External HD (2TB) taking FOREVER to be encrypted?

[KoolAid-Drink]

I recently got a new 2TB WD Passport external HD (USB 3.0). It's taking forever to be encrypted on my 2015 rMBP. It's been 3 days now, and it's only at ~35%. Is something wrong? When I encrypted my 1TB (thunderbolt) HD, it took about 1 day to encrypt fully.

I'm using the encryption option in macOS Sierra (right click the drive on the desktop, then click Encrypt).

Thanks!

 

[Menel]

Just 6 more days! give or take....

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

Just 6 more days! give or take....

Are you serious? 24 hours x 6 days (ish) for this to finish?! Won't this wear out the external HD before I've even begun using it?

 

[Weaselboy]

I recently got a new 2TB WD Passport external HD (USB 3.0). It's taking forever to be encrypted on my 2015 rMBP. It's been 3 days now, and it's only at ~35%. Is something wrong? When I encrypted my 1TB (thunderbolt) HD, it took about 1 day to encrypt fully.

I'm using the encryption option in macOS Sierra (right click the drive on the desktop, then click Encrypt).

Thanks!

Sounds about right. Nothing to do but wait it out. It depends on the connection speed and drive speed and also how much data is on the drive.

How much data is on there?

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

Sounds about right. Nothing to do but wait it out. It depends on the connection speed and drive speed and also how much data is on the drive.

How much data is on there?

Nothing. It was brand new.

Will all this work wear the HD out, though? Not to mention the connector and laptop.

 

[Weaselboy]

Nothing. It was brand new.

Will all this work wear the HD out, though? Not to mention the connector and laptop.

Hmmm... okay then yeah that is odd.

If there is nothing on there, eject the drive then reattach and just use Disk Utility to format to the encrypted format. That takes about ten seconds and gets you the same end result.

 

[WolfSnap]

It's normal.. Just let it run. It's not SSD, so it takes a while.

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

Hmmm... okay then yeah that is odd.

If there is nothing on there, eject the drive then reattach and just use Disk Utility to format to the encrypted format. That takes about ten seconds and gets you the same end result.

Wait, you mean if I do it through Disk Utility, it'll take 10 seconds, BUT then the encryption process will restart all over again and take 6-8 days? Or, it'll be fully encrypted after the 10 seconds? Just trying to clarify.

 

[Weaselboy]

Wait, you mean if I do it through Disk Utility, it'll take 10 seconds, BUT then the encryption process will restart all over again and take 6-8 days? Or, it'll be fully encrypted after the 10 seconds? Just trying to clarify.

A Disk Util format to the encrypted format will take about ten seconds and you will be done and the drive will be encrypted.

The difference is by using Disk Util it is a reformat. The right click thing you did takes the existing Mac OS Extended Journaled format and converts to the encrypted format. It is that conversion that takes time. Even more time if there is data on there. Since you have no data to lose by reformatting, it will be faster just to reformat.

Just go to the erase tab in Disk Utility and select the disk and do this. You can of course name yours whatever you like.

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

A Disk Util format to the encrypted format will take about ten seconds and you will be done and the drive will be encrypted.

The difference is by using Disk Util it is a reformat. The right click thing you did takes the existing Mac OS Extended Journaled format and converts to the encrypted format. It is that conversion that takes time. Even more time if there is data on there. Since you have no data to lose by reformatting, it will be faster just to reformat.

Just go to the erase tab in Disk Utility and select the disk and do this. You can of course name yours whatever you like.

View attachment 683522

Wow! Just perfect - your solution worked! I erased but kept it encrypted, and now Terminal/diskutil cs list shows the HD as fully secure with no progress % at all. Looks like I'm all set! You saved me so much time. I only wish I did this in the first place, but ah, live and learn.

One more question - do you think my HD is already worn out/"tired" after all that activity? (I gave it occasional breaks every now and then.)

 

[Weaselboy]

One more question - do you think my HD is already worn out/"tired" after all that activity? (I gave it occasional breaks every now and then.)

Glad you got it all fixed up. Nah... it won't hurt the drive at all.