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GPG passphrase not being asked for os x Lion and Mountain Lion

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leotreasure

31 Oct, 2012 06:35 AM

Environment: GPG Tools 0.6
GPG Keychain Access Version 1.0b8 (111623 (b8))
Mountain Lion 10.8.2

In system preferences I can't open GPGPreferences: "Could not load GPGPreferences preference pane"

I am trying to decrypt an encrypted message in the terminal
I type:
gpg --decrypt
then I paste the encrypted message.

it goes:
You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "leotreasure [email blocked]"

But I don't get a chance to put in my passphrase.

I suspect it could be to do with the GPGTools pane not working (Could not load GPGTools preference pane). I tried the fix tool in GPGPreferences pane's First aid section but to no avail.

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by Luke Le on 01 Nov, 2012 10:50 AM

   

   Hi,

   you might want to try to install the GPGTools-Installer from https://nightly.gpgtools.org

   It looks like you're pinentry app is not setup correctly. Simply re-running the installer linked above will fix that problem and update your GPGTools to the currently most stable version.

   Hope that helps.

   • Edit

2. 2 Posted by leotreasure on 04 Nov, 2012 01:40 PM

   

   Hi Luke,

   Thanks for your suggestion. I tried the GPGTools nightly build but I still don't get to put in my passphrase.

   When I type in gpg --decrypt the Terminal displays:

   You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
   user: "leotreasure [email blocked]"
   4096-bit RSA key, ID EBE072C7, created 2011-06-11 (main key ID F74BE2CA)

   and I get a popup asking me "pinentry-mac wants to use your confidential information stored in 'GniPG' in your keychain."

   Definitely on the right track about pinentry.

   I click Allow and instead of a passphrase dialog box I get this:

   gpg: encrypted with 4096-bit RSA key, ID EBE072C7, created 2011-06-11

     "leotreasure <[email blocked]>"
   

   I noticed in System Preferences that now the GPGPreferences pane is broken with "Could not load GPGPreferences preference pane."

   I tried downloading the MacGPG2-latest.dmg 02-Oct-2012 04:26 3.9M Untested nightly build, reinstalling, uninstalling and reinstalling, also tried downloading the GPGPreferences-latest.dmg 26-Sep-2012 19:09 1.2M Untested nightly build, but I can not install it successfully (get the same message "Could not load GPGPreferences preference pane")

   I did a search for pinentry in spotlight and a folder came up - in a macports directory. I fear I might have installed it a long time ago possibly as a dependency. I don't know how to delete it though. Do you think that could be the cause? If so should I just delete the directory?

   • Edit

3. 3 Posted by leotreasure on 04 Nov, 2012 01:58 PM

   

   Uninstalled macports. I managed to get GPGPreferences to work by removing gpgTools and gpgPrefernces from system preferences and uninstalling reinstalling a few times. Had the same problem but was able to fix by going into GPGPreferences and clicking "Delete stored passphrases".

   Now for some reason it doesn't recognise my passphrase, may be something to do with a change I tried to do on the passphrase in GPGKeychain - but I think it must have bugged it out.

   Anyway, case closed. Thanks so much for your help!

   • Edit

4. Support Staff 4 Posted by Luke Le on 04 Nov, 2012 02:01 PM

   

   HA, nice :)
   It's always amazing how everything works on some systems and on others it requires uninstall of various other stuff then re-installing a couple of times. It's frustrating but I'm really happy you managed to get it working.

   What do you mean by doesn't recognize your passphrase?
   Do you get an error that your passphrase is wrong?

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5. Support Staff 5 Posted by Steve on 20 Jan, 2013 07:16 PM

   

   No further user feedback. Closing.

   @Leotreasure: Should your problem persist, feel free to re-open this discussion any time.

   All the best,
   steve

   • Edit

6. Steve closed this discussion on 20 Jan, 2013 07:16 PM.