Problem Mounting Encrypted Drive on Some Macs

Question

I have encrypted an external Seagate drive using my 2012 MacBook Pro Retina. It mounts correctly on the MacBook, but is "not readable" by other Mac computers in my office. I&#x27;;ve tried it on a Mac Mini server and an iMac. They are both 2009 models. I have the same OS running on all the computers. I am running 10.11.5. The computers that won&#x27;t mount it say it is unlocked, but needs to be mounted through disk utility. This does not work. Mounting through command line does not work either. Is there any reason one machine would mount and run the disk fine while another would not?

Linc Davis · Answer

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It makes no changes to your data.I&#x27;ve tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. That&#x27;s what I suggest you use, even if your preferred browser is something else.Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:{ diskutil list; echo; diskutil cs list; } | pbcopyCopy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.Launch the built-in Terminal application in any one of the following ways:☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens. ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered.The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.The Terminal window doesn&#x27;t show the output. Please don&#x27;t copy anything from there.If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

Drew Reece · Answer

Are you using any of Seagate&#x27;s own software to encrypt the disk? What tools did you use to encrypt it, Finder, Disk Utility or something else?

Jason Glover · Answer

I used the Mac OS to encrypt the drive. "Right Click, Encrypt Disk"

Jason Glover · Answer

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1   2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            250.1 GB   disk0s2   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           +249.8 GB   disk1                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2                                 D25261AC-CF5E-4332-B719-B61902B7A6C0                                 Unencrypted/dev/disk3 (internal, physical):   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *127.9 GB   disk3   1:               Windows_NTFS DRIVE_128                  127.8 GB   disk3s1/dev/disk4 (external, physical):   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk4   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk4s1   2:          Apple_CoreStorage 17_CLONE       3.0 TB     disk4s2   3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk4s3/dev/disk5 (external, virtual):   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER   0:                  Apple_HFS 17_CLONE      +3.0 TB     disk5                                 Logical Volume on disk4s2                                 C27F65BD-35FD-486C-9A9A-C659D47AC046                                 Unlocked EncryptedCoreStorage logical volume groups (2 found)|+-- Logical Volume Group 83D484D4-A761-44D3-A03B-99AF04AD39BA|   &#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;|   Name:         Macintosh HD|   Status:       Online|   Size:         250140434432 B (250.1 GB)|   Free Space:   18882560 B (18.9 MB)|   ||   +-&lt; Physical Volume 9A7A2DD5-6831-4407-BBB3-1A5D5D5A221C|   |   ----------------------------------------------------|   |   Index:    0|   |   Disk:     disk0s2|   |   Status:   Online|   |   Size:     250140434432 B (250.1 GB)|   ||   +-&gt; Logical Volume Family 150768D1-8CCE-4BB2-A9EB-1D5E9A304572|       ----------------------------------------------------------|       Encryption Type:         None|       ||       +-&gt; Logical Volume D25261AC-CF5E-4332-B719-B61902B7A6C0|           ---------------------------------------------------|           Disk:                  disk1|           Status:                Online|           Size (Total):          249769230336 B (249.8 GB)|           Revertible:            Yes (no decryption required)|           LV Name:               Macintosh HD|           Volume Name:           Macintosh HD|           Content Hint:          Apple_HFS|+-- Logical Volume Group 95934126-2E46-4C7F-A136-B5DA27F53735    &#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;    Name:         17_CLONE    Status:       Online    Size:         3000144142336 B (3.0 TB)    Free Space:   18915328 B (18.9 MB)    |    +-&lt; Physical Volume CA19B85A-198F-4EFF-B10D-D3B773FFBBA2    |   ----------------------------------------------------    |   Index:    0    |   Disk:     disk4s2    |   Status:   Online    |   Size:     3000144142336 B (3.0 TB)    |    +-&gt; Logical Volume Family C5B35E58-7376-4AB6-8D12-111640546BB5        ----------------------------------------------------------        Encryption Type:         AES-XTS        Encryption Status:       Unlocked        Conversion Status:       Converting (forward)        High Level Queries:      Not Fully Secure        |                        Passphrase Required        |                        Accepts New Users        |                        Has Visible Users        |                        Has Volume Key        |        +-&gt; Logical Volume C27F65BD-35FD-486C-9A9A-C659D47AC046            ---------------------------------------------------            Disk:                  disk5            Status:                Online            Size (Total):          2999772905472 B (3.0 TB)            Conversion Progress:   1%            Revertible:            Yes (unlock and decryption required)            LV Name:               17_CLONE            Volume Name:           17_CLONE            Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

Linc Davis · Answer

The external drive hasn&#x27;t finished encrypting; in fact, it&#x27;s only 1% done. How long ago did you start the process?

Jason Glover · Answer

I started the process just before I realized it would not mount on different computers. I started the process, let it run for 10-15 minutes on the Macbook Pro, then ejected it to mount it on a different computer so I could take my laptop home. Figured my other machine could churn overnight. It wouldn&#x27;t mount on the iMac or Mac Mini. Mounts fine on the Macbook. No issues. It&#x27;s about 5% complete now. Big drive.

Linc Davis · Answer

Please wait until the conversion is done before trying to mount the drive on another computer. It will take several hours.

Jason Glover · Answer

Will do. I&#x27;ve not had this issue before. Other drives have moved willingly from one computer to another during the encryption process. Thought maybe there was a known issue that might be at play.

Jason Glover · Answer

That did the trick. The drive finished encrypting on the Macbook Pro and is now mountable on other machines. As I mentioned, this has not happened to me before, so I&#x27;m hoping there might be an explanation as to why this drive needed to finish encrypting on the machine it started on. Could it be an original disk format issue?

Jason Glover · Answer

OK, have some additional data. I started the encryption of two more drives. One on my Mac Mini server and one on my iMac, both 2009 machines. When I start the encryption process it appears to go normally until the machine attempts to re-mount the drive, where it initially gives me the message that the drive is not readable. If I unplug the drive and re-power it, the prompt for the drive password comes up. The correct password is entered and it appears to reject it (shakes). The password is re-entered correctly and I get a message that the drive is already unlocked and to launch disk utility to mount it. Mounting is greyed out. Using the "diskutil cs list" command in Terminal tells me the drive is unlocked, not mounted, and the encryption is paused. Here&#x27;s the interesting part. If I take either of these drives and plug them into my MacBook Pro Retina, they mount properly and encryption begins where it left off. Question: is there a hardware difference between the older machines and the newer machine that would cause the mounting to fail, and the encryption process to pause? FYI—I am needing to encrypt a lot of drives, so I need a process that works and ideally not involve my laptop.