.html

Perhaps another Option would be a Firewire Drive for the iBook, install OSSX.4 to that then boot the iBook from the FW drive.

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Answer 2

dkmajw Author

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May 5, 2011 10:57 AM in response to dkmajw

Thanks for the response!

It's not a .dmg but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. The file I have is .sparseimage. I will let you know if it works.

FirewireHD - Yes, I think that would work. I was sofrustrated when I bought anexternal HD just for this and then foundout that the G4 iBooks won'tboot from the USB. I even got all the waythrough the OS X installprocess, but it was only after I couldn'tfigure out how to boot it thatI discovered USB wouldn't work. Thecheapest (new) Firewire HD I foundwas $100. I haven't looked on eBayyet for a less expensive one. I didfind some old iBooks for $100-$150.I am trying as hard as I can not tospend any more since I already paidfor DiskWarrior and the USB HD, butit may be inevitable.

Thanks again! I am going to try that dmg extractor right now.

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Answer 3

dkmajw Author

Level 1

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May 5, 2011 11:54 AM in response to dkmajw

I'm having a couple of problems here, due in no small part to my inexperience with Linux packages and command line use.

Problem number one actually happened already. I tried to access the external HD in Linux before without success. It mounts but does not have write access. I downloaded the hfsplus packages and tried following these instructions, but still could not mount it. Again, this may very well be a user failure and not a technical failure.

Problem two is installing the dmg extractor. I downloaded both the jar file and the zip file. They extracted to the desktop but I don't know what to do with them from there. Clicking on them did not work.

And unfortunately it still may not work with .sparseimage even if I get it up and running.

I am going to keep tinkering with it and hope for the best, but at this point buying a Firewire HD like you said seems like the path of least resistance in the absence of any other ideas.

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

239,183 points

May 5, 2011 12:43 PM in response to dkmajw

I don't think you'd need Write access, just Read then write to another volume... depending on how nig the image is.

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Answer 5

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

May 6, 2011 11:47 AM in response to dkmajw

I recommend you do a google search on any external harddrive you are looking at.

I bought a low cost external drive enclosure. When I started having trouble with it, I did a google search and found a lot of complaints about the drive enclosure. I ended up buying a new drive enclosure. On my second go around, I decided to buy a drive enclosure with a good history of working with Macs. The chip set seems to be the key ingredient. The <b>Oxford</b> line of chips seems to be good. I got the Oxford 911.

Has everything interface:

FireWire 800/400 + USB2, + eSATA 'Quad Interface'

&

save a little money interface:

FireWire 400 + USB 2.0

This web page lists both external harddrive types. You may need to scroll to the right to see both.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

The latest the hard drive enclosures support the newer serial ata drives. The drive and closure that I list supports only older parallel ata.

Here is an external hd enclosure.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW91UAL1K/

Here is what one contributor recommended:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10452917#10452917