I’m seeking authoritative documentation on the lifecycle and integrity significance of files under mapped/ in an encrypted macOS sparsebundle using backing-store version 2.
Six regular files, each 2,048 bytes, were verified under mapped/ in the sparsebundle package before attachment. After a normal detach, those six files were absent from the disposable image’s package. The source backup retains all six. Additional band-level checks have not established the significance of this change.
It remains unclear whether this is expected lifecycle behavior or has integrity implications. No data corruption has been proven, and these observations do not establish that the removal was safe.
- What purpose do mapped/ entries serve specifically in backing-store version 2?
- Can writable attachment or normal detach legitimately remove these entries while retaining the corresponding band data?
- Under which documented conditions, if any, is their removal safe?
- Could missing entries affect logical block addressing or data integrity even when the corresponding band files remain present?
- What supported, non-destructive, read-only validation can establish whether the image remains logically consistent?
Pointers to authoritative Apple documentation or an applicable backing-store v2 implementation reference would be appreciated.
