"There isn't enough free space"

[tatami]

I'm configuring a 2TB SSD, which will replace the HD in my iMac. Right now it's plugged via a USB port and I'm using it as a startup drive like that. I've installed Espionage (v 3.6.6) and I have a large folder (about 35GB) that I want to encrypt.

Here's the problem… When I drop the folder onto Espionage, I get the following message:'the item can't be copied because there isn't enough free space'.

There is almost 1.5TB of free space on the SSD so this doesn't make sense. I've tried restarting the Mac, reopening Espionage, etc. Nothing works. BTW, I'm running Mac OS 10.12.1.

Can anyone help me to find a solution?

[zsolt]

Hello, we do have some issues with Sierra and Espionage when the folder you want to encrypt or unlock is on an external drive.
Your case is a bit specific, it is an external drive, but still it is a boot drive, and I'm not sure how will then hdiutil which is creating the problem here, behave.

May I ask you for a simple test, instead of 35GB folder, can you create one test folder inside your Documents folder, add a few files to it, and try to encrypt it with Espionage, let me know if it worked.

Thanks
Zsolt

[tatami]

Thanks for getting back to me, Zsolt. I followed your instructions and tried encrypting a folder whose contents weighed in at about 240MB. Espionage worked flawlessly. The problem seems to be related to the size of the folder to be encrypted. I've tried starting with a smaller folder and then adding more content. Unfortunately that doesn't work. Does this give you the information you need? BTW, I've arranged to have the external SSD inserted into my iMac later this week and at that point it will become the internal drive. Perhaps that will solve the problem for me in this instance? Best wishes, Philip

[zsolt]

Hello, it does provide me with info but it still does not make sense.

The disk image is somewhat bigger then the amount of data you want to protect, but we are talking MBs, not more, so 35GB folder to protect should not take up much more space. You will need double the space though, because we will put the original data in the trash and the disk image will grow to 35GB due to pasted data, but again, we are talking 70GB, few more MBs, still far from any limitation.

Furthermore, what you tried was a good way of thinking, and should have worked (although I do not have the numbers..) but let me explain: the disk image we create will have the 10x capacity in comparison to the size of the folder you are about to protect. So if you are protecting a folder of 1GB we will create a disk image with 10GB capacity (not size!, capacity, the size will be similar to the amount of data you put it, as mentioned before).

So I would expect it to work unless you tried to put more then 10x amount of data, still, I think the minimum disk image capacity we create is 10GB.

So try to protect a folder which is 4 GB big, if that works, you should be able to add another 31 GB to it, can you try this (although this will still not tell us why it failed in the first place, but at least you will have a solution)

What is the amount of available space on your internal disk?
If you still have a protected folder in Espionage, click onto small "i" near the folder name and click onto disk image drop down menu, which path do you see?

Thanks
Zsolt

[tatami]

I'm tied up today. Tomorrow the SSD will become the internal startup drive of my iMac. Once that's done, I'll start experimenting again with Espionage and let you know how I get on. Thanks in the meanwhile for your support. Philip

[tatami]

The SSD is now an internal disk instead of an external one. And the issue no longer arises. So it seems to be to do with external vs internal disk. It's not a problem for me at this stage but I guess it might be for someone in the future. Anyway, I'm back running smoothly now and thanks for your help. Philip

[zsolt]

Thanks for letting me know, we are at mercy of the Sierra's  hdiutil.

I'm glad it works now, thanks for your patience and tests.

Strange though that a small folder worked.

Cheers
Zsolt