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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Os10.4 Spotlight Doesn't Find Everything
mafurman - Sep 29, 2005 - 6:04 pm
I recently updated from 10.3 to 10.4.2 on my G5 dual 1.8GHz.
The problem is that spotlight finds only a subset of items. For example, I have several folders whose names are "CERN xxx", where "xxx" is a characrter string, and spotlight finds only four of these out of some 20. Similar problem with the "find" command (apple-F). Even if I do apple-F and specify "name contains" and enter "CERN", I do not succeed.
I did do a forced re-indexing of my entire hardrive following the help instructions, to no avail (dragged the hardrive icon to the "privacy" window in spotlight, then removed it; spotlight then did give me a "indexing..." message, so obviously it was doing something!).
By the way, I have a similar problem with a brand-new iBook G4, which came with OS10.4 installed.
Seems amazing to me that the finder in 10.3 worked just fine, even if it might have been a bit slow sometimes, while now I have to rely on my human memory plus browsing to find some of my stuff!
The problem is that spotlight finds only a subset of items. For example, I have several folders whose names are "CERN xxx", where "xxx" is a characrter string, and spotlight finds only four of these out of some 20. Similar problem with the "find" command (apple-F). Even if I do apple-F and specify "name contains" and enter "CERN", I do not succeed.
I did do a forced re-indexing of my entire hardrive following the help instructions, to no avail (dragged the hardrive icon to the "privacy" window in spotlight, then removed it; spotlight then did give me a "indexing..." message, so obviously it was doing something!).
By the way, I have a similar problem with a brand-new iBook G4, which came with OS10.4 installed.
Seems amazing to me that the finder in 10.3 worked just fine, even if it might have been a bit slow sometimes, while now I have to rely on my human memory plus browsing to find some of my stuff!
skapp - Sep 29, 2005 - 11:10 pm
Some possible things to do:
Read this short article for possible help.
The following is an excerpt from a not yet published eBook on Mac troubleshooting. It would be appreciated that you not quote this material elsewhere because the book is still under revision: Troubleshooting Mac OS X, Third Edition, by Gregory E. Swain, aka Dr. Smoke. The X Lab: http://www.thexlab.com/, 2005.
Rebuild the metadata store using mdutil in Terminal
1. Launch Terminal, which is in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.
2. At the Terminal prompt, type the command:
sudo mdutil -E /path_to_volume
where /path_to_volume is the path of the volume whose Spotlight metadata store is to be rebuilt. See note [3] at end.
3. Press Return.
4. Type your Admin password when prompted, then press Return. You will receive the response:
/path_to_volume/: Volume index removed.
Spotlight will begin indexing the volume specified in step 2 shortly thereafter.
5. At the Terminal prompt, type exit then press Return.
6. Quit (Command-Q) Terminal.
[3] The value for /path_to_volume depends on the volume in question:
• If the volume is your current Mac OS X startup disk, substitute the single character / for /path_to_volume.
• If the volume is other than your current Mac OS X startup disk, substitute:
/Volumes/volume_name for /path_to_volume, where volume_name is the name of the volume. Note that if volume_name contains spaces, either the entire path must be enclosed in double quotes or the spaces must be escaped with a reverse solidus, aka a backslash (\).
Read this short article for possible help.
The following is an excerpt from a not yet published eBook on Mac troubleshooting. It would be appreciated that you not quote this material elsewhere because the book is still under revision: Troubleshooting Mac OS X, Third Edition, by Gregory E. Swain, aka Dr. Smoke. The X Lab: http://www.thexlab.com/, 2005.
Rebuild the metadata store using mdutil in Terminal
1. Launch Terminal, which is in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.
2. At the Terminal prompt, type the command:
sudo mdutil -E /path_to_volume
where /path_to_volume is the path of the volume whose Spotlight metadata store is to be rebuilt. See note [3] at end.
3. Press Return.
4. Type your Admin password when prompted, then press Return. You will receive the response:
/path_to_volume/: Volume index removed.
Spotlight will begin indexing the volume specified in step 2 shortly thereafter.
5. At the Terminal prompt, type exit then press Return.
6. Quit (Command-Q) Terminal.
[3] The value for /path_to_volume depends on the volume in question:
• If the volume is your current Mac OS X startup disk, substitute the single character / for /path_to_volume.
• If the volume is other than your current Mac OS X startup disk, substitute:
/Volumes/volume_name for /path_to_volume, where volume_name is the name of the volume. Note that if volume_name contains spaces, either the entire path must be enclosed in double quotes or the spaces must be escaped with a reverse solidus, aka a backslash (\).
skapp - Sep 29, 2005 - 11:19 pm
One other thing comes to mind to try. Create a new folder and transfer the files from one of the old folders that Spotlight has not been able to find. Then delete the old folder. See if Spotlight finds the new folder.
mafurman - Nov 1, 2005 - 12:45 pm
hi Steven,
well, I finally got to try your solution today. The bottom line is that it didn't work, but I pinpointed the problem.
Here's what happened: immediately after doing "sudo mdutil -E /" and entering my admin password, I went to the spotlight icon at the top right of the screen. Indeed, it said something like "rebuilding index - soptlight will be available after index is rebuilt" or something like that. So far so good. Immediately after that, long before spotligh finished indexing my startup disk, I did a find ("apple-F"), and typed "CERN". The finder found *all* my items containing "CERN". BUT, once spotlight finished, I repeated the operation with "apple-F", and now it found only my old subset of items called "CERN". Spotlight also finds the same subset as "find" (I gather they use the same index when it exists). So, I am back with the same problem where I started.
HOWEVER, the problem seems to be with the "/" character. If I change the folder name "CERN 3/98" to "CERN 3-98", both the apple-F and the spotlight work just fine.
I think this is terrible. I know, of course, that the "/" has special meaning in Unix, so, with 20-20 hindsight, I shouldn't have used it in folder and file names. On the other hand, 90% of the stuff on my Mac dates back some 13 years, way before we switched to OSX, and I have tons of files and folders whose names have a "/" (which I used mostly to indicate a day/moth/year).
Will I have to go file by file and folder by folder to get rid of the "/"?
An alternative would be to delete the index (using sudo mdutil -E /), and then prevent my Mac from rebuilding the index. Is there any way I could do this? Even though I could not use spotlight, apple-F would work just fine, even if it might be a bit slow, and would not have the awesome functionality of spotlight.
Or, perhaps there is a way to tell spotlight to build an index woithout getting confused about the "/" in file names?
Please advice
-- thanks,
Miguel Furman
well, I finally got to try your solution today. The bottom line is that it didn't work, but I pinpointed the problem.
Here's what happened: immediately after doing "sudo mdutil -E /" and entering my admin password, I went to the spotlight icon at the top right of the screen. Indeed, it said something like "rebuilding index - soptlight will be available after index is rebuilt" or something like that. So far so good. Immediately after that, long before spotligh finished indexing my startup disk, I did a find ("apple-F"), and typed "CERN". The finder found *all* my items containing "CERN". BUT, once spotlight finished, I repeated the operation with "apple-F", and now it found only my old subset of items called "CERN". Spotlight also finds the same subset as "find" (I gather they use the same index when it exists). So, I am back with the same problem where I started.
HOWEVER, the problem seems to be with the "/" character. If I change the folder name "CERN 3/98" to "CERN 3-98", both the apple-F and the spotlight work just fine.
I think this is terrible. I know, of course, that the "/" has special meaning in Unix, so, with 20-20 hindsight, I shouldn't have used it in folder and file names. On the other hand, 90% of the stuff on my Mac dates back some 13 years, way before we switched to OSX, and I have tons of files and folders whose names have a "/" (which I used mostly to indicate a day/moth/year).
Will I have to go file by file and folder by folder to get rid of the "/"?
An alternative would be to delete the index (using sudo mdutil -E /), and then prevent my Mac from rebuilding the index. Is there any way I could do this? Even though I could not use spotlight, apple-F would work just fine, even if it might be a bit slow, and would not have the awesome functionality of spotlight.
Or, perhaps there is a way to tell spotlight to build an index woithout getting confused about the "/" in file names?
Please advice
-- thanks,
Miguel Furman
skapp - Nov 1, 2005 - 1:22 pm
Yes, the "/" character is a problem in Unix. I doubt that Apple considered that important after so many years away from OS 9. However, there are several batch file renamers you can use to fix that. You could always use the freeware, Easy Find (versiontracker.com.)
The following will turn off indexing without disabling the ability to search:
Open a Terminal session. At the prompt type the commands and press return at the end of the commandline:
sudo mdutil -i off /pathtovolume
You will be prompted to enter your admin password. It will not be echoed.
You will receive the response:
/pathtovolume/: Indexing disabled for volume.
Now enter the following command:
sudo mdutil -E /pathtovolume
If prompted for a password enter your admin password.
You will receive the response:
/pathtovolume/: Volume index removed.
Quit the Terminal session.
The following will turn off indexing without disabling the ability to search:
Open a Terminal session. At the prompt type the commands and press return at the end of the commandline:
sudo mdutil -i off /pathtovolume
You will be prompted to enter your admin password. It will not be echoed.
You will receive the response:
/pathtovolume/: Indexing disabled for volume.
Now enter the following command:
sudo mdutil -E /pathtovolume
If prompted for a password enter your admin password.
You will receive the response:
/pathtovolume/: Volume index removed.
Quit the Terminal session.
mafurman - Nov 4, 2005 - 1:46 pm
Hi Steven,
I spoke too soon. The "/" is not the problem. Even when I replace it with a "-" in the folder name, then delete the index, then force reindexing, spotlight and apple-F still don't find it.
So I gave up and followed your suggestions: I deleted the index and disabled automatic reindexing, so now apple-F finds *everything*, including files and folders with a "/". I also tried EasyFind. Even though both solutions work well, they are much slower, of course, than an indexed find. But at least I'm back in business.
Thanks for all your help. I am astonished and disappointed that Apple hasn't found/fixed this problem.
Miguel Furman
I spoke too soon. The "/" is not the problem. Even when I replace it with a "-" in the folder name, then delete the index, then force reindexing, spotlight and apple-F still don't find it.
So I gave up and followed your suggestions: I deleted the index and disabled automatic reindexing, so now apple-F finds *everything*, including files and folders with a "/". I also tried EasyFind. Even though both solutions work well, they are much slower, of course, than an indexed find. But at least I'm back in business.
Thanks for all your help. I am astonished and disappointed that Apple hasn't found/fixed this problem.
Miguel Furman
skapp - Nov 4, 2005 - 4:19 pm
Well, they may have fixed it in 10.4.3, in case you haven't installed it yet. Or maybe it will get fixed in a later update. I don't know.
You may want to visit The XLab. Dr. Smoke is working hard on the second edition of his eBook on OS X troubleshooting. It should be appearing soon, maybe around the end of the year. I've been proof-reading a couple of chapters including the one on Spotlight. I can promise you that this chapter contains a huge amount of information both about Spotlight and how it works, as well as troubleshooting. I assure you I get no compensation for these remarks. Dr. Smoke's eBook is a definitive work on OS X troubleshooting and well worth owning.
You may want to visit The XLab. Dr. Smoke is working hard on the second edition of his eBook on OS X troubleshooting. It should be appearing soon, maybe around the end of the year. I've been proof-reading a couple of chapters including the one on Spotlight. I can promise you that this chapter contains a huge amount of information both about Spotlight and how it works, as well as troubleshooting. I assure you I get no compensation for these remarks. Dr. Smoke's eBook is a definitive work on OS X troubleshooting and well worth owning.
mafurman - Nov 4, 2005 - 4:23 pm
thank you again; I'll check the XLab.
The problem was, alas, not fixed by 10.4.3
Miguel Furman
The problem was, alas, not fixed by 10.4.3
Miguel Furman
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