Q: Unable to search network drives with Lion...

Hi pepa_u, sorry... I did not intend to go into to much detail again, since this thread is going in circles around an issue that nobody can really explain.  I am sure there is some workaround but it is probably something that would open a backdoor to OS X and thus not discussed here in this forum...

Acutally, has anybody tried to install Samba from Macports or Fink, mount the SMB drives this way and try the search? What about searching NTFS drives (or other) mounted using NTFS-3G? Does it work or not? Why searching FAT disks works OK?

Apparently lion has broken compatibility with macfuse/ntfs-3g so I can't test the search thus. There are other commercial solutions for mounting ntfs drives but I am not prepared to spent money to debug this. I will at some point mount the network drive via samba from macports or fink and get back to you on the search.

I am conveinced too by now as you say that the problem cannot rest solely on smbx...

ps. on a sidenote apparently the email notification system of the support site is broken too in my case (I opted to stop being notified because I was frustrated enough with the problem to not have to argue with apologists here as well...) ...I have selected no to everything and I still get notified...

I've had this issue for ages. I think going back to 10.5 or later.

Currently Mac Pro 10.6.8 can only occasionally find files on XServe 10.6.8. (AFP) I seem to remember seeing the files disappear from the finder search while I initially had results after reindex.

Just came acorss this issue again. I was hoping it was resolved once all machines in the office were up to 10.6.8. Previously Xserve was 10.5.x and client machines 10.6.x.

Too bad. This is really sorry support from Apple on this one. Been using EasyFind for a couple of years, but it is not my prefered workflow and is slower than the Finder.

BUMMER.

EDIT: Just went back and did some testing. If I can find a document on the XServe from my Mac Pro using the Finder, after I open it on the Mac Pro and close it WITHOUT saving, and close the FInder window and re-open it, it can't be found by the Finder on the Mac Pro or the XServe.

Basically, some how the Mac Pro is saying do not show in index if this has been opened by Mac Pro.

Did the OP ever get a resolution from Apple? I couldn't find the reply in this forum.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/free-alternatives-os-spotlight-mac/

these are some spotlight alternative programs that works just as quickly.

Really good news for me!

Last week i switched from my windows-based home server to debian-based and now spotlight search works perfectly!!!

see..the problem is windows

Not really, as i read in previous posts, the search failed on NAS like Qnap or on drives shared via routers with usb hub (based on linux)

Thought I'd bump this thread as I've got an identical problem.

Just splashed out on a 3TB Time Capsule so our six iMacs can Time Machine it and use the remaining space for archive storage. Discovered this week that all six iMacs get zero results when searching the drive now they're on Lion. Indexing is on according to Terminal.

I can use mdimport in the Terminal and once it's finished I get the search results I expect, but this is only useful until a reboot when the index (stored locally I assume) is destroyed. I've tried Terminal's publish facility but this doesn't push the index to the TC.

Interestingly if I connect via AFP I get ten results only, regardless of the query (ten PDFs, ten JPGs, etc). Bearing in mind the TC holds thousands of PDFs, the same ten PDFs appear in the results. Connecting via SMB yields zero results. There is no .Spotlight-V100 folder in the root directory of the TC either.

You'd think Apple would make their own drive searchable, would you not? I bought it because on upgrading to Lion we couldn't search the two Buffalo LinkStations I'd installed. Turns out I've still got the same problem. Why would Apple flog a network drive that cannot be searched by their own machines? The plan was to archive on to the TC and mirror it on a Buffalo as a backup. If we can't search either, we have no retrieval facility.

Tried EasyFind which is great. Might have to be a permanent fixture it seems.

FileZilla can search FTP servers. Transmit can't, I contacted their support to confirm.

Apple really ***** the big one for not including a way to search FTP servers through Finder. Works without any issue using 10.5 and 10.6 — what gives Apple?

This is clearly a 10.7 issue!!! I can reproduce the issue on 4 10.7 macs, none of them search any of the mounted remote servers, some FTP some not. It's miserable…

I had to downgrade to 10.6

I love you man!. This app is rockin good! WOW, blows away the Finder. I am going back to Lion . Well I will test first, got two partitions on the mac right now, 10.6 and 10.7.

Thanks a million Evan, very very helpful!

Yo Mojo

Who cares about the competition. I connect to servers all day long both local and remote and I absolutely 100% need to search those servers in the event my manual navigation was misguided. So I need search and the Finder works as expected against all these servers in 10.6 and 10.5 but not 10.7!

I am the one mac head, I know a bit too much and feel personally hurt when other put down the mac and this is but one more nail in the mac's coffin as far as the IT department is concerned. Well, they are more open then most and let us use what we want but it's embarrasing.

Macs are not cheaper then PCsand when they can't perform something so seemingly simple to most other users, it's a joke.

I'm a long time mac user (since 87) and devoted to the platform but this is just disgusting. I've had to revert to 10.6 but I may have found a free solution — EasyFind, get it from the Mac AppStore.

Long live the mac

All this talk of Easyfind is crazy (with all due respect for the posters). It is not easy to use and is much, much slower than Spotlight. It is little better than a kludge workaround for something that should not even be an issue! I am just sickened by this action by Apple. I am the sole Mac user in a law practice and the fact that I can no longer find documents on our server generates nothing but surprise or disdain for my Mac preference. Apple needs to get this fixed, whatever it takes.

Has anyone contacted AppleCare Enterprise support? I'm out of warranty on my 10.6.8 XServe, but I've had this issue for a few years, prior to Lion (this server isn't on Lion yet).

I've used EasyFind as a slower but simple substitute since then. It is adequate and can't beat the cost but I mean searching a file server is a basic server function. THIS SHOULD WORK OUT OF THE BOX in OS X Server. Weak.

It seems the index gets deleted or becomes unsearchable.