device not generating passphrase

My hardware wallet is set up, but I haven't enabled the passphrase feature. Do I have to reset the device to turn on passphrases?

What is name of the hardware? Or you mean you did not set passphrase before and now you want to set passphrase? You can create new wallet on the hardware wallet and enable passphrase or you can reset it. But if you mean you did not see passphrase option, tell us the name of the hardware wallet. I do not think all hardware wallets can have passphrase supported and not all hardware wallets are recommendable.

It is Jade. Allows frequency of passphrase and method choices but keyboard does not appear

Jade is supporting passphrase. I am not a Jade user but this article might be of helpful: https://help.blockstream.com/hc/en-us/articles/20138948637337-Add-a-BIP39-passphrase-for-Jade If you do not still get it correctly, you can wait for other Jade users for illustration and help.

Ok thank you

I am not sure what you are doing wrong, but there is no problem with the passphrase feature in Jade. I created a new wallet some time ago using advanced setup to work with my Jade as a stateless signer. The setup asks you if you want to create a passphrase or not. If you selected no, then of course you won't be required to enter a passphrase. Go into the settings of your Jade and check the passphrase settings. Perhaps you have turned the passphrase frequency setting to "Off." Switch it to the "Always" option if you want to enter your passphrase every time you turn on the device.

Yes, thank you, under Passphrase Frequency, set to :: Always;  and Method set to:: Manual. But no other indications of a passphrase from there, ie no keyboard screen on device to enter the passphrase.  Maybe a firmware upgrade needed?

I don't think it's a firmware issue, but you can try if you want to. Especially if you are using a really outdated firmware. I am not on the latest one and the passphrase feature works just fine. Are you trying to add a passphrase to an already existing wallet or generate a new seed with a passphrase? For the former, you'll have to initiate an advanced setup and enter the passphrase once prompted by the device. I am not sure how Jade does it if the wallet already holds a seed. How did you set up your wallet, basic or advanced setup? Is there always a seed in its memory or are you using the Jade as stateless signer by scanning SeedQRs before every use?

Yes wallet already initialized/existing and holds seed, not stateless. When originally set up, probably used basic set up. How to initialize an advanced set up, or do I need to reset the wallet? If I reset the wallet, will I need to enter the seed to reconstitute? Thank you.

You will have to reset the wallet and generate a new seed using the advanced setup option. Make sure the passphrase feature is turned on so that the device will ask you to enter a passphrase. I assume your current seed is properly backed up, so you don't lose any crypto from its addresses. Yes. As long as you have the right seed, you can always recover the same wallet. Even if your Jade breaks, you will be able to recover the wallet in a different software/hardware wallet. I don't recommend you try it, especially not in a software wallet because you will lose all the security that your airgapped system currently provides you. It's just good to know that you can.

That's what I thought. Very helpful and thank you very much! I'd merit if I could

It's important to note that adding a passphrase to an existing seed isn't possible. While technically you can, it will generate an entirely new wallet and new set of keys. This means that to use the existing seed with your current wallet, you'll have to forgo the additional security offered by a passphrase. If a passphrase is important to you, you'll need to reset the device and create a new wallet.

Make sure to write you passphrase(s) as a physical backup, otherwise you could lose all your coins if you forget it. I would also suggest testing if combination of seed words and passphrase is correct, maybe with sending small test transactions first. You can also tweak how passphrase work in Jade device: https://help.blockstream.com/hc/en-us/articles/10055171957145-How-do-I-change-when-Jade-prompts-for-a-passphrase