Stuck trying to decrypt partition

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Level 1

8 points

Stuck trying to decrypt partition

I need help! A summary of what I have been dealing with. In June my MacBook Pro crashed and wouldn't boot while trying to download files from my Go Pro camera. After researching the problem over the last few months, I'm pretty sure the OS ran out of memory and now won't boot. Since then, I would get my login screen, log in then the login screen would return. My next step was to delete some files to free up memory in safe mode. However I can't log in in safe mode because my partition is encrypted. I went in via disk utility to unlock it and then decrypt it however my Mac froze up during this process, causing me to force another reboot. Since then, when I get back into disk utility, the partition is both unmounted and locked again. I have to go into terminal to unlock it. If I try to start decryption in terminal I get error message, "Error: -69750: Unable to modify a FileVault context". Once unlocked and mounted I can go into disk utility to "turn off encryption" but two pop ups come up, top one says "Disk decryption in progress. The disk you requested to decrypt is now being decrypted in the background. You may continue to use your computer while this process completes. You can view progress in the FileVault tab of the security and privacy preference pane". Second pop up behind the first one says: "an error has occurred trying to turn off encryption.". When I went back into terminal to check progress this is what I see: (below)

What do I do next?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010), iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Sep 29, 2014 7:45 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 29, 2014 8:04 PM in response to WSalis

When I went back into terminal to check progress this is what I see: (below)

What do you see?

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Answer 2

WSalis Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 29, 2014 8:33 PM in response to Linc Davis

I'm having the hardest time trying to upload a pic of my screen, I give up.

Here's what it says in terminal when I run the diskutil cs list again: (bottom half)

Logical Volume family EFA7D51A-FBF5-41B1-80A1-ED2EB798CAAD

_____________________________________________________________

Encryption status: unlocked

Encryption type: none

Conversion status: converting

Conversion Direction: backward

Has encrypted extents: yes

Fully secure: no

passphrase required: no

Logical Volume 77A9817-D4AA-40E7-A7AF-116F-1A610C84

_________________________________________________________

Disk: disk13

Status: online

Size (total): 318877626368 B (318.9 GB)

Conversion progress: -none-

Revertible: yes (unlock & decryption required)

LV name: untitled

Volume name: untitled

Content Hint: Apple _ HFS

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Answer 3

WSalis Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 29, 2014 8:40 PM in response to Linc Davis

And when I tried to go through terminal to decrypt with a Fusion Drive (I think that's what I have, the instructions were different) I got this error message:

"Error beginning core storage Logical Volume decrytion: The target core storage volume is not encrypted (-69755) However, when I tried to reboot in safe mode again, I got the prohibited sign (circle with a line through it) instead of the apple logo upon start up and nothing would happen.

At this point, I want to recover my pictures and videos that are on my hard drive, transfer them to my external hard drive then I don't care if I wipe the HD and start over. The pictures and videos are all I care about. But my last backup was a while back and I'll loose too many pics if I go that route. Help me please!

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Sep 29, 2014 10:56 PM in response to WSalis

If that's really what diskutil reported, then the drive is in an inconsistent state and something has gone wrong. You need to back it up immediately, if you still can.

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive or other storage device to hold the data.

1. Start up from the Recovery partition, from Internet Recovery, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.

2. If Method 1 fails because of disk errors, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.

3. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

4. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

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Answer 5

WSalis Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 1, 2014 8:06 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you!!!!

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Answer 6

mfanz

Level 1

0 points

Oct 17, 2015 11:10 PM in response to WSalis

Did you have to erase your disk and make a fresh install? I have the exact same issue with the El Capitan update.

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