On Jan 2, 2006, at 10:35 PM, R. D. Preston wrote:

> 1)  I have an external drive I use as a clone for safety backup.
> 2)  I restarted with the 10.4 Install Disk, and began the attempt  
> to install
> over that system with FileVault protection turned on, but I can't  
> remember the
> specific steps or options chosen at the time.
> 3)  At some point, a warning dialog appeared asking if I wanted to  
> enter a new
> password for FileVault, so I followed through and began.
> 4)  After entering the change, I was prompted again if I wanted to  
> proceed, so
> obviously it was allowing some change to occur.
> 5)  I stopped.
>
> Maybe I didn't go far enough, but I'm lazy these days.

The way I understand the process is that there is a separate FV  
keychain containing the FV passwords. It is locked by the master  
password, not the superuser password. If you don't know the master  
password, this keychain cannot be unlocked. All the utilities I've  
seen to change the master password require you to know the master in  
order to change it. The installer disk can reset the master password  
while blowing out the old one. I don't think the reset password will  
open the FV keychain.

The FV files are just sparse encrypted disk images of home  
directories that can be unlocked by the user password or the master  
password. When they're opened, they're mounted at the $HOME position  
in the file tree so they appear to the operating system as a normal  
home directory. This is why they painlessly work with most any program.


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