Have tried rebuilding the index three times, but not using Terminal. Have used the usual system prefs technique and also Cocktail.
The rebuild stops each time at about 33%,
Other than Terminal, how else to rebuild this index? Is there a log file which discloses the offending file?
Thank you.
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
Sometimes you just have to use Terminal to get it done, but...
Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?
Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.
Open Console in Applications>Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.
To find that missing bizarre filename...
Find Any File...
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/index.php
Hold Option or alt key when selecting Find to Find All.
We could go to Sys Prefs>Spotlight>Search Results, uncheck half the boxes, see if Spotlight can finish, if so recheck that half & uncheck the other half, once we we find which half fails, divide that by halves until we get down to the type failing.
It may boil down to needed an OS reinstall... or a bad file, less likely some Hardware issue.
Last line isn't all that bizarre, not sure what it means though, did you do this part?
Open Terminal and run each of these one at a time
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
sudo /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -lint -r -f -v -dump -domain local -domain system -domain user -domain network
killall Dock
sudo mdutil -E /
Spotlight is never really done, as any change on the Mac causes Spotlight to fire up and re-index that change.
How do you visualize that Spotlight runs to 33% of completion, when High Sierra has no built-in indicator of Spotlight indexing progress? If this is functionality provided by Cocktail, could it actually be a faux issue attributed to Cocktail, and not Spotlight?
Find Any File...
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/index.php
Hold Option or alt key when selecting Find to Find All.
I don't know if changing the checkmarks reindexes, but suggest you reindex after changing the checked ones to see if we can get it to complete.
Well, Console has been mostly neutered, but if you have that open when running look at the messages about the time it fails.
On the M4v files, do a Get Info on one, look for Open with & choose the App you want to open them & click the Change All button.
Thank you so much! Followed all the above posts, and also this article: http://osxdaily.com/2007/02/15/spotlight-wont-work-fix-a-broken-spotlight-menu-with-these-troubleshooting-tips/
The problem is not solved. Re-indexing gets to 21 minutes, then slowly increases. Attached above are screenshots from Activity Monitor. (Sorry for posting them ahead of this text, but uploading these images made this text disappear).
Cannot tell the offender(s) from the list, and intermittently those two iPhoto files appear at the bottom, but they spontaneously disappear. Another scan showed a bizarre file name in the System Library, but direct exam of the Library shows no file by that name.... there are only the expected folders.
Very frustrating! Now what ?
Interesting. Do you think that file list in Activity Monitor is useful or useless? What did it tell you?
Spotlight does seem to work.... but it will not finish re-indexing. Does checking-unchecking modify what is re-indexed subsequently, or does it simply modify results seen from the incomplete re-index?
How can an OS reinstall be a cure if the offending file or folder happens to be a user-formed data file?
Well pics don't help much with my poor vision, but the 2 mentioned suuny/pics file are curious.
BTW, you can drag copy or Select All in AM's Open Files & reports to copy text.
I think you may need to reindex with this problem.
I can only imagine on the reinstall query. :)
Re-indexed? It has been re-indexed four times in the past two days and never completed. The problem is how to successfully and completely re-index.
What to do with those "curious" Sunny pictures? Spotlight did not find them.
Does changing the checklist alter what is re-indexed?
Despite deleting those two iPhoto metadata files, the failure to re-index complete fails repeatedly. Below is the Activity Monitor file list when the CPU% fell to zero. That last entry which starts with a "->" cannot be found by FAF.Have used recovery mode to repair permissions and verify the disk, then terminal commands to re-index. Waiting for results.
Here's the file list below. What does this big list signify? Everything here is corrupt? What is that bizarre last line?
Yes, BDAqua. Today. Wow--- it produced a massive file list in Terminal, and saved it as a 2.6MB RTF file in TextEdit. It did start re-indexing, and that's good, but now it hangs at 40 minutes whereas before it hung at 18 minutes.
The other alarming thing is that movies files (M4v) open with VLC, but now clicking on the move launches some part of Adobe After Effects, not VLC Player.
What did those terminal commands do?
Will let in run overnight. Now what ???? What else can be done to find out why this is happening?
Thank you. Where is the actual index file? Is it better to directly delete the file than to use CMM, Cocktail, or Terminal?
Or no matter what the method the offending file must be deleted?
CORRECTED: The other alarming thing is that movies files (M4v) open with VLC, but now clicking on the mouse launches some part of Adobe After Effects, not VLC Player.
Why isn't the spotlight index finishing rebuilding? Which file is the hang up?
