djdett

Q: Can't disable FileVault

I recently upgraded to Yosemite and now have to enter my password every time I boot up with I find annoying. It seems I need to disable FileVault to solve this problem but when I try I get a message ' FileVault is encrypting the data on your disk. Wait until your disk is fully encrypted before turning off fileVault' Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Dec 11, 2014 6:17 AM

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Q: Can't disable FileVault

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  • by Topher Kessler,

    Topher Kessler Topher Kessler Dec 11, 2014 6:28 AM in response to djdett
    Level 6 (9,866 points)
    Dec 11, 2014 6:28 AM in response to djdett

    In the FileVault system preferences, do you see an encryption progress indicator? If so, then monitor this to see when encryption will be finished, and keep your Mac booted and awake for this process to proceed. It may take a number of hours to do, but when done you should be able to disable it.

  • by djdett,

    djdett djdett Dec 11, 2014 6:40 AM in response to Topher Kessler
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2014 6:40 AM in response to Topher Kessler

    Thanks for getting back to me.... it says 'Encryption paused... connect to power adapter to resume encryption.' My Mac is pretty much connected to the adapter all day while I'm working. This has been the case for two weeks.

    Screen Shot 2014-12-11 at 14.36.29.png

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 11, 2014 8:22 AM in response to djdett
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Dec 11, 2014 8:22 AM in response to djdett

    It's a bug.

    Back up all data before proceeding. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.

    Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select Disk Utility.

    In the Disk Utility window, select the icon of the startup volume from the list on the left. It will be nested below another disk icon, usually with the same name. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar. When prompted, enter the login password of a user authorized to unlock the volume, or the alternate decryption key that was generated when you activated FileVault.

    Then, from the menu bar, select

              File ▹ Turn Off Encryption

    Enter the password again.

    You can then restart as usual, if the system is working. Decryption will be completed in the background. It may take several hours, and during that time performance will be reduced.

  • by djdett,

    djdett djdett Dec 11, 2014 8:45 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2014 8:45 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks for replying Linc. I followed your steps however the "Turn of Encryption' was greyed after I unlocked the drive. Any ideas?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Dec 11, 2014 9:11 AM in response to djdett
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Dec 11, 2014 9:11 AM in response to djdett

    This is a really crappy bug, and I don't know of an easy way to recover. If you don't feel able to carry out these instructions, get someone more experienced to help you. One option is to make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store.

    You need at least two complete, independent backups of all data before proceeding. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.

    Start up in Recovery mode by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime. Release the keys when you see a spinning globe.

    When the OS X Utilities window appears, select

              Utilities Terminal

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen—not from any of the items in the OS X Utilities window.

    Follow the procedure in this thread to erase the FileVault volume. The long string of letters, numbers, and dashes that you will have to enter will be different in your case. Copy and paste it from the Terminal window into the command.

    This operation will remove all data from the volume, so you had better be sure of your backups.

    Quit Disk Utility. You should then be able to restore the data from a backup in the main screen.

  • by Khanh703,

    Khanh703 Khanh703 Apr 17, 2015 6:00 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 6:00 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I had a fresh Yosemite install and FileVault is turned on by default. I had to wait 3 days until  it was completed, during those 3 days everything on my mbPro was slow, dragging a window was laggy, typing was always 1-2 characters behind, saving a simple text file took 15 seconds. Once the encryption was completed, my MBPro went back to normal, nothing was laggy. I then turned off FileVault. A month later had to do a hard reboot and surprise surprise, FileVault was turned back on and now I had to sit through another 3 days of lag. This has been going on for about 8 months and happens each time I reboot my computer.

     

    Why can I not permanently turn this feature off?

     

    Seems Apple has all sorts of bugs, only there are hardly any crash alerts or equivalent of the blue screen of death... the user just never know anything is really wrong unless they describe the issue to Google.

     

    I need to have FailVault turned off permanently.

  • by Chines88,

    Chines88 Chines88 Aug 28, 2016 8:40 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 28, 2016 8:40 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I Don't have a file > Turn off Encryption option.. But I did Repair disk and repair disk permissions and it still didn't fix the encrypting process

  • by Chines88,

    Chines88 Chines88 Aug 28, 2016 8:42 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 28, 2016 8:42 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I Don't have a file > Turn off Encryption option.. But I did Repair disk and repair disk permissions and it still didn't fix the encrypting process't

  • by Chines88,

    Chines88 Chines88 Aug 28, 2016 9:00 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 28, 2016 9:00 PM in response to Linc Davis

    it will not let me turn off Encryption process because the drive is encrypting in the background.. What the eff