External SSD Keeps Losing its Index

Skip Kelly wrote:

As an example, let's say I have a folder named "Project" full of files named "audio.mp3" and variations of that like "audio_42.mp3". If I do a search of the folder for anything named "audio" I get zero results even though I'm looking right at the files.

I go into Settings>Siri & Spotlight>Spotlight Privacy, add then remove the "Project" folder and shortly thereafter my search is functional again.

The problem is only ocurring on my external SSD.

There are some unusual things there. First of all, the default search is a keyword search, not a file name search. You have to wait half a second and wait for the search options menu to appear before you can do a file name search. Can you confirm you are actually doing a file name search?

Next, the default search is a full search of the entire computer. You have to have a Finder window open on the folder you want to search. Then, you have to search the entire computer. There's no way to avoid this. The search starts immediately. You have to manually click on the Folder name in the search options toolbar. Can you confirm you are actually changing the search folder? And, if so, what happens if you don't change the search folder?

Does the problem occur with only one specific folder? Does the problem occur with only one specific kind of file? What happens if you create an "audio_42.txt" file in that folder? Is it immune to these problems? Do you have any apps anywhere on this external disk?

How is this external disk formatted? Do you have ownership enabled on the disk?

A common myth about Spotlight involves the indexing. People see a problem, rebuild the index, and then the problem returns. They assume there must be some problem with the index. But Spotlight actually doesn't work that way. The problem is not the index, but the indexing software. Much of the indexing software is actually 3rd party apps. So if there is some 3rd party app with an indexing problem, that will show up as a Spotlight problem. Any app on any visible hard drive will be used for indexing. If you have multiple apps that handle the same file format, it is undetermined which one will be used.

My speculation in your case is that you have some old 3rd party audio app on this external disk. Your audio index is fine. But when you connect the disk, that old app takes over indexing and promptly reindexes the disk, breaking the index. When you force rebuild the index, some Apple app takes over because the 3rd party app crashed during its index. This continues until the next time you insert the disk. Of course, this is just speculation. But my point is that it is 3rd party software that may be doing the indexing. Maybe review Console.app and look for crash reports from between the time the index was working and when it stopped working. You might find the culprit there. Simply rebuilding indexes forever isn't ever going to fix it.

Skip Kelly wrote:

I use it as my Dropbox folder and keep all my content there. Documents, pictures, music, etc. The root of the drive is literally just the Dropbox folder.

Ah, there it is. That's definitely the problem.

I'm not familiar with 3rd party sync tools. The last I heard, DropBox and the others had switched to Apple's new API. A side effect of this was that people could only have their sync folders in their home directories on the startup volume. People who were using external disks were very upset. But that's all I know.

Maybe see if you can configure DropBox to exclude any of those hidden files start start with a "." at the root of the drive. Hopefully that will prevent DropBox from corrupting them. But there's no guarantee that will fix it. If this is an old version of DropBox, then it might not be playing nicely using the modern file coordination routines that Spotlight expects to see.

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and reboot normally test.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

If the above doesn't help the following:  Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support (for Intel Macs) and Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support (for both types).  

Have you tried running Disk Utilities' First Aid on the drive?

Have you installed and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac?

Download and run Etrecheck. 

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to paste the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine the cause of the problem.

The only unneeded item I see is ACE Anti-Piracy. It's no needed with a Mac. Don't know if it's involved with your current issue but it won't hurt to remove it according to the developer's instructions,

Skip Kelly wrote:

Finder keeps losing the index to this drive. Sometimes it lasts for weeks, sometimes just for days, but I regularly have to rebuild the index just for this drive.

Can you clarify what you mean by "Losing the index"? What is the actual problem? Suppose you didn't rebuild the index. What problem would the drive then display? Please be specific.

If you can use your audio plugins without the Pace software you can recover some system resources, i.e. CPU and memory, which would otherwise be wasted.