Filevault Maintenance

[chazco]

Hi,

My MBP has Filevault enabled and so far everything has been working great. I clone the entire HDD (using CarbonCopyCloner) every couple of days just in case.

However, earlier today my MBP froze whilst watching a UK VOD service. The mouse would move but nothing else was responsive. I had to force a power off and hope for the best. Luckily everything survived okay...

This has got me wondering if there is any sort of maintenance that FileVault may need in these sort of situations (ie, where it hasn't been cleanly unmounted)?

Thanks

 

[iVoid]

Unless Filevault won't open when you log in, there's nothing much to do.

If it doesn't open, you can use Disk Util and some command line tools to troubleshoot it.

 

[chazco]

Thanks, it opens okay at login

I've come from a Linux background where filesystem checks used to be forced if the system didn't shutdown properly and wondered if this was the same (especially with all the FileVault horror stories online).

 

[iVoid]

The Mac may do some repairs when it opens the sparsebundle file, but all you'd notice is a bit more of a login time.

I know I occasionally have sparseimage files that won't open for a few minutes after a crash or accidental media disconnect. The finder basically says the file can't be opened at that time. If I open it 10-15 minutes later it usually opens.

 

[chazco]

The Mac may do some repairs when it opens the sparsebundle file, but all you'd notice is a bit more of a login time.

Good to know - information on what FileVault does and doesn't do is tricky to find.

Thanks

 

[benhollberg]

(especially with all the FileVault horror stories online).

What are some of the bad things that have happened with FileVault? I have recently thought about activating it and am just curious.