What does HRESULT 0x803100AB (FVE_E_NO_PASSPHRASE_WITH_TPM) mean?

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Description:

A password key protector cannot be added because a TPM protector exists on the drive.

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FVE_E_PASSPHRASE_TOO_LONG	FVE_E_NO_TPM_WITH_PASSPHRASE

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.

Note: A BitLocker key protector wraps access to the volume master key. When diagnosing this result, remember: 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

record existing protector types, volume role, intended unlock design and effective policy. Keep the full HRESULT and the first method that returned it because later cleanup calls can report a different state.
capture manage-bde -status and the protector inventory for the exact volume GUID, not only the drive letter, because letters can change in WinRE, clusters and deployment environments.
Export BitLocker operational events for the result failure and note the boot session, caller identity and management source; that evidence separates this BitLocker condition from a generic access or storage error.

Note: Never capture PINs, passwords or recovery passwords in logs. When diagnosing this result, remember: IDs, types, policy, call result and attempt counters are sufficient for most diagnosis.

A low-risk recovery path

choose one supported protector design, preserve recovery access, and remove or replace protectors in a controlled sequence.
After correcting the result prerequisite, refresh protection, conversion and lock state before one controlled retry; a cached UI message is not proof that the condition is still active.
Before a this result remediation deletes protectors, changes firmware mode, resizes partitions or decrypts a production drive, verify that an independent recovery method is available and escrowed in the intended directory or account.

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

Result Interpretation

After correction, compare the new conversion, protection and lock state with the original snapshot. A different HRESULT after this result is useful because it means the request crossed this boundary and reached the next prerequisite.

State checks specific to it

Checkpoint	How to interpret it for it
Before the call	Record the target identity and the pre-call key-protector lifecycle state. The decisive boundary is that the requested password protector conflicts with an existing TPM protector under the supported protector-combination rules.
At failure	Preserve existing protector types, volume role, intended unlock design and effective policy. This proves whether it came from BitLocker itself or from a wrapper translating another result.
After correction	Choose one supported protector design, preserve recovery access, and remove or replace protectors in a controlled sequence. The request should then advance without removing an unrelated recovery route.
After reboot or remount	Recheck protection, conversion and lock state for it; a successful management call is incomplete if the next boot cannot unlock the volume.

Verification after the change

Success means more than the absence of a dialog. Confirm that the condition represented by it now matches the intended design, that the protector inventory has not lost an independent recovery route, and that the next reboot or remount can unlock the volume. If the request advances to another HRESULT, record both values in order because that transition reveals the next unmet prerequisite.

References

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