Apple posted a knowledgebase article that reveals that the Mac OS X 10.3.1 update does specifically address the FileVault preferences loss that occurred with Mac OS X 10.3.
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Mac OS X 10.3.1 and Filevault Issues Resolved
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That's not just good, that's an absolute requirement. How will I or anyone trust FileVault again if Apple did not disclose the specific nature of the problem they fixed? Actually, I am still a bit reluctant to turn it on again because corruption might occur through other uses. Alas, this is always a possibility...hence the standard disclaimer "We make no guarantees whether express or implied...". However, I will back up my data and use FileVault again because the possibility of my data falling into a thief's hands is worse than the possibility of losing it.
Does anyone know if it would fix the problem that already occured or it will prevent it from happening?
Because I could not turn my FV off and all my data are corrupted. Does this will fix the corruption and let me turn it off?
Because I could not turn my FV off and all my data are corrupted. Does this will fix the corruption and let me turn it off?
If you are unsure of filevault why not just create a New disk image in Disk Utility and have a password protected folder where you can put new stuff as you go along.
I think the best course of action here is to leave File Vault off until we see a few more enhancements to it. I am going to wait until OS 10.3.3 is released before I turn it back on. File Vault gave me the biggest headache ever (yes, even more than my old windows machine did). It erased all my iTunes playlists, and complete nixed *every* preferance in my *entire* home folder. Resetting all these has proved to be difficult, and I'm still not finished.
I want plenty of time and updates to go by before I let File Vault touch my home folder again.
I want plenty of time and updates to go by before I let File Vault touch my home folder again.
Like I said, I will use FileVault again, but I will first backup my data -- it would be a bit foolish not to take this precaution after having suffered from FileVault corruption.
While FileVault can be used for many purposes, noting that laptop theft is on the rise, it is targeted for laptop users. While there are other ways to password protect data, FileVault is designed to make this transparent and secure. Your files are *always* encrypted. If you had to periodically move your files into a secure folder, that leaves you vulnerable during the interim periods.
Still vulnerable to forced restart...
From the article:
Hmm...wouldn't it more adviseable for them to just reclaim the disk space once a user has initiated a restart or shutdown? I imagine that some Macs have high uptime, so it might be awhile between reclamation...but hard drives are big these days. How much space are we talking about?
From the article:
Hmm...wouldn't it more adviseable for them to just reclaim the disk space once a user has initiated a restart or shutdown? I imagine that some Macs have high uptime, so it might be awhile between reclamation...but hard drives are big these days. How much space are we talking about?
I turned FileVault on after I downloaded 10.3.1. It took so long to turn it on I have not had time to try it out. See if any of my settings are lost or there are any other harmful side effects. Has anyone tried with success? I will post further comments once I have had time to test it out. Oh yeah. . . I backed EVERYTHING up just in case 
But did it fix the crappy performance in iMovie & FCE when capturing to your home directory? I'll test tonight. Otherwise file vault is useless to me.
pb battery life!!
the update still does nothing to help the terrible battery performance on my 15AI, in fact it seems to have got worse - was on 2 hrs when i restarted after updating, 1 minute later it is down to 1:35! pathetic, never mind security on portables, its battery life we need! anybody else have major probs with battery life? - yes i have turned down all the settings and have 'longest battery life' selected, no external devices, no airport, no bluetooth - still never get more than 2:30. not happy...
the update still does nothing to help the terrible battery performance on my 15AI, in fact it seems to have got worse - was on 2 hrs when i restarted after updating, 1 minute later it is down to 1:35! pathetic, never mind security on portables, its battery life we need! anybody else have major probs with battery life? - yes i have turned down all the settings and have 'longest battery life' selected, no external devices, no airport, no bluetooth - still never get more than 2:30. not happy...
Re: encrypting porn?
Hey, I dont hide my porn . I relize I can capture to another directory but I'm still concerned with performance. Has anyone tried capturing from a dv cam while fault vault is on ?
Hey, I dont hide my porn . I relize I can capture to another directory but I'm still concerned with performance. Has anyone tried capturing from a dv cam while fault vault is on ?
Re: encrypting porn?
I don't think that it's such a BIG issue to have it in there (personally speaking - don't mean to put words in other people's mouths), just that these directories are the default settings for said programs. Twould just be nice if we could have some embedded folders opted out of the process. And maybe there is, and I just don't know about it.
And re: poor battery life on 15AI powerbook. I use airport in both locations (so I can't turn it off) and I find that I get about 1 minute per % point - so at best usually 100 minutes of battery life for me. Additionally, it takes one and half to two minutes for every one to charge. So frustrating when a few years ago I heard powerbooks got like 5 hours! Must be nice.
note: 10.3.0 panther
I don't think that it's such a BIG issue to have it in there (personally speaking - don't mean to put words in other people's mouths), just that these directories are the default settings for said programs. Twould just be nice if we could have some embedded folders opted out of the process. And maybe there is, and I just don't know about it.
And re: poor battery life on 15AI powerbook. I use airport in both locations (so I can't turn it off) and I find that I get about 1 minute per % point - so at best usually 100 minutes of battery life for me. Additionally, it takes one and half to two minutes for every one to charge. So frustrating when a few years ago I heard powerbooks got like 5 hours! Must be nice.
note: 10.3.0 panther
If that´s the case with home made disk images from Disk Utility, then from what I have read, maybe you shouldn´t rely too much on File Vault either?
"FileVault is a frontend to the Disk Image solution. When you use FileVault, your Home Directory is really a disk image that is mounted at login and unmounted at logoff. It is a sparse disk image so the size of the disk image file can increase and decrease."
Or does File Vault have more than 128 bit encryption?
Re: Re: encrypting porn?
Just to add to this off topic disussion, I am running a 12" PowerBook G4 rev. A, with AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth always on, and I'm averaging 3 hours of battery life, more if I turn off Bluetooth and iTunes. Is this just because I have a smaller screen that eats away at less battery life?
Edited for spelling errors.
Originally posted by coumerelli
I don't think that it's such a BIG issue to have it in there (personally speaking - don't mean to put words in other people's mouths), just that these directories are the default settings for said programs. Twould just be nice if we could have some embedded folders opted out of the process. And maybe there is, and I just don't know about it.
And re: poor battery life on 15AI powerbook. I use airport in both locations (so I can't turn it off) and I find that I get about 1 minute per % point - so at best usually 100 minutes of battery life for me. Additionally, it takes one and half to two minutes for every one to charge. So frustrating when a few years ago I heard powerbooks got like 5 hours! Must be nice.
note: 10.3.0 panther
Just to add to this off topic disussion, I am running a 12" PowerBook G4 rev. A, with AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth always on, and I'm averaging 3 hours of battery life, more if I turn off Bluetooth and iTunes. Is this just because I have a smaller screen that eats away at less battery life?
Edited for spelling errors.
Try these two things to make sure it is really running without any problems:
1. Buy and download a song from the iTunes Music Store. Can you play it and access the rest of your library?
2. Import some DV footage with a DV camera into iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Does this corrupt anything?
If you can do these two things, then you are truly running a fixed version of File Vault.
For those who want easy encryption of simple documents or mpeg/jpeg/avi/wmv files on your Mac, try downloading a program called Cypher. It's at http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=cypher&tg=dl-2003&search=+Go!+
Don't worry, it's freeware, and it works like a charm.
Apple's Knowledge Base has this to say on the subject which is also mentioned in the user's manual.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284
It might be that the microprocessor inside your battery is giving false information to the PowerBook and leading to early sleep/shutdown. Try the suggestions in this knowledgebase article. If that makes any difference, I'm sure folks on this forum would like to know.
Ah
It's like throwing a match on gasoline, but...
I have an old clamshell iBook SE, and I have the same 1% per minute thing, the addendum to this is, that it sits at 0% for THREE HOURS. I've tried calibrating it multiple times, resetting the PMU, etc. Nothing seems to work. It also does this in OS 9.
I've given up on it. I think the difference is that your battery gives the signal to sleep, while my battery has no microprocessor on it, that's done by my computer which may or may not do it differently.
It's like throwing a match on gasoline, but...
I have an old clamshell iBook SE, and I have the same 1% per minute thing, the addendum to this is, that it sits at 0% for THREE HOURS. I've tried calibrating it multiple times, resetting the PMU, etc. Nothing seems to work. It also does this in OS 9.
I've given up on it. I think the difference is that your battery gives the signal to sleep, while my battery has no microprocessor on it, that's done by my computer which may or may not do it differently.
Re: FileVault, performance, battery life, and capturing DV movies.
Unless you need your DV movies to be secured, there is no reason to be capturing them to a FileVault-protected directory. There is always going to be a performance hit when using FileVault. We're talking 128-bit encryption on the fly, here. Sure, in normal day-to-day use I don't notice that much of a difference, but there are situations that it can be problematic.
Battery life will suffer when using FileVault, because of this encryption. The processor will be hit more than normal, which will drain battery life faster. If you'd rather have the faster performance, then FileVault obviously isn't for you.
In the past, the easiest ways of acheiving the functionality of FileVault was to have an encrypted disk image or to use a program to manually encrypt your software. Most people would never do this, instead thinking that it wasn't worth the time and effort to go through this manual process. FileVault makes this easier. It's intended primarily for use by those who have a need to store sensitive information on their hard disks. It's intended for people who feel that the security of their files is more important than the performance of their laptops.
A previous poster summed it up perfectly when they announced that they would be trying the updated FileVault again: they said the theft of their data would be worse than the outright loss of the data. This is who FileVault is primarily intended for.
Unless you need your DV movies to be secured, there is no reason to be capturing them to a FileVault-protected directory. There is always going to be a performance hit when using FileVault. We're talking 128-bit encryption on the fly, here. Sure, in normal day-to-day use I don't notice that much of a difference, but there are situations that it can be problematic.
Battery life will suffer when using FileVault, because of this encryption. The processor will be hit more than normal, which will drain battery life faster. If you'd rather have the faster performance, then FileVault obviously isn't for you.
In the past, the easiest ways of acheiving the functionality of FileVault was to have an encrypted disk image or to use a program to manually encrypt your software. Most people would never do this, instead thinking that it wasn't worth the time and effort to go through this manual process. FileVault makes this easier. It's intended primarily for use by those who have a need to store sensitive information on their hard disks. It's intended for people who feel that the security of their files is more important than the performance of their laptops.
A previous poster summed it up perfectly when they announced that they would be trying the updated FileVault again: they said the theft of their data would be worse than the outright loss of the data. This is who FileVault is primarily intended for.