"The disk Untitled can't be unlocked"

[dannyyankou]

Hello,

So I recently set up my new MacBook, but for some reason I get this message every time I log in-

Everything on my Mac works fine, so I don't think anything is affected yet. But I have no idea what it means. This is what the volume looks like in Disk Utility-

Should there be a cause for concern? And is there a way to make this message go away every time I log in? To me, it looks like an extra volume that can be deleted because it's not mounted, but I wanted to ask here first because I didn't want to do anything stupid lol.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Weaselboy]

Can you explain what you did leading up to this? It looks like maybe you formatted the drive to encrypted, then after that installed the OS?

 

[DeltaMac]

You apparently formatted the drive on your new system out of the box (well, I do that on new Macs, too), but you did not supply a name for the drive.
What's the rest of the name for that volume Untitled - Data - D... (?)

I would suggest that you start over, erasing the drive. Supply an actual name this time, so you don't get confused by the current two volume setup that happens after you reinstall the current Catalina beta. (there is absolutely no need for you to make that second volume - the data volume, as the Catalina install will add that volume automatically)

 

[dannyyankou]

Can you explain what you did leading up to this? It looks like maybe you formatted the drive to encrypted, then after that installed the OS?

Ok, it’s kinda a long winded story. I bought a new MBP to replace my old one from 2012. When I set it up, I turned filevault on (not sure if that’s related). Then I used migration assistant to transfer my data to the new Mac. However, I ran into some issues with some system settings (couldn’t load security pane in system preferences, couldn’t enable Apple Pay, etc), so I erased the disk and reinstalled the system. I then restored from a time machine backup, this time without restoring the system or network settings. This fixed the settings issues I was having before, but this is when I started getting the message about not being able to unlock the disk.
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You apparently formatted the drive on your new system out of the box (well, I do that on new Macs, too), but you did not supply a name for the drive.
What's the rest of the name for that volume Untitled - Data - D... (?)

I would suggest that you start over, erasing the drive. Supply an actual name this time, so you don't get confused by the current two volume setup that happens after you reinstall the current Catalina beta. (there is absolutely no need for you to make that second volume - the data volume, as the Catalina install will add that volume automatically)

Could I erase the drive if it says it’s locked? I tried running first aid on it thinking that would do something, because it couldn’t hurt to try, right? But it was stuck on “unlocking disk” for a half hour.

 

[Weaselboy]

so I erased the disk and reinstalled the system.

What I am getting at is when you did this, did you format the drive to APFS encrypted with Disk Util before you did the reinstall? That is what I am thinking you did and it may be causing this problem. What you want to do is format the entire drive to plain APFS, then after the reinstall go in Security in System Prefs and THEN turn on FV.

 

[dannyyankou]

What I am getting at is when you did this, did you format the drive to APFS encrypted with Disk Util before you did the reinstall? That is what I am thinking you did and it may be causing this problem. What you want to do is format the entire drive to plain APFS, then after the reinstall go in Security in System Prefs and THEN turn on FV.

I’m pretty sure I did format it as plain APFS, but I’ll try this again to be on the safe side. I’m just confused why there’s a third disk that’s not mounted, it’s strange.

 

[DeltaMac]

In Disk Utility, make sure that you click the View icon, then "Show All Devices"
Then, choose the first line (which should be manufacturer's data, not the name "untitled")
When you choose to erase that device, that will remove ALL other partitions - no leftovers this time.
(Be sure to remember to name your new partition when you erase the old)

 

[dannyyankou]

In Disk Utility, make sure that you click the View icon, then "Show All Devices"
Then, choose the first line (which should be manufacturer's data, not the name "untitled")
When you choose to erase that device, that will remove ALL other partitions - no leftovers this time.
(Be sure to remember to name your new partition when you erase the old)

Ok, thanks. Then I assume I install the OS using Internet recovery mode? If I erase the entire hard drive, it would need to download the os again.

 

[Weaselboy]

Ok, thanks. Then I assume I install the OS using recovery mode?

You need to be in command-option-r boot Internet recovery to do this. You should see the spinning globe before the recovery utility comes up, so you will know you are in Internet recovery.

Setup DU like @DeltaMac told you then select the drive itself up top like in my screenshot when you format.

 

[dannyyankou]

Ok.

1. Erase main disk in disk utility in recovery mode.

2. Name new partition.

3. Reinstall the OS.

4. Transfer data from time machine backup.

5. Turn on FileVault.

I think that covers everything. Am I missing anything? @Weaselboy @DeltaMac

 

[Weaselboy]

Yep... that should do it. Make sure you are in Internet recovery though and not just regular command-r recovery.

Also, make sure you do the Migration Assist import during the initial system setup and not after you have made an account.

 

[dannyyankou]

Yep... that should do it. Make sure you are in Internet recovery though and not just regular command-r recovery.

Also, make sure you do the Migration Assist import during the initial system setup and not after you have made an account.

Ok, thanks. One more question: I made the backup while it was on macOS Catalina. If I install Mojave through internet recovery, will it still transfer the data over even though the backup was on a newer OS? This is why I created an account before doing migration assistant last time, I thought I had to update to the Catalina first and then migrate everything over.

If the answer is no, I can just wait it out and go through these steps once Catalina is publicly released and available through internet recovery. Everything else is working just fine,

 

[dannyyankou]

Wait, I just realized I can erase the entire disk in Disk Utility while in offline recovery mode and reinstall the Catalina beta. I just successful did it with my old MacBook Pro.

 

[DeltaMac]

That is not accurate: If you are in "offline recovery mode" (not booted to internet recovery), you can't remove the partition that you are booted from (the recovery partition). So, you will STILL have some "cruft" left over, if you do it that way. You really need to remove ALL partitions, by erasing the device completely. Best is to erase/install from internet recvoery, or even better, boot to an external installer. (You won't get Catalina beta through internet recovery, but you can boot and install from a USB bootable Catalina install - if that's what you want to do.)