Search results link to wrong files on external HD, keeps happening even after re-indexing
I had an old external I used with my 2010 MacBook and 2016 iMac without issue. I noticed with my new 2021 MacBook Pro M1, when I would search for files, clicking on the results would show the wrong icons and opening the file would open a completely different file.
The files I search are on the drive. I can manually navigate to them, open and close without a problem. However when I search for a file, finder appears to find it, but the icons are often wrong. And when you inspect, copy or open the file, it's actually a file in a totally different location, not the one it appears to be.
I tried reindexing, but the problem kept reappearing. It was an older drive so I got a new thin light WD portable drive thinking that would solve it. After a lot of time transferring the files... same problem.
I've run disk utility with no major problems on the new drive.
I've did System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy tab and adding (+) the drive to the list, which will turn off indexing. Then eject the drive and reconnect it, and remove it from the list. Leave it connected for a while so Spotlight can complete the indexing.
This works briefly at the time, but eventually, something reverts and I get the same problem. This is driving me nuts as I have 10+ years of file archives on that drive I need to be able to search.
Please help.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.2