Panther FileVault Troubles?

[MacRumors]

In the wake of PowerBook Display issues and Panther Firewire issues, some customers are also being affected by the adoption of FileVault - Apple's on-the-fly file encryption.

According to the article, the problem appears when FileVault asks to "reclaim lost disk space in the encrypted directory".

After this, data from Safari, Address Book, the Dock, Mail and Keychain can be affected, leading to an unstable system. Apple reports being aware of the issues and is investigating reports.

Related: Ongoing thread at Apple's Discussion Forum.

[Computer_Phreak]

Maybe Apple should do a more thorough beta testing. This is getting quite embarrasing, no?

[iHack]

Could a damaged keychain lead to being locked out of your filevault? I guess, if that's the only place your key word is stored (besides one's typically not too accurate head). Doesn't sound like a pleasant bug to me...

M.

[Frisco]

Apple should be investigating their Quality Control Department. Something is wrong.

[Freg3000]

Seems as though there are quite a few problems with 10.3. Perhaps 10.3.1 will be released soon. FileVault appears to have the largest problems.

[chicagoboy]

I actually was one of the first to discover a major problem with Panther and Final Cut Express. If you have your scratch disk (i.e. your video clips) in your home folder and you encrypt home folder with FileVault, it will prevent playback of digital video. The video stream is trying to play but is also being decrypted as it "leaves" the home folder. This can't be done with these computers. Too much computing power needed. Apple should have known this in advance. I called minutes after I installed and encrypted and found the problem on the first Panther release day. (Oct. 24) I think the same problem applies with imovie.

I bought an Apple to avoid these issues and I've spent more time on the phone with AppleCare than in the first 2 months of owning my G5 I thought I would in 3 years! Now my ne Epson printer won't work with 10.3! What a nightmare.

P.S. I was just about to buy a Firewire 800 External drive on Oct. 31 when Firewire Direct told me about the Oxford 922 chipset problem with Panther. It seems all manufactures have fixed this problem but sheeesh! What next?

[voicegy]

That's why I didn't get OS X when it first came out, nor Jaguar when it first came out, nor Panther...always wait for the fixes, and let others jump ahead and flail.

[Rower_CPU]

I've had no issues with FileVault on a clean install.

10.3 was widely seed tested by developers and others. Unfortunately, it seems they rushed the latest builds to make the 10/24 date. Like Freg, said, we should see an update soon.

[electric]

I personally learned from the 1.2.8 debacle, I will never update right away, nor will I buy new hardware right away no matter who makes it. I am getting more and more of an “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” attitude

[SiliconAddict]

I hate to say this but there is a reason why MS posts release candidates 6 months to a year in advance of release. I honestly don't remember this many problems with the internal apps, security is another matter, and features when 2K and XP came out.
This is more then a little embarrassing for Apple. Maybe its just me but this smacks of something being rushed to market in time for X-mas and winter sales. I'm somewhat glad now that I'm not getting a Mac until next summer at the earliest. Hopefully they can work out the bugs by then.

[iHack]

Originally posted by voicegy
That's why I didn't get OS X when it first came out, nor Jaguar when it first came out, nor Panther...always wait for the fixes, and let others jump ahead and flail.

Ah, the selflessness, the solidarity! I guess the only folding you do is your laundry (or does your wife do that).

M.

PS. I don't fold. Never. Not when competing, not with laundry not with my computer. But I do like to try out software. I only use Windows ME! And I never back-up anything! Live life on the edge! The feeling that my data is never safe give me a permanent adrenaline rush!! wheeheeeeee!! I'm risking the final draft of my PhD thesis as I type this!! Years of hard w*&%# &^








*BSOD*

[bivaughn]

I've had most of these problems due to FileVault. The son of a bitch even corrupted my iTunes library, losing 3 years worth of playlists, ratings and playcounts. Ugh. Turning off FileVault and deleting a bunch of prefs files fixed things, though.

[JoeMacDaddy]

Now is the time for Apple to get a firm grip on Panther and the issues that have come up since its début. Evidently, it should have undergone more beta testing and companion product testing (e.g. LaCie). I am very much an Apple Acolyte and want them to do well. Much of Panther works well it just is not exhibiting the typical Apple sheen. I switched to Apple to gain elegance, style, and stability in a powerful operating system. Constant bugs and patches are for those who see their life through a dirty cracked windowpane. Let us hope they pull it all together quickly.

[DrGruv1]

I'm glad I didn't try file vault, with such hoopla about the release and the count down, it makes these issues worse.

I hope they will learn and do a better job during the beta test.

It seems as though we are getting the run around... "apple is investigating" "some users have reported" it seems that apple doesn't want to admit the mistakes or take the responsibility for them.

If I had a 15" powerbook with white splashes on the screen, I would be very upset.

They need to pay attention to the end users, (my wife and I have 5 macs in our house now) we're buying their future products.

A still loyal mac user, but a bit disappointed.

[TheWitePony]

I kept getting the same messages too...."File Vault needs to change the size of your directory whatever"...got them probably every other restart. I just turned off File Vault, gonna wait till they fix this before I turn it back on.

Another interesting bug, wonder if anyone else has noticed this...when using Backup Beta 2 and trying to backup files in an encrypted home directory you get an error saying that the selected drive is on a network and is unreachable for backup. After decrypting my home directory and trying backup again it works fine.

Hope Apple fixes this soon...encryption is a cool feature, but it's only cool if it works. I don't like the idea of being locked out of my own data.

[Doctor Q]

Just hearing the phrase "Panther FileVault Troubles?" brought fear to my heart. I was already afraid to try it because one glitch in the code could make all umpteen trillion of my files unusable. I'll continue to avoid it until everyone else is happy with it.

[bidge]

Does anyone really need filevault or are people just playing with it for fun.

What's the point, woohoo lets protect all my files, ahhh flag

kinda ironical, there to protect files but it does the opposite

[Quobobo]

Originally posted by chicagoboy
I actually was one of the first to discover a major problem with Panther and Final Cut Express. If you have your scratch disk (i.e. your video clips) in your home folder and you encrypt home folder with FileVault, it will prevent playback of digital video. The video stream is trying to play but is also being decrypted as it "leaves" the home folder. This can't be done with these computers. Too much computing power needed. Apple should have known this in advance. I called minutes after I installed and encrypted and found the problem on the first Panther release day. (Oct. 24) I think the same problem applies with imovie.

Seriously, I don't think it's Apple's fault that you couldn't forsee problems with decrypting and playing/editing video at the same time.

[Doctor Q]

Originally posted by bidge
Does anyone really need filevault or are people just playing with it for fun.

It definitely has valid uses. Without it, anyone with his/her hands on your Mac hardware can makes copies of all of your files. Your login password is protection only against other regular users, not from someone with root privileges or with an installation CD-ROM. Portable Macs are more likely to be stolen, so they especially benefit from FileVault. FileVault lets you choose whether the cost in processor time is worth the extra protection. Because it's done automatically, you aren't supposed to suffer the "convenience" penalty that most encryption techniques entail. So its a great idea, but it has to work perfectly.

[3-22]

Don't forget the users (including me) reporting the CF readers issues with JPGs magically becoming garbled.

Although I think that is more of a G5 issue... Either way I think products have been rushed to market recently...

[foniks2020]

This time Apple was too far ahead of the curve. I tried to start FileVault but I didn't have enough disk space! ;-p I was a little disappointed at first, now I'm glad.

I'm sure they will fix the issues though it might be a 'hack' cause it seems that encrypting the entire Home directory causes too many issues. Maybe they'll let you pick a directory like Documents, though that would leave your mail and keychain, etc files unecrypted... it's quite a conundrum.

[macphoria]

There was the external drive problem, and now FileVault. I'm beginning to think this release was a bit rushed?

[voicegy]

Originally posted by iHack
Ah, the selflessness, the solidarity! I guess the only folding you do is your laundry (or does your wife do that).

I fold as much as you do.

[Rower_CPU]

I'm beginning to think I'm the only person w/out FileVault issues.

Quick survey: For those with issues, did you do a clean install or upgrade?

[nagromme]

I'll leave File Vault off on my main machine until this issue is resolved (encrypted disk images will do the trick in the mean time). But I've been using File Vault--and all the affected apps--for a week on my secondary Mac and had no problems. I reclaim space every time it's been offered, with no ill effects.

Edit: for the record, I did an erase and install and THEN copied my mail etc. from backup.