Bosmankb

Q: Error says  Spotlight server is disabled.

I suspect this will work on lion too. I upgraded to mountain lion to hopefully fix the spotlight but that didnt do it.
Error says

Spotlight server is disabled.

 

I have tried every line command to re-enable my Spotlight because it didnt work. Nothing worked until i found this link.

 

The fix is here

http://osxdaily.com/2011/12/10/disable-or-enable-spotlight-in-mac-os-x-lion/

 

The command that is mentioned as a fix is this

 

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist

 

After doing this that stupid message "Spotlight server is disabled" went aaway and spotlight started indexing again. Thank God! This took a long time to find the correct solution.

Thought I'd share.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 5:38 PM

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Q: Error says  Spotlight server is disabled.

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  • by Phil_O_,

    Phil_O_ Phil_O_ Nov 26, 2013 2:04 PM in response to Bosmankb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 26, 2013 2:04 PM in response to Bosmankb

    Thanks for posting.  I've not had this happen to me before but the fixes mentioned elsewhere failed to work.

     

    Adding the drive to the Privacy tab in Spotlight preferences failed as it said an unknown error had occured.  It had also mentioned that I didn't have the correct permissions. 

     

    sudo mdutil -i on   also failed and just kept saying it was disabled.

     

    but the fix above has now sorted it and spotlight is back indexing -  Cheers 

  • by acecombs,

    acecombs acecombs Jan 4, 2015 3:05 AM in response to Bosmankb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 4, 2015 3:05 AM in response to Bosmankb

    I have been looking for this answer for a long time. I reinstalled Mavericks, I tried all the suggestions here and in other forums from terminal commands to disk repair to resetting permissions--nothing worked. This did. Thank you--I wish I'd found this answer sooner.

  • by Wolle_in_texas,

    Wolle_in_texas Wolle_in_texas Nov 28, 2015 6:29 PM in response to acecombs
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2015 6:29 PM in response to acecombs

    Also many thanks from me .

    I run El Capitan and Spotlight did quit running . Never had this problem before

     

    This tip fixed it , Thanks a lot!

  • by Brian Lapan,

    Brian Lapan Brian Lapan Jan 14, 2016 8:44 PM in response to Bosmankb
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 14, 2016 8:44 PM in response to Bosmankb

    Hey all, this same issue have been driving me crazy for months. I've looked everywhere and all through many different support threads. THIS finally worked for me! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

     

    El Capitan, btw.

  • by imacination,

    imacination imacination Jul 15, 2016 5:35 PM in response to Bosmankb
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 15, 2016 5:35 PM in response to Bosmankb

    Another El Capitan user happy with your solution. Worked like a charm. Thanks!