Because I was travelling, I switched on FileVault on my laptop mac 1.5GHz G4 ox 10.2.3. It worked perfectly for two weeks. Then one day I opened up the laptop and everything was missing. The desktop was back to default. The dock was on factory settings. All my bookmarks had gone. My documents had disappeared.
My son found them again through the terminal. Apparently FileVault works by creating a sparseimage and sometimes it forgets where it put the disc image.
I managed to copy the files out on to the computer but my mail program will no longer either send or receive. My browser bookmarks are still missing. All my settings have gone. My computer has become a foreign land. The sparseimage has not completely gone, either, even though I tried to delete it. A disc image icon appears in the left panel of the finder, although nothing seems to be in it. There does seem to be an unaccountable heavy use of memory. Also, my documents do not list, even though if I do a search for them, they come up in the search panel and open normally.
I decided to just wipe the whole thing and start again, restoring the information from my main computer. The laptop had six quicktime files which had not been backed up and I moved them to my main computer, then I tried re-installing osx on to my powerbook from disc. G4 would not allow bootup from the disc. I tried every sort of key combination. Then I tried the software repair discs. Same thing. You can see [and hear] the disc being used, there is a short pause while something is read, then the osx blue screen pops up with a splutter and a jerk, and we're back to square one.
Even worse, when I opened up my main computer, I discovered that it had been affected. The dock was back to factory default, and the mail program refused to send or receive. I fiddled with it a bit and it now receives but stubbornly refuses to send, telling me either that the 'authentication' is not right, or that my name is not recognised by the server. My husband's computer has the same settings for my mail program and I can send and receive on his computer with no trouble. Ping works on both the laptop and the main computer. There is no network problem. I am sending this message from my laptop computer directly from my mail provider's site.
I'd appreciate some help from someone but if anyone else is using FileVault--do yourself a favour. DROP EVERYITHING AND SWITCH IT OFF! QUICK!
Since this happened, I have been trawling the web for answers. None have I found but I have found instead several horror stories about FileVault. I am shocked that Macintosh have put out a program with so many bugs and possibilities for disaster. I thought I could trust Mac above any other computer not to play ducks and drakes with its trusting and loyal users.
My son found them again through the terminal. Apparently FileVault works by creating a sparseimage and sometimes it forgets where it put the disc image.
I managed to copy the files out on to the computer but my mail program will no longer either send or receive. My browser bookmarks are still missing. All my settings have gone. My computer has become a foreign land. The sparseimage has not completely gone, either, even though I tried to delete it. A disc image icon appears in the left panel of the finder, although nothing seems to be in it. There does seem to be an unaccountable heavy use of memory. Also, my documents do not list, even though if I do a search for them, they come up in the search panel and open normally.
I decided to just wipe the whole thing and start again, restoring the information from my main computer. The laptop had six quicktime files which had not been backed up and I moved them to my main computer, then I tried re-installing osx on to my powerbook from disc. G4 would not allow bootup from the disc. I tried every sort of key combination. Then I tried the software repair discs. Same thing. You can see [and hear] the disc being used, there is a short pause while something is read, then the osx blue screen pops up with a splutter and a jerk, and we're back to square one.
Even worse, when I opened up my main computer, I discovered that it had been affected. The dock was back to factory default, and the mail program refused to send or receive. I fiddled with it a bit and it now receives but stubbornly refuses to send, telling me either that the 'authentication' is not right, or that my name is not recognised by the server. My husband's computer has the same settings for my mail program and I can send and receive on his computer with no trouble. Ping works on both the laptop and the main computer. There is no network problem. I am sending this message from my laptop computer directly from my mail provider's site.
I'd appreciate some help from someone but if anyone else is using FileVault--do yourself a favour. DROP EVERYITHING AND SWITCH IT OFF! QUICK!
Since this happened, I have been trawling the web for answers. None have I found but I have found instead several horror stories about FileVault. I am shocked that Macintosh have put out a program with so many bugs and possibilities for disaster. I thought I could trust Mac above any other computer not to play ducks and drakes with its trusting and loyal users.
