Is Spotlight Blind??

I just noticed that for some reason, Spotlight ignores certain files during a search. I wanted to find my resume, so I typed, well... "resume" in the Spotlight bar. Simple enough, right? Well many items came up, due to indexing and such. However my resume wasnt there. I hit "show all" then made sure al the "more..." items were revealed. But my resmue wasn't there.
I went manually into the folder and found my resume, my girlfriend's resume and her brother's resume (Quark, Word and PDF files). NONE of which came up in the search. The key frustration point here would be that the file names all had "RESUME" in them.
How could I ever trust Spotlight again?
:HAn.

I know it's rather frustrating not to find something on the computer. My challenge at times is remembering what I named a file a few months ago. Here I find Spotlight very useful as I can enter various possible words and get instantaneoous feedback for items matching my search.
On my G5, indexing is very fast - I have experienced very little lag time, if at all. Searches are really fast too. As I said in a previous post, Spotlight finds what I'm looking for, and rapidly too. I did reindex a month ago using Spotless, as I was still learning how to use Spotlight, and wanted to start over. Reindexing did not take that long.
I don't index my External. Don't see the purpose.
Where I find Spotlight most useful:
I really like the use of "smart" folders, especially in Address Book and Mail.
Searches in Mail not only can give me a list of e-mails for a particular person(s) (whether I use a "smart" mailbox or a general search, it also provides me word searches from the body of the e-mail. I find this very useful.
Finding photos in iPhoto is quick. Again, the "smart" folder feature is a very helpful for metadata and keyword searches.
Great to use Spotlight in Safari searching for bookmarks or history items.
I find cmd F in the finder to be the most effective search as I can readily see the file organization at the bottom of the panel. I know I can see the organization in Spotlight's other search (on my system cmd/space) by hovering the mouse over a file selected, however, I prefer seeing it at the bottom of the panel.
Also, opening or saving a file is much easier with Spotlight, as I can type in the name of a file in the Open or Save Spotlight box and navigate rather quickly to where I want to go in the system.

Similar Messages

Spotlight's blind spot: Spotlight comments on Disk Utility disk images.

Has anyone but me noticed that Spotlight goes blind to Spotlight Comments once the files are moved into a 256-bit encrypted read/write disck image created with Disk Utility? I don't have iPhoto, and I keep photos in too many categories for that anyway. I keep all my keywords in Spotlight comments in Finder attached to each file and create "albums" on the fly with Spotlight searches.
But as soon as I moved the whole mess into a read/write 256-bit encrypted disk image created with "from folder" in Disk Utility....I can still see all the comments in Finder GetInfo, but Spotlight can't. I even tried adding comments to the search field list and it still sees nothing, not even when the disk image is mounted and visible in my Finder window sidebar.
What am I missing?

Yes, I search while the drive is mounted.
Yes, I can drag it into and out of Spotlight's Privacy Pref's Pane. While it's in there the entire drive obviously disappears from Spotlight's searches. Once I - it from the exclude list it returns to seeing folder names only, but still finds nothing based on Spotlight Comments.
I'm starting to think Apple left that bit of code out. Anybody know how to put it back in?

Spotlight is way too blind to find my file!

Hi,
I wonder why Spotlight just couldn't find a file. It exists, it's right there waiting to be found but somehow Spotlight is totally blind to see it. Screenshot is here:
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7039969
I've forced Spotlight to reindex using the "sudo mdutil -E /" command in terminal but to no result.
Any ideas why?

Try this:
Leopard Spotlight Tips
By Christopher Breen ([email protected])
Mac 911 Hint of the Week
Leopard shipped on Friday. You might have read something about that over at Macworld.com. Anyhow, as part of our coverage, I had a chance to get a debriefing from Apple on all that is Mac OS X 10.5, and I was able to ask one of the questions that had been perplexing me during my short time with the Leopard GM.
Apple tells us that you can use Spotlight to search into the guts of the System and Library folders, but, for the life of me, I can't make it work. What's the secret?
The answer is that you have to tell the Mac to do it. To do so, follow these steps:
1. Produce a Searching window by typing Command-F while in the Finder.
2. Choose Other from the Kind pop-up menu.
3. In the sheet that appears, type System in the Search field.
4. Select the single System Files entry that appears.
5. Should you wish to conduct these deep searches in the future and want to make it easier to do (meaning you won't have to choose Other and look for the System Files entry), enable the In Menu option. System Files will now appear in the pop-up.
6. Click OK.
7. When you next wish to search every part of your Mac, select System Files from the Kind pop-up menu and in the pop-up menu next to it, choose Include. Your results will include not just the kind of Spotlight results you saw with Tiger but now also the files the Mac OS tries to keep from prying eyes.
For tips on anything -- whether Leopard-themed or not -- visit the Mac 911 blog for weekly doses of helpful advice.

Spotlight is blind to appleworks.html files - Yes?

Once upon a time I used appleworks wp files and saved as html. Sometimes I still do.
In anycase I was looking for some repetitive code used in these html files and noticed
spotlight is blind to appleworks.html files.
IS THERE A FIX FOR THIS. Will leopard remedy this problem?

"Corruption" the standard answer when one there is none better to offer. How can all 60+ AppleWorks - just html files be corrupted? Not WP not SS Not DB. There is a reason for this so I took the time I could search it out.
First I thought , It might have something do with the uniqueness (now almost ancient) of the AppleWorks html document itself.
1) Could it be the header line  ?
2) Could it be any of the now acient formating of the AppleWorks html document that is rejected?
3) Could it be all my html documents are label colored?
4) Could it be that the AppleWorks html file icon is different that the regular Appleworks file icon.
None of the Above
5) BUT then I thought it might be the special characters I was searching for (php?id=166) as outlined in my previous post and BINGO! I tried other simple wording from the html pages in question and it did work! So it has something to do with the php?id=166. I might add, I tried the 166 alone still nothing, Am I to assume Spotlight doesn't work with numbers? Hum But searching on wording in the text of the document work fine.
I could go on and on with the "could it be's" and if I had the time, to look into this furthure and would find the reason, But hey, why bother AppleWorks is going the way of the dinosaurs so blame it on corruption.
Respectfully submitted
Sandy E

Is there a better search app than Spotlight

Just upgraded to Mavericks and I really miss the search function from 10.6
Any suggestions on how to make it work better?

Spotlight is actually quite good, and is, in fact, the same search technology used in Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). It's blindingly fast. I'd have to ask what's not working for you that did in Snow Leopard, as you may have a problem with your system rather than a failing in Spotlight.
That said, Spotlight has its limitations, like the fact that it doesn't search everywhere, so sometimes it's nice to have a more traditional search tool. Something like EasyFind or Find Any File can fill those gaps nicely.

Spotlight mysteriously re-indexes after some failed searches?

Well here's an odd one:
About a week ago I had occasion to migrate a "standard" account from one Leopard computer to a fresh Leopard computer where it became the second account on the new machine (after the Admin account). This was done with Migration Assistant and completed without problems.
The original account was inherited from a Tiger 10.4.10 installation on the old machine via a default, "upgrade", install of Leopard.
Spotlight searches of the Home directory of that account worked just fine on the old machine. There is nothing in the Spotlight preferences Privacy list in either the old machine or the new machine. It may be relevant that the old machine was the Powerbook listed in my tag line below. The new machine is a Macbook. I've had no other Spotlight problems on either machine.
Today I had occasion to search for a folder in the Home directory of this account on the new machine. To my surprise, it did not show in the results. OTHER stuff showed up, but not this folder.
So I opened a Finder window and did a Command-f to bring up the search criteria and started playing around with search criteria (specifying "kind" = "folder" for example) to see if I could isolate the problem. Periodically I also retried searching in the regular Spotlight drop down to compare results. The upshot was that it seemed NOTHING in the Home directory of this migrated account had been indexed.
And then, for no obvious reason, and about 5-10 minutes into poking around like this, I discovered Spotlight was "indexing". It had about 20 minutes of indexing to do.
Again, I had not been doing anything in the Spotlight preferences -- just trying different search criteria in the Finder window. So why index now?
When it finished indexing, searches for files or content in the Home directory of this account, either via the Finder window or the Spotlight drop down, all worked fine.
NOW, why should Spotlight decide just at this moment to index this account? The account has been in heavy use on this machine for about week (although I had not had occasion to do searches in it).
And the indexing didn't start until about 5-10 minutes into the search and re-search process trying to explore the limits of Spotlight's "blind spot".
Does Spotlight fail to realize it needs to index a migrated account?
Does Spotlight have some sort of fail safe mechanism where it revisits the need to index things after so many repeated searches or searches with no results?
Mysterious indeed.
--Bob

Review the hits from a google search for socket(PF_ROUTE). IMO, something's blocking access, most likely mucked up permissions on the server; however, I don't muck with servers or AD and you might be better off perusing MS's forums for AD info.

More Leopard Problems: Spotlight and Screenshots

Hello,
1. When I first upgraded to Leopard, my screenshot utility worked (CMD-Shift-3/4). It has since stopped... any ideas? I see that at least two other people reported the same problem here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5749312&#5749312
But it was not resolved. Yes, I know there's a 'Grab' utility and I know there are a number of 3rd party apps. I just want this native feature to work.
2. I've also noted that Spotlight has stopped working: I type something into the search window and there is no response at all. It's not that what I'm looking for cannot be found, it's that nothing happens. Now, I noted in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6051741&#6051741
That I could try forcing a re-index by listing the entire volume as private, then removing it. It worked the first time, but now Spotlight doesn't work again. Any suggestions?
Please let me know if you have any ideas. My last 3 questions have gone unanswered and I'm losing hope in the Apple forums...
Thanks.

Screenshots just quit.
I've been taking them off and on all day, didn't restart - just out of the Blue Too.
Picture 1.png, etc.
G5 2.5x2, same thing happened on 10.4.x - just up and quit.
Is it the FONT Police?
Did I do a no-no?
Shut off my screen grab?
I've done the obvious things to do, etc.
You "Experts", don't be so fast to answer - I'm no newbie, but I'm not Amit either ... check?
Grab works fine.
This is getting o-l-d.
http://osxbook.com/book/bonus/chapter7/binaryprotection/
$ cat dsmos.c
main()
puts(-16 * 4096 + 0x1600);
$ gcc -o dsmos dsmos.c
$ ./dsmos
Your karma check for today:
There once was was a user that whined
his existing OS was so blind,
he'd do better to pirate
an OS that ran great
but found his hardware declined.
Please don't steal Mac OS!
Really, that's way uncool.
(C) Apple Computer, Inc.U??VWS?5P

Spotlight... User "Shared" not searched?

I have been very frustrated knowing that I have created and modified files, KNOWING it, and Spotlight/Find being absolutely blind.
Well... I think I know the problem, and now I want to know if there is a solution.
I keep a lot of documents in user "shared" for other accounts on my big computer - it looks like the things I can't find are all the things I put in there. Okay, it's a different "user", fine. So how do I get those results included?
Thanks,
stoid

Hester, you're right. Spotlight doesn't search everywhere, doesn't find everything, and isn't reliable.
You can either try to fiddle with it, if you like doing that sort of thing, or if what you want to do is simply *find your stuff and move on* then there are two very simple alternatives:
download either/or/and FindFile at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/10906315
and/or EasyFind at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/8707

Java Apps, by blindly resetting & clearing, did I go on and things up

Hello,
So via Safari (2.0.4) I went to a website that had an IRC chat window embedded into their very site. First the chat window was all white, then a loading screen with the Java logo, and then an official looking option window pops up, asking me whether or not I want to Trust something, a certificate or other. While I can't be 100% sure.. I do believe this was the order.
So then I click Don't Trust. And then in the embedded IRC chat window, text area, the chat details pop up, saying,
Connecting...
Unable to connect : java.security.AccessControlException : access denied
(java.net.SocetPermissions irc.loadedinc.com resolve)
Now I figure, it's because I opted for the Don't Trust option.
Thus, in an attempt to manually reset Certificates, to reset my Don't Trust choice, I go on and do something, not very smart, and now am beginning to worry as a result of my actions.
I go to Spotlight and type "java"
I then go to Java Cache Viewer, then Preferences (Use version: J2SE 5.0),
⋅ then click "Delete Files..." under Temporary Internet Files, all while disregarding the message "Only advanced users should delete files or modify these settings" right there above it.
Then I click "Settings" to the right of "Delete Files..."
⋅ then a "Temporary Files Settings" window pops up,
⋅ to which I again press then "Delete Files..." button.
Then, I go back to Spotlight, and click Java Preferences, of which I believed to be the same Preferences of the Java Cache Viewer,
⋅ and regardless, same or not, I go ahead and click the Delete Files... button,
⋅ and the Temporary Files Settings window - Delete Files... button as well.
Then I go to Java 1.4.2 Plugin Settings, back in Spotlight,
⋅ then in the Java Plug-in Control Panel, in the General tab, I click Reset,
⋅ then in the Cache tab, I click Clear, and again, Reset,
⋅ and in Certificates I click Reset. All the while, figuring that all three Reset buttons did the same exact thing.
Then finally, back in Spotlight, I click on Java 1.3.1 Plugin Settings and do the Reset thing, for all four tabs,
⋅ and in the Cache tab, I clicked on the "Clear JAR Cache,"
⋅ and it was then I felt I was ready to go back to Safari, Clear History, Empty Cache, and finally, Reset Safari.
Then, I go back to the website... that curiously spurred me into this trek, and then the white embedded IRC chat window, then the whole loading of the Java, and... only to get the same exact message...
Connecting...
Unable to connect : java.security.AccessControlException : access denied
(java.net.SocetPermissions irc.loadedinc.com resolve)
And then I started thinking, crap, Why in the world did I just do that? What's wrong with me? Blindly resetting and such...
Having gone through all the aforementioned applications,
⋅ Java Cache Viewer then Preferences,
⋅ Java Preferences (which I figure is same as the Java Cache Viewer Prefs),
⋅ Java 1.4.1 Plugin Settings, and
⋅ Java 1.3.1 Plugin Settings...
naively.. stupidly resetting and clearing as I did... in spite of the warning, "Only advanced users should delete files or modify these settings," which clearly I am not...
Did I really mess things up?
Or perhaps, are things completely alright, in light of my resetting rampage?
Oh, and on a side note-question, does my system at all use the Java 1.3.1 Plugin Settings, in light of the Java 1.4.1 Plugin Settings?
Thank you so much everyone! My apologies for calling on you all as a result of my brainless actions.

Thank you andyBall_uk!

Spotlight with index drop outs

On OSX.6.8 Server.
(There is a folder structure existing and not modified since beginning of the year. A calendar-like hierarchical structure with a folder 2012 on top, then months 01,02....12 and then days 01, 02 etc)
Spotlight seems not to index all folders correctly. I cannot find files, which should be obviously found with a content search.
It looks like, that in some folders nothing can be found, also with "simple" searches which must produce results.
I have restarted the Server, repaired permissions, reindexed Spotlight with sudo mdutil -E / but no improvement. Spotlight seems to be "blind" on several spots.
What need to bee done?

try reindexing a few small groups which you know aren't getting indexed now.
you can selectively index a folder by dragging it to Spotlight Prefs/Privacy, leave that preference, then go back to it and remove the folder from Privacy.
Then watch the logs for errors and run a test to see if results are better.
Not a solution, just a way to narrow things down

Lion Spotlight Problem on an old Macbook2,1

Folks,
After updating to lion 4 weeks ago, just realized, there is one thing that still bugging over a month now, a "blind" spotlight. Does anyone experiencing difficulties to find file(s) by using spotlight? the file exist but the spotlight seemed can't see, please guide me to handle this problem.
The problems are only happen on my macbook (late 2006) 2GB ram not on my iMac 21.5' (late 2009), so is it about the old machine or else?
Thank you

Hi shotekitehi, me again, the guy from the same city.
I tried a new approach. It is not the most elegant way but it works. You mentioned the right thing. When you open another account besides you "problem" account (it should be an Admin-account) and set the properties so that you can read and change files in the problem-account, spotlight works fine. I noticed that I am really lost without spotlight and happy to find this way, thanks for helping and maybe it helps the others, best
Sascha

How can I disable files from being shown in spotlight?

Hi All,
In my spotlight preferences I've enabled only Applications, Folders, and System Preferences. However, in almost all of my searches, many individual files are shown. These are usualy .java, .jar, or .html even.
To exacerbate the problem, spotlight seems to be looking inside the files when it searches/indexes. So I get many files that dont have my search terms in the title. Basically, the things I want are at the bottom, far below a bunch of files that I don't want to see.
Is there any way to filter these out permanently?

Found a solution. It is this. But Thomas is correct in assuming I am using it as an application launcher. This fix allows me to resume this activity as it was in Snow Leopard.
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20110805192212447

Spotlight is not working on brand new Mac mini

Hi,
I got an issue with two brand new Mac minis running 10.7.3 (11D50d):
Spotlight is not working. I'm only getting the Wikipedia-Search.
Here's what I did:
Installation:
- took the stock Minis and set up two users, admin and user (limited account)
- updatet the System
- installed manually: Adobe Reader X, Office 2011, Firefox 12, Flip4Mac, Perian, Cyberduck, Google Earth 6.2 (the installer without the updater), VLC 2
- installed using AppStore: CalendarBar, TextWrangler, Unarchiever
- copied a few documents (Word and Excel files) from a PC to the Desktop
Troubleshooting:
- tried to restart Spotlight by adding the entire harddrive to privacy using »Spotlight« within the System Preferences
- that threw an error "no priviliges"
- started the System from the recovery system (on an USB-thumbdrive) and repaired permissions
- that did not help
- tried to restart Spotlight through the Terminal, running the command: sudo mdutil -E /
- that command returned: No index.
- the tried: sudo mdutil -i on /
- returned: Error: unable to perform operation. (-400) No index.
- went the hard way
- unloaded the daemon: sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
- erased the Spotlight folder: sudo rm -fr .Spotlight-V100/
- loaded the daemon: sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
That made everything work fine until I did a restart of the System. After the mini restarted I was back at square one...
Does anyone have an idea how to fix this issue?
Apple support suggested to reinstall the system. Something I can't do right now, as people need to work on those computers and cannot take a tow hour break...

Hi Ray Land,
We can help narrow down the cause. What operating system are you using on your new Mac Mini?
If you are running the Mountain Lion OS, you can download the latest driver here. An important note is that the current print queue must be deleted before installing the new driver. This will ensure proper communication.
If this doesn't work or you need further assistance, please contact us here.
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

Spotlight does NOT work - tried EVERYTHING

Running older Intel Mac Pro... Mountain Lion
Spotlight just stopped working - it returns nothing but webpage suggestions.
There are NO disks added under the Spotlight System Preferences.
Trying to add and then remove only results in the "Privacy List Error The item couldn't be addred because you don't have the appropriate permissions.
I've rebuilt permissions. No go.
I've killed SystemUIServer in Activities Monitor - nada.
I've used the info here on How to Disable (or Enable) Spotlight in Mac OS X Lion which includes the terminal commands for killing Spotlight, restarting again, and forcing reindexing. Nothing. Well almost nothing- I got it to re-index for a bit last night... But when you use Spotlight.... nothing.
I have an ugly suspicion it has to do with perceived ownership of the disks by the OS - anyone care to take me up on this? Here's why:
I you reveal the hidden files you see this:
When I "Get Info" (Command-I) I see these permissions... the disk first, and then the .Spotlight-V100 folder:
So why does the .Spotlight-V100 say that everyone has "No Access"? But looking at my Mac Mini these settings seem to be correct.
I tried changing ownership on the everyone to "Read" (which didn't work everytime I tried until I started writing this of course) but it just returns the same Privacy Access error when you try to add the disk to the Spotlight Preferences Privacy list again. I tried changing it to Read & Write... same thing.
Now inside the Spotlight-V100 folder is the VolumeConfiguration.plist file - I'm wondering if something in these preferences (which you can read unless you change the setting to "Read" where it is first set 'everyone' as 'no access') might give a clue - so here is the content of that file and I'll leave this for now to see if anyone has any clue what's going on here. Thanks
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
          <key>Annotations</key>
          <dict>
                    <key>Creation_Predicates</key>
                    <dict>
                              <key>false</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>fstype.hfs</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>interconnect.sata</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>is.alreadyindexed</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.automount</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.backupstore</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.backupvolume</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.bootablevolume</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>is.cameramedia</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.diskimage</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.dontbrowse</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.ejectable</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.external</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.externalvolumes.defaultoff</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.externalvolumes.ignore</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.filevault</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.forcedefaultindex</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.forcefsonly</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.home</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.internal</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>is.ipod</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.local</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>is.lowdiskspace</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.mirrored.idisk</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.mobilebackups</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.network</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.quarantined</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.readonly</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.removable</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.rootfs</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>is.safeboot</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.syntheticmount</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.tinyvolume</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.windowsbootablevolume</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>is.xsan</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>policy.location.volume</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>self.appleinternal</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>self.server</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>status.neverindex</key>
                              <false/>
                              <key>supports.catsearch</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>supports.fileids</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>supports.volfs</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>true</key>
                              <true/>
                              <key>uuid.b449cee2-6ad5-3b8a-a749-9e6d14c278b1</key>
                              <true/>
                    </dict>
                    <key>DefaultStore_EffectiveSearch</key>
                    <integer>3</integer>
                    <key>DefaultStore_RequestedSearch</key>
                    <integer>3</integer>
          </dict>
          <key>ConfigurationCreationDate</key>
          <date>2013-02-15T00:07:09Z</date>
          <key>ConfigurationCreationVersion</key>
          <string>Version 10.8.2 (Build 12C60)</string>
          <key>ConfigurationModificationDate</key>
          <date>2013-02-15T00:07:09Z</date>
          <key>ConfigurationModificationVersion</key>
          <string>Version 10.8.2 (Build 12C60)</string>
          <key>Exclusions</key>
          <array/>
          <key>Options</key>
          <dict>
                    <key>ConfigurationType</key>
                    <string>Default</string>
          </dict>
          <key>Stores</key>
          <dict>
                    <key>7577F89E-857D-4CB6-B9D0-E937F1944380</key>
                    <dict>
                              <key>CreationDate</key>
                              <date>2013-02-15T00:07:09Z</date>
                              <key>CreationVersion</key>
                              <string>Version 10.8.2 (Build 12C60)</string>
                              <key>IndexVersion</key>
                              <integer>95</integer>
                              <key>PartialPath</key>
                              <string>/</string>
                              <key>PolicyDate</key>
                              <date>2013-02-15T00:07:09Z</date>
                              <key>PolicyLevel</key>
                              <string>kMDConfigSearchLevelReadWrite</string>
                              <key>PolicyVersion</key>
                              <string>Version 10.8.2 (Build 12C60)</string>
                    </dict>
          </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

Hi Linc,
Thanks for picking up my thread and offering your insights.
Going to Console and filtering for mdworker reveals no entries what so ever. I recognize mdworker as one of the key components of Spotlight so suggests it's not running. I also see that Console is posting repeated crashes for for
LaunchServices/5123589
here's the full entry:
2/15/13 8:28:20.942 PM ReportCrash[637]: failed looking up LS service ( scCreateSystemService returned MACH_PORT_NULL, called from SetupCoreApplicationServicesCommunicationPort, so using client-side NULL calls.
2/15/13 8:28:20.942 PM ReportCrash[637]: LaunchServices/5123589: Unable to lookup coreservices session port for session 0x186a0 uid=0 euid=0
2/15/13 8:28:20.998 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.metadata.mds[640]) Job appears to have crashed: Segmentation fault: 11
2/15/13 8:28:20.998 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.metadata.mds) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
2/15/13 8:28:21.107 PM ReportCrash[637]: Saved crash report for mds[640] version 707.3 to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mds_2013-02-15-202821_COMPUTER_NAME.crash
this certainly appears also to be Spotlight because running this in Terminal...
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
and the crash reports stop. Run this to reload Spotlight...
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
and the errors start again.
This is the crash report noted above - pretty sure this is what you want now - I see no mdsworker but mds errors all through...
Thoughts?
Thanks.
Process:         mds [640]
Path:            /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadat a.framework/Versions/A/Support/mds
Identifier:      mds
Version:         707.3
Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
User ID:         0
Date/Time:       2013-02-15 20:28:20.498 -0500
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.8.2 (12C60)
Report Version: 10
Crashed Thread: 9 Dispatch queue: <MDSDiskStore 0x7fd02500ac00 shutdown:NO got shutdown notification:NO>
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x0000000000000008
VM Regions Near 0x8:
-->
    __TEXT                 000000010514c000-000000010526c000 [ 1152K] r-x/rwx SM=COW /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadat a.framework/Versions/A/Support/mds
Application Specific Information:
[0x105b70000](Error) IndexGeneral in ssize_t fd_pread(fd_ptr, void *, size_t, off_t):pread(-1 , o:0, s:0) err:2
[0x105b70000](Error) IndexCI in _Bool store_stream_init(store_stream_t *, fd_ptr, _Bool):store_stream_init err:2
[0x105b70000](Warning) IndexStore in int db_restore_dirty_chunk_info(int, db_dirty_chunk_info *):Restore error: 2, recovering from shadow
[0x105b70000](Error) IndexState in int _SIOpenIndexFilesWithState(SIRef, uint32_t, _Bool, _Bool, _Bool, _Bool *, DocID *, CIDocCounts *):ContentInde
Thread 0:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86abe686 mach_msg_trap + 10
1   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86abdc42 mach_msg + 70
2   com.apple.CoreFoundation                0x00007fff84b22803 __CFRunLoopServiceMachPort + 195
3   com.apple.CoreFoundation                0x00007fff84b27ee6 __CFRunLoopRun + 1078
4   com.apple.CoreFoundation                0x00007fff84b276b2 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 290
5   mds                                     0x000000010515aa54 0x10514c000 + 59988
6   libdyld.dylib                           0x00007fff8a4327e1 start + 1
Thread 1:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 2:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.libdispatch-manager
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac0d16 kevent + 10
1   libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81ddea _dispatch_mgr_invoke + 883
2   libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81d9ee _dispatch_mgr_thread + 54
Thread 3:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 4:: Dispatch queue: <MDSDiskStore 0x7fd026826400 shutdown:NO got shutdown notification:NO>
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac0ae6 fsync + 10
1   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x000000010537b38b fd_sync + 381
2   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001053a71d8 _CIMetaInfoSync + 157
3   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001053a73ad CIMetaInfoCreate + 377
4   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052dfbaa SICreateNewIndex + 1106
5   mds                                     0x0000000105182318 0x10514c000 + 221976
6   mds                                     0x0000000105181a7a 0x10514c000 + 219770
7   mds                                     0x0000000105173868 0x10514c000 + 161896
8   mds                                     0x00000001051cd47e 0x10514c000 + 529534
9   mds                                     0x00000001051b4962 0x10514c000 + 428386
10 mds                                     0x00000001051b4b21 0x10514c000 + 428833
11 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81b0b6 _dispatch_client_callout + 8
12 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c47f _dispatch_queue_drain + 235
13 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c2f1 _dispatch_queue_invoke + 52
14 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c1c3 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 249
15 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cab _pthread_wqthread + 404
16 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 5:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 6:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 7:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac0ffa read + 10
1   mds                                     0x0000000105155ced 0x10514c000 + 40173
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85027742 _pthread_start + 327
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014181 thread_start + 13
Thread 8:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 9 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: <MDSDiskStore 0x7fd02500ac00 shutdown:NO got shutdown notification:NO>
0   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052ecffc SISetTransactionCount + 212
1   mds                                     0x00000001051f951f 0x10514c000 + 709919
2   mds                                     0x00000001051fa08f 0x10514c000 + 712847
3   mds                                     0x0000000105172b82 0x10514c000 + 158594
4   mds                                     0x0000000105181eb1 0x10514c000 + 220849
5   mds                                     0x0000000105173868 0x10514c000 + 161896
6   mds                                     0x00000001051cd47e 0x10514c000 + 529534
7   mds                                     0x00000001051b4962 0x10514c000 + 428386
8   mds                                     0x00000001051b4b21 0x10514c000 + 428833
9   libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81b0b6 _dispatch_client_callout + 8
10 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c47f _dispatch_queue_drain + 235
11 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c2f1 _dispatch_queue_invoke + 52
12 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c1c3 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 249
13 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cab _pthread_wqthread + 404
14 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 10:: Dispatch queue: <MDSDiskStore 0x7fd026820400 shutdown:NO got shutdown notification:NO>
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86abfb26 __fcntl + 10
1   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86abf0cb fcntl + 232
2   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x000000010537b303 fd_sync + 245
3   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001054164f7 dirty_datastore_locked + 263
4   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x000000010541e025 add_dirty_chunk + 195
5   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x0000000105417b48 page_alloc + 290
6   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x0000000105417987 db2_store_obj + 325
7   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052d730d si_create_indexmetadata + 213
8   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052e5933 SIInitIndex + 15244
9   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052e0bc2 SICreateNewIndex + 5226
10 mds                                     0x0000000105182318 0x10514c000 + 221976
11 mds                                     0x0000000105181a7a 0x10514c000 + 219770
12 mds                                     0x0000000105173868 0x10514c000 + 161896
13 mds                                     0x00000001051cd47e 0x10514c000 + 529534
14 mds                                     0x00000001051b4962 0x10514c000 + 428386
15 mds                                     0x00000001051b4b21 0x10514c000 + 428833
16 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81b0b6 _dispatch_client_callout + 8
17 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c47f _dispatch_queue_drain + 235
18 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c2f1 _dispatch_queue_invoke + 52
19 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c1c3 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 249
20 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cab _pthread_wqthread + 404
21 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 11:: Dispatch queue: <MDSDiskStore 0x7fd027807a00 shutdown:NO got shutdown notification:NO>
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac0fbe pwrite + 10
1   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001053a6f02 _copyFile + 981
2   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001053a70f4 copyFile + 12
3   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x000000010541213d db2_update_datastore_state + 163
4   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052dde36 _SIOpenIndex + 3670
5   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052e0ea8 SIOpenIndex + 282
6   mds                                     0x0000000105182396 0x10514c000 + 222102
7   mds                                     0x0000000105181854 0x10514c000 + 219220
8   mds                                     0x0000000105173868 0x10514c000 + 161896
9   mds                                     0x00000001051cd47e 0x10514c000 + 529534
10 mds                                     0x00000001051b4962 0x10514c000 + 428386
11 mds                                     0x00000001051b4b21 0x10514c000 + 428833
12 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81b0b6 _dispatch_client_callout + 8
13 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c47f _dispatch_queue_drain + 235
14 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c2f1 _dispatch_queue_invoke + 52
15 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c1c3 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 249
16 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cab _pthread_wqthread + 404
17 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 12:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 13:: Dispatch queue: <MDSDiskStore 0x7fd02300ee00 shutdown:NO got shutdown notification:NO>
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac0fbe pwrite + 10
1   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001053a6f02 _copyFile + 981
2   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001053a70f4 copyFile + 12
3   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x000000010541213d db2_update_datastore_state + 163
4   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052dde36 _SIOpenIndex + 3670
5   com.apple.spotlight.index               0x00000001052e0ea8 SIOpenIndex + 282
6   mds                                     0x0000000105182396 0x10514c000 + 222102
7   mds                                     0x0000000105181854 0x10514c000 + 219220
8   mds                                     0x0000000105173868 0x10514c000 + 161896
9   mds                                     0x00000001051cd47e 0x10514c000 + 529534
10 mds                                     0x00000001051b4962 0x10514c000 + 428386
11 mds                                     0x00000001051b4b21 0x10514c000 + 428833
12 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81b0b6 _dispatch_client_callout + 8
13 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c47f _dispatch_queue_drain + 235
14 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c2f1 _dispatch_queue_invoke + 52
15 libdispatch.dylib                       0x00007fff8d81c1c3 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 249
16 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cab _pthread_wqthread + 404
17 libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 14:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 15:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 16:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib                  0x00007fff86ac06d6 __workq_kernreturn + 10
1   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029eec _pthread_workq_return + 25
2   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85029cb3 _pthread_wqthread + 412
3   libsystem_c.dylib                       0x00007fff85014171 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 9 crashed with X86 Thread State (64-bit):
rax: 0x00000000ffffffff rbx: 0x0000000000000000 rcx: 0x0000000000000000 rdx: 0x0000000000000082
rdi: 0x00007fd022829e00 rsi: 0x0000000000000001 rbp: 0x0000000105b6dfd0 rsp: 0x0000000105b6df50
   r8: 0x0000000000000024   r9: 0x0000000000000000 r10: 0x00000001054b2ae8 r11: 0x00000001052ecf28
r12: 0x0000000000000100 r13: 0x0000000000000001 r14: 0x00007fd022829e00 r15: 0x00007fd022848c00
rip: 0x00000001052ecffc rfl: 0x0000000000010246 cr2: 0x0000000000000008
Logical CPU: 0
External Modification Summary:
Calls made by other processes targeting this process:
    task_for_pid: 1
    thread_create: 0
    thread_set_state: 0
Calls made by this process:
    task_for_pid: 0
    thread_create: 0
    thread_set_state: 0
Calls made by all processes on this machine:
    task_for_pid: 308
    thread_create: 0
    thread_set_state: 0
VM Region Summary:
ReadOnly portion of Libraries: Total=147.5M resident=115.1M(78%) swapped_out_or_unallocated=32.4M(22%)
Writable regions: Total=174.9M written=6084K(3%) resident=7420K(4%) swapped_out=0K(0%) unallocated=167.7M(96%)
REGION TYPE                      VIRTUAL
===========                      =======
MALLOC                            127.8M
MALLOC guard page                    80K
Memory tag=241                      136K
Memory tag=243 (reserved)          30.0M        reserved VM address space (unallocated)
Memory tag=244                      320K
STACK GUARD                        56.1M
Stack                              16.1M
VM_ALLOCATE                           8K
__DATA                             12.1M
__IMAGE                             528K
__LINKEDIT                         53.7M
__TEXT                             93.8M
__UNICODE                           544K
mapped file                        18.6M
shared memory                       308K
===========                      =======
TOTAL                             410.1M
TOTAL, minus reserved VM space    380.1M

Spotlight reindexing drives when booting from Leopard to Tiger & vice versa

Hi,
I have two HDs, one with Leopard and the other with Tiger. Whenever I boot into the other HD I find that Spotlight re-indexes my two 750GB music & data drives which takes some time. Why is this? Do they use different versions of the index?
It's a bit of a pain as I have to boot into both OS's every day and cannot use Spotlight while the indexing is running and it also slows the system down. I do not want to turn indexing off as I need it during my work.
Any help/ideas?

dickie001x wrote:
Hi,
I have two HDs, one with Leopard and the other with Tiger. Whenever I boot into the other HD I find that Spotlight re-indexes my two 750GB music & data drives which takes some time. Why is this? Do they use different versions of the index?
yes, they do.
It's a bit of a pain as I have to boot into both OS's every day and cannot use Spotlight while the indexing is running and it also slows the system down. I do not want to turn indexing off as I need it during my work.
Any help/ideas?
I don't think there is any way around this. may I ask why you have to use both tiger and leopard?
you can try using some spotlight alternatives such as [EasyFind|http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/11706] when you are using one of the two OS ( either tiger or leopard) and spotlight for the other os.

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