[sjs]

i know HFS+ can put metadata around a file, or even other forks, so thats the only way i thought that it wouldnt work...your estimate surprises me...

i know once i substituted a completely diff filevault image for an older one... worked fine, but they work both generated originally as filevaults.

but i always assumed a filevault = sparse image 100%.

i am very surprised at your estimate...but will try..

EDIT - the only other issue i see is perms, which i think are usally chmod 700, but it seems to me i could change that before hand, afterwords with a SD script..