LaunchServices database mapping error while trying to rebuild Spotlight index

A first success: the "LaunchServices database mapping error while trying to rebuild Spotlight index" message seems to have gone. The issue seems to have been caused by the lack of the /private/var/db/lsd directory. Oddly, none of the Terminal commands of the utilities could create it. I don't know why it was missing.

I followed the instructions found in these two pages:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7270354

https://helmschrott.de/blog/launchservices-database-mapping-failed

The commands in this latter seem to have solved the issue:

1. sudo mkdir /private/var/db/lsd
2. 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

At the moment, md* is working hard. The error messages are not showing. Mail is populating the smart folders. Let's see if it is indexing.

Paolo

Sort of an answer to myself on this point: I removed an external drive containing MacOS from the Privacy list, and Spotlight immediately started showing its results. Apps appear as 'Packages' there also. Maybe this is it should be.

More apps are slowly appearing in the Spotlight search. Maybe it is just extremely slow in rebuilding its index. Let's wait and see.

Paolo

I confirm it worked. It was that missing /private/var/db/lsd directory. One week of my life stolen this way…

Paolo

BDAqua, and now things go even more complicate. I've left the Mac turned on to complete the work, and now all the mds* tasks are 0% or next to it.

I've tried repeating my search on "App Store". Now, all I get is a couple email messages in the "Show all in the Finder". What it had found earlier is now gone. And it is no longer searching hard.

I've tried to read the spindump and sampling of the mds* tasks, and there are those two errors I reported in the first post. Nothing that can help me understand what is going wrong.

Yes, the error '-10813' should mean that there are no matching data of a particular type. What does it mean? Is there some metadata missing? How can I know it? How can I fix it, if all that was suggested for years in the web is not working in my case?

Paolo

Something that I must add is that association of documents with apps seems to work fine. If I right-click a document and choose "Open with…", I get a list of the apps that can really open it. It seems that the LaunchServices database is actually working.

But, despite the heavy work, the mds tasks are not rebuilding my Spotlight index.

Paolo

Something else I noticed: when an app is found, the search result window in the Finder says that it is of 'Package' type. If I ask information on that file, I see that it appears as an 'Application'.

Why this difference between the search result window and what the Finder Info floating window says? Is it as it should, or is there an error somewhere?

Paolo

That's true, and I think nearly all of them can be explored with the Show Package Contents command. So, this could be right in the search result window. Even if, as far as I can remember, the apps have always been separated by the other types of data.

Paolo

…and now, even 'backupd' is giving the database mapping error. I don't know if I'm having errors in the backup on Time Machine, that seems to complete regularly. But at this point I'm also alarmed for the integrity of my backups.

Paolo

I would kindly ask my fellow forum members if Spotlight, on their Mac, is showing the apps type as 'Package' or 'Application'. I'm still not convinced it is not the latter.

The way it is in my Mac, the few apps that are found appear in the Documents section, and I'm sure they should be in a separate Applications section.

I must add that I'm now working with High Sierra and the Security Updated 2020-005 and 006 reinstalled. So, my system (and its metadata references) should be quite clean. I've also erased the LaunchServices and Spotlight databases before reinstalling the system.

Paolo

Thank you for checking, BDAqua! Yes, I have 'Applications' checked in Spotlight's Preferences.

For the moment, I would be inclined to exclude a hardware problem with the internal drive (and SSD). First, Disk Utility, EtreCheckPro and Apple's own Diagnostic Tool are not reporting anything wrong.

Then, I did reformat the main partition (not the Recovery one) just a couple days ago. Would this be enough to let the SSD driver and system check if something is wrong with it?

Applications are shown as such in the Finder's Info window. Devon EasyFind also shows them as Applications (app). It's just in the Spotlight search results window that they appear as 'Packages'.

When rebuilding the LaunchServices database from the Terminal, something went fine and something went wrong. Some .plist items didn't register (successful were those relative to the system and local domains; unsuccessful those relative to the user and network domains, and I seem to remember another one).

Unfortunately, I can no longer find the logs referring to that event. I suspect, in any case, some problems with those files. To know what happened, I fear I have to rebuild the LaunchServices database again.

Paolo

An additional information: while rebuilding the LaunchServices database via the Terminal's lsregister task, a "-10811" error can populate the report. There is no need to worry, because this just reports the non-app files in the directories and packages. By looking at the log, 'app' files seem to register correctly.

Paolo

Missing link from the previous post:

https://eclecticlight.co/2019/08/02/spotlight-search-can-skip-files/

BDAqua, I suspect that the Finder's Find function is not relying on Spotlight, but on an alternative search system. Not sure, however. I could be supported in this by the fact that the menus to select the type of data are not available in the Spotlight search result window that can be opened in the Finder.

Paolo

BDAqua, I'm on High Sierra. Latest Security Update installed.

Paolo