Hardware Encrypted Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 (DTLPG3) used to work on Monterey, but not anymore

[GoGrater]

Hello all. Please bear with me. This is pretty important to me and I’ll try my best to describe the situation.

CURRENT:
- Mac Studio, Monterey 12.6.8
- 3 Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 (model DTLPG3) hardware encrypted drives. All 3 drives have been updated/formatted on the Mac Pro with the Kingston firmware Big Sur update required for 64-bit support. This drive uses the DTLplus_Launcher application to enter the password to unlock the drive.

PROBLEM:
All 3 Kingston hardware encrypted drives DTLPG3 used to work with my Mac Pro (Mojave). When I upgraded to a Mac Studio (Monterey 12.6.1), I ran the Kingston updater for 64-bit support on two drives (A & B) and they worked for at least 5 months. Then I later ran the updater on drive C, but when I connected it to my Studio, the system froze and I had to force a shutdown. I didn’t want to deal with another system crash so I put this on the back burner for a couple of months which may not have been such a good idea in retrospect.

I don’t know if drive C corrupted the system. But when I now try to connect drive A or C, Disk Utility and Finder do not detect the drives. I wonder if a newer update to macOS Monterey (12.6.7 or 12.6.8) is incompatible with the drives. Drive B is off-site, but I suspect drive B won’t work either. I tried different USB ports to no avail.

DESIRED OUTCOME:
I’d like to copy files from drive A. I don’t need drives B and C as they were backups for A. I plan to replace all three Kingston drives so I only need temporary access to Drive A.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

1. Would it make sense to try and RESTORE macOS from a previous Time Machine backup? I have a note that the last time I updated drive A was May 30, 2023 when I was on macOS 12.6.6. The current version is 12.6.8. Note: I would take a current TM backup before trying this.
2. If the Restore does *not* give me access to drive A, then I would restore back to the newest TM backup.
3. If the Restore gives me access to drive A, then I would assume there is a problem with the newer macOS on my Studio and manually install/update apps individually on top of the May TM-Restored version. Does this make sense?
4. I looked at the Console Crash report, but it is empty. Logged into admin, but it’s also empty there. Is there somewhere else to look for hints of what went wrong?
5. Would you suggest other fixes or diagnostics?

Thanks in advance,
Char

 

[Fishrrman]

Take all 3 drives to an older Mac.
Perhaps one still running Mojave.

See if ANY of them will mount.
If one does, copy whatever you can from it.

I would suggest that in the future you DO NOT USE proprietary encryption (such as that which seemed to be on the Kingston drives).

I have NEVER encrypted a USB flash drive.
I WANT things to be "easy to get off of" such drives.
(but that's just me, I guess, look at the avatar - it was carefully chosen)

Hmmm...
If I had sensitive data that required some kind of "protection", what I'd do is create a small encrypted disk image on the flash drive (using disk utility).
Now the flashdrive itself remains "easily mountable", but you still have some measure of "protection" for the data (in the form of the encrypted disk image, which is standard Apple tech).

 

[GoGrater]

Take all 3 drives to an older Mac.
Perhaps one still running Mojave.

See if ANY of them will mount.
If one does, copy whatever you can from it.

I would suggest that in the future you DO NOT USE proprietary encryption (such as that which seemed to be on the Kingston drives).

I have NEVER encrypted a USB flash drive.
I WANT things to be "easy to get off of" such drives.
(but that's just me, I guess, look at the avatar - it was carefully chosen)

Hmmm...
If I had sensitive data that required some kind of "protection", what I'd do is create a small encrypted disk image on the flash drive (using disk utility).
Now the flashdrive itself remains "easily mountable", but you still have some measure of "protection" for the data (in the form of the encrypted disk image, which is standard Apple tech).

Unfortunately, the drives don't work on my old Mac Pro with Mojave. Drive C detected by Disk Utility, but it is grayed out and there is no info about storage space. Drive A that has data is not detected at all. Finder doesn't see either.

I believe you are correct that it is best to not use proprietary encryption. I learned that the hard way.

I'm going to contact Kingston and see if they can help.

I'll look into using Disk Utility to encrypt a partition or drive when I replace these.

Your avatar is great! When I have the luxury of time, I'm going to replace mine with something more interesting. Thanks for your advice and taking the time to reply.

 

[GoGrater]

I contacted Kingston tech support who was very patient and suggested several things to try. He suggested plugging the drive into a Windows machine and it worked for drive C only. Drive A still was not detected. He also asked about lights on the drive. The light on drive A was blinking rapidly, but not on drive C. That reminded me that in the past, sometimes the light would blink rapidly and after removing and reconnecting the drive, the drive would be detected. So although I had already removed and connected the drive a dozen times this week, I kept trying out of desparation and it finally worked. You can't underestimate the potential of desparation.

Now I'm wondering whether the blinking light was an indication of the drive dying. But thankfully I have all my files and have changed my storage and backup "strategy". Lesson learned.

Thanks again to Fishrrrman for chiming in.