"A Recovery System for the targeted disk is required" error msg

Question

Level 1

9 points

"A Recovery System for the targeted disk is required" error msg

I get this error message when I try to encrypt a 500 GB external backup drive.

I right click on the volume and choose "Encrypt this disk." As expected, it prompts for a password and password hint. Then it pops up this message: "A recovery system for the targeted disk is required" (and it won't let me encrypt the disk).

I have read elsewhere that this is a problem encrypting drives with 4K block sizes. This was discussed here August 2012.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4023303?start=0&tstart=0

Has this problem been solved yet?

I think I found a solution which I am researching myself and will return to post what I find out.

Posted on Apr 21, 2013 9:33 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 21, 2013 10:14 PM in response to cbrandt

I'm not sure of the status of how 4K block sizes are handled, but you can try repartitioning the drive with a GUID partition type in Disk Utility and then try encrypting it again. This is a basic requirement for the encryption, which should allow it to work if all else is supported.

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Answer 2

Ed_Hawco

Level 1

4 points

Oct 15, 2014 9:16 PM in response to Topher Kessler

Any follow-up on this?

I have a 1 TB drive divided into 650GB and 350GB partitions. I can encrypt the 350GB one, but I get that "A Recovery System for the targeted disk is required" message when I try to encrypt the 650GB one. Both are formatted the same way (Mac OS Extended Journaled). What's up with that?

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