decrypt/encrypt external drive questions...

[fisherking]

i have 2 external (HDD) drives, connected thru thunderbolt, both APFS, encrypted. i updated to a recent OS beta, and one of them no longer requires it's password to mount (on rebooting my imac).

weird, as it's identical to the 2nd drive (which still requires a password to access, after a reboot).

the problem drive shows as encrypted... so am decrypting it, then will re-encrypt (in the hope this fixes the issue). guess i'll find out in a few weeks (or months 🤪 )... when the whole process completes.

anyone else ever have an encrypted external drive lose it's encryption? and is there a way to monitor the decryption/encryption process?

 

[wdhpgx]

I would check the keychain to see if the password got stored at some point (I've had it happen, where I inadvertently checked the "store password in keychain" checkbox in the popup when typing in the password).

 

[fisherking]

I would check the keychain to see if the password got stored at some point (I've had it happen, where I inadvertently checked the "store password in keychain" checkbox in the popup when typing in the password).

good call! i did find it there. but... any way to stop the decryption? (seems not). so i still have to decrypt/re-encrypt. but at least i know where to look if this ever happens again...

thanx!

 

[FreakinEurekan]

If you’ve already started decryption, no - you can’t stop it.