Ok, so according to https://www.apple.com/osx/what-is/security/ I should be able to encrypt ANY external drive..."with ease" using FileVault 2.
I have a brand new (empty) 2TB Fantom Drive model: GFP2000EU3 (Hitachi Drive)
Disk Utility:
- I tried to erase and format the drive to
Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)
Returned Error:"A GUID Partition Table (GPT) partitioning scheme is required."
- Selected Logical Volume in left list, then went to
Partition
tab, clicked on dropdown, showing "Current," changed it to 1 partition, clickedOptions
button, then selectedGUID Partition Table
radio button > clickedOK
, thenApply
on main window. No errors came during this step. - Tried step 1 again, different error message:
"Unable to create a new Core Storage logical volume group."
Finder:
- Attempted
ctrl+click
>Encrypt *Drive Name*
drive icon on my desktop, same error:"Unable to create a new Core Storage logical volume group."
I also tried a disk repair
before trying again. Then tried all these steps again in Recovery Mode (command+R during startup)
, then tried under Safe Mode (holding shift at startup)
, and then under another user account. All come back with same error: "Unable to create a new Core Storage logical volume group."
Update 1:: I was able to successfully encrypt a 8gb Sandisk thumb drive. Still need to take care of the 2TB.
$diskutil list
/dev/disk3
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *2.0 TB disk3
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk3s1
2: Apple_HFS MyDrive 2.0 TB disk3s2
After chats with Apple tier 1 & Senior Support, they've ran CaptureData and a Systems Engineer is looking into this, may take a day or two. They said they have little to no documentation yet on my problem. Seems unlikely that I'm the only one...
Update 2: I received repair authorization from Fantom and overnighted the drive (at my expense). After inspection I received this message: "We've completed diagnostics on your drive and regret to inform you that the hard disk inside the case has failed. As such, the damage is now beyond our ability to repair- we will replace the disk drive mechanism and return the repaired unit."
I find this interesting, because I may not have found out about this problem until after I loaded critical data on the drive. I was able to format the drive and copy to and from the drive without issue...encrypting the drive exposed the problem. I still need to confirm that the "repaired unit" will encrypt as expected, hopefully I will receive that back soon.
Final update: after receiving the new drive, everything encrypted as expected. My advice is to try to encrypt every drive when you first get it, as a failure may detect some glitches that you'd want to see sooner rather than later...