What does HRESULT 0x803100AB (FVE_E_NO_PASSPHRASE_WITH_TPM) mean?

FVE_E_NO_PASSPHRASE_WITH_TPM

Read this as a state-machine result

FVE_E_NO_PASSPHRASE_WITH_TPM is a BitLocker facility HRESULT, not a Win32 filesystem error wrapped by an application. In this case the requested password protector conflicts with an existing TPM protector under the supported protector-combination rules.

A BitLocker key protector wraps access to the volume master key. TPM, TPM+PIN, startup key, recovery password, password, certificate and Network Unlock protectors have different volume and policy rules; changing one is not the same as decrypting the volume.

What the code does not prove

The closest misleading interpretation is a general policy conflict among startup options; this code identifies the concrete TPM/password coexistence restriction. Verify the returning method and state transition before assigning the incident to disk corruption, TPM failure or bad credentials.

Inspect the target, not just the message

1. Record existing protector types, volume role, intended unlock design and effective policy.

Never capture PINs, passwords or recovery passwords in logs. IDs, types, policy, call result and attempt counters are sufficient for most diagnosis.

manage-bde -protectors -get C:
powershell -NoProfile -Command "Get-BitLockerVolume C: | Format-List KeyProtector,ProtectionStatus,VolumeStatus"

State checks specific to FVE_E_NO_PASSPHRASE_WITH_TPM

References

• Microsoft: manage-bde protectors
• Microsoft: ChangePIN method
• Microsoft: BitLocker recovery overview
• Microsoft: Configure BitLocker policy