New MacBook Pro, FileVault Locked in Perpetual Encryption, Kills Battery

Question

New MacBook Pro, FileVault Locked in Perpetual Encryption, Kills Battery

I have a brand new (well, it's about 2 weeks old now) MacBook Pro (2.8 i7, 1 TB, 16 GB, Iris Pro 1536 MB). Love it.

When I initially set up this device after removing it from its box, I opted to enable FileVault encryption.

Since then, however, FileVault has been unable to complete the operation. It seems to be locked in a routine of perpetual encryption, despite the fact it reports it's doing nothing at all.

Here's what I see in the FileVault panel of System Preferences, for example:

Note the progress bar. It reads "Connect power adapter to resume encryption." This message remains regardless of whether or not the power adapter is connected.

If I click the "Turn Off FileVault…" button, I get:

So I'm in a bit of a catch 22: I can't turn it off until it's done, but it'll never be done because it's waiting for the power adapter to be plugged in, but it never recognizes when the power adapter is plugged in.

This wouldn't be so bad except for one problem: it's doing something in the background that's absolutely killing my battery. Whenever I unplug my power adapter, "Converting to FileVault" is always displayed under the "Apps Using Significant Energy" section of the battery menu.

Presumably as a result of this, I never get more than about 4 hours of battery life with this device, even with the screen fully dimmed and when just doing basic web browsing. Interestingly, under the "Energy" pane of Activity Monitor, there is no line item for any FileVault related activity.

One final note. I've read that Apple puts SSDs in MacBooks from different manufacturers. The drive in my device is identified as, "APPLE SSD SM1024F Media." The "SM" from what I understand denotes that I have a Samsung SSD in my MacBook. I'm not sure if there are issues related to Samsung drives, but it would be a variable in this situation.

I've contacted AppleCare about this and they are stumped, though they acknowledge it's a recognized problem that is being investigated. I'm on a list of people to be notified of a fix, but I have the feeling sorting this out is a low priority at Apple.

So I figured I'd reach our here in the community with a few questions:

Anyone else had this problem and have a fix?
Is this hardware related, or just software?
Do you think a basic nuke and pave of the device will make this problem go away?
Anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks for reading. I look forward to hearing back on any thoughts anyone might have.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), 1 TB, 16 GB, 2.8 GHz i7, Iris Pro

Posted on Dec 7, 2014 6:58 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Dec 7, 2014 8:10 AM in response to Andrew Robulack

If you bought the product in the U.S. directly from Apple (not from a reseller), you have 14 days from the date of delivery in which to exchange or return it for a refund. In other countries, the return policy may be different. If you bought from a reseller, its return policy applies.

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Answer 2

Dec 7, 2014 11:40 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks for quoting the return policy.

So your opinion is that the unit itself is defective?

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Dec 7, 2014 12:13 PM in response to Andrew Robulack

My opinion is that you paid for a computer that works, and Apple has to solve the problem. If it can't, you should either exchange the machine for one that does work, or return it for a refund and buy something else.

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Answer 4

Dec 11, 2014 3:46 AM in response to Andrew Robulack

I have exactly the same problem. My brandnew MBP 13" is a 3.0Ghz i7 / 16Gb / 1Tb.

I used the filevaulted TimeMachine backup from my mid 2010 13" (OSX Yosemite too) MBP to transfer my data to this one. There are some fixes mentioned here and there in the support forums, but none of it works for me. Most remedies involve using DIsk Utility in recovery mode to repair the disk. That seems to work for some people for a very short time, after which the problem returns. Others decide to do a reformat without Filevault by erasing the storage and then restore using a TimeMachine backup. That is no option for me.

I would like to see this repaired ASAP. How do you get a such a resolve notice?

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Answer 5

Dec 11, 2014 4:01 PM in response to Jean Klare

I'd advise you to call AppleCare and at least get your problem recorded into their system. When I called I was very quickly escalated to a very high level of support where I was speaking directly with an engineer, so it's not an easy fix. And he couldn't fix it and passed it on to an even higher level of support.

The more awareness they have of the problem, the more likely they are to actually fix it. Presumably, if Apple ever were to get around to resolving this problem, they would notify us of a fix because we're in their system. Presumably.

Taking your MacBook in to a Genius Bar is probably a good idea, too.

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Answer 6

Dec 12, 2014 9:47 AM in response to Andrew Robulack

Thanks Andrew. I did just that, I registered my complaint with an Apple Care representative. They gave me a step by step solution which I will try tomorrow when I don‘t need my system for work. It will have to run for a while.

In short, it entails decrypting and re-crypting the SSD, but since I currently have approximately 550Gb of data, that will probably take some time, even with this little flat beast.

I‘ll post my findings here. If it works out, I‘ll post the steps foor others to try.

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Answer 7

Dec 18, 2014 10:13 AM in response to Andrew Robulack

I finally got sick of the battery being chewed up in less than 3 hours, even with the lid closed, and no user-facing apps running. Yesterday I backed up all my files, erased the hard drive and reinstalled Yosemite.

During set up I opted to try FileVault again. Fortunately, it was successful this time, though it did take about an hour to complete the encryption process. I left the machine alone during that time and just let it perform that one function.

So if you have the problem I describe here, Apple doesn't seem interested in resolving the matter and you're only option is probably a full nuke and pave of your hard drive. It's a lot of work, but it'll probably save your battery in the long run.

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Answer 8

Feb 1, 2015 2:09 PM in response to Andrew Robulack

I have the identical problem that you described in your original post. My brand new MacBook Pro is just four days old and it is stuck in perpetual FileVault encryption even though I have connected the power adaptor. I have my first One-to-One session this week, and intend to bring that up. If the only solution is reinstalling Yosemite, how exactly does one do that? I am a newbie to Mac computers and have never used one before. Thank you.

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