[ltp] Re: is there a way to mount an encrypted USB drive?

[linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org]

On 2012-06-29, James Knott <james.knott@rogers.com> wrote:
>
> Linux certainly supports encrypted USB drives.  There's also TureCrypt, 
> which works on Linux & Windows.  I suspect the reason the BIOS does not 
> support encrypted USB drives is because it's so easy to have multiple 
> devices, all of which would then have to be supported.

I realize the BIOS does not work here, hence my post.  My question is
whether linux software can do the job of the BIOS.  By "job", I mean
sending the password over the SATA bus so the hardware-encrypted drive
will grant access.

Truecrypt cannot handle a locked hard drive - it's strictly software
encryption for unlocked devices.  Truecrypt is also unreliable BTW,
but that's another discussion.

I've been reading about Trousers, a linux app to support TPM in some
way, and h/w encrypted drives somehow make use of TPM.  The Trousers
documentation is so abstract, it's difficult to know what the tool can
really do.

Someone had off-the-cuff speculation that hdparam may be able to send
the password, but they were uncertain.

Has anyone mounted a hardware-encrypted drive over USB?