Hard drive constantly being searched

No re-indexing instruction at the link you posted. I did find it here Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes

Re-indexed spotlight, no change.

Killed mdworker, no change. But I have done all this and more before. Kernel still reading 8.14 MB/sec and writing 200KB/sec.

Thank you Eric for that link, it looks pretty simple. I hope it works. I can't remember if I reformatted my Time Machine drive before of after the Mavericks update.

Personal I think think Home Land Security paid Apple to put code in the Maverick kernel to find terrorists, secrete documents and Illegal photos. We can all thank the Patriot Act for keeping us safe, Thank You Big Brother.

OK, from the logs it looks like Spotlight is the culprit. I am going to disable it by entering the following at the command line.

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

I will let you know if it works

In response to my last post; unloading Spotlight does stop the continual drive searching. Something still searches the drive for about 30 minutes after I first turn it on, and then there is only normal activity after that (A partial fix). I hope Apple fixes this problem in the next OS version. Searching for files is greatly increased with spotlight running, but it is slowing down my computer with its constant indexing. If I find out what the other culprit is I will leave another post.

Thank you Carolyn and Eric for your help.

Here is the EtreCheck dump:

EtreCheck version: 1.9.13 (49)

Report generated August 11, 2014 at 6:40:17 AM PDT

Hardware Information: ?

Mac mini (Late 2012) (Verified)

Mac mini - model: Macmini6,2

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

8 GB RAM

Video Information: ?

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: (null)

DELL 2408WFP 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz

System Software: ?

OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 0:35:1

Disk Information: ?

APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

disk0s2 (disk0s2) <not mounted>: 120.99 GB

Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 134.2 MB

APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk1 : (1 TB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

disk1s2 (disk1s2) <not mounted>: 860.52 GB

Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

BOOTCAMP (disk1s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP: 138.83 GB (85.42 GB free)

USB Information: ?

Western Digital My Book 1234 2 TB

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk5s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

My Book for Mac (disk5s2) /Volumes/My Book for Mac: 2 TB (1.12 TB free)

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub

HLDS Inc SuperMulti RW

Apple, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Generic Flash Card Reader

Logitech USB Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ?

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ?

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ?

[loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.9.1 - SDK 10.8) Support

[loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.0 - SDK 10.6) Support

[loaded] com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.9) Support

User Launch Agents: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

[running] com.amazon.music.plist Support

User Login Items: ?

Boom

iTunesHelper

Internet Plug-ins: ?

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Audio Plug-ins: ?

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

iTunes Plug-ins: ?

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

Flash Player Support

Logitech Control Center Support

Time Machine: ?

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Destinations:

My Book for Mac [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 2

Total number of backups: 59

Oldest backup: 2014-02-12 15:44:15 +0000

Last backup: 2014-08-11 13:36:13 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2 > (Disk size 0 B X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU: ?

3% WindowServer

2% coreaudiod

1% fontd

1% Boom

0% Mail

Top Processes by Memory: ?

98 MB Mail

74 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

57 MB Finder

49 MB WindowServer

49 MB Safari

Virtual Memory Information: ?

2.38 GB Free RAM

1.04 GB Active RAM

3.78 GB Inactive RAM

807 MB Wired RAM

227 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

2-fryAug 7, 2014 10:45 PM
in response to 2-fry | This helped me

OK, from the logs it looks like Spotlight is the culprit. I am going to disable it by entering the following at the command line.

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

I will let you know if it works

Ok, this is not the solution. Turns out this disables the Find function and I use that...

I had to do the following at the command line to undo it:

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

I uninstalled the Logitech Mouse software.

I will let you know.

To find if it is having problems, open Console and look at All Messages. Type "mdworker" or "mds" into the search field and look to see if there are any failures noted. They will usually have a file name associated with them. If there are messages, see if you can open and save the files that it is stumbling on.

OK here is what I see:

(Search for mdworker)

8/12/14 6:35:17.727 PM mdworker[351]: Error loading /Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GarageBandSpotlightImpo rter.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/GarageBandSpotlightImporter: dlopen(/Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GarageBandSpotli ghtImporter.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/GarageBandSpotlightImporter, 262): Library not loaded: @rpath/MAFiles.framework/Versions/A/MAFiles

Referenced from: /Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GarageBandSpotlightImpo rter.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/GarageBandSpotlightImporter

Reason: image not found

8/12/14 6:35:17.728 PM mdworker[351]: Cannot find function pointer MetadataImporterPluginFactory for factory 5CE2D94A-5110-4E3C-A213-5221A7C67B29 in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x7fdb6b508780 </Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GarageBandSpotlightImp orter.mdimporter> (bundle, not loaded)

8/12/14 6:35:17.729 PM mdworker[351]: (Error) Import: Could not create instance for plugIn 'file:///Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GarageBandSpotl ightImporter.mdimporter/'

8/12/14 6:35:17.729 PM mdworker[351]: (Error) Import: BAD IMPORTER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ file:///Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GarageBandSpotli ghtImporter.mdimporter/

(Search for mds)

8/10/14 1:30:13.809 PM com.apple.DataDetectorsDynamicData[299]: Could not launch query, mds might have an issue

8/10/14 2:55:12.577 PM Finder[209]: Metadata.framework [Error]: mdsCopyStoreInformation failed: (268435459) (ipc/send) invalid destination port

8/10/14 2:55:31.586 PM Finder[209]: Metadata.framework [Error]: mdsCopyStoreInformation failed: (268435459) (ipc/send) invalid destination port

8/10/14 2:55:52.121 PM Finder[209]: Metadata.framework [Error]: mdsCopyStoreInformation failed: (268435459) (ipc/send) invalid destination port

8/10/14 2:56:05.138 PM Finder[209]: Metadata.framework [Error]: mdsCopyStoreInformation failed: (268435459) (ipc/send) invalid destination port

8/10/14 11:34:45.832 PM Finder[209]: Metadata.framework [Error]: mdsCopyStoreInformation failed: (268435459) (ipc/send) invalid destination port

8/10/14 11:35:05.084 PM Finder[209]: Metadata.framework [Error]: mdsCopyStoreInformation failed: (268435459) (ipc/send) invalid destination port

8/11/14 6:18:20.726 AM com.apple.audio.DriverHelper[244]: The plug-in named AirPlay.driver requires extending the sandbox for the IOKit user-client class AMDSIVideoContext.

8/11/14 6:18:22.817 AM com.apple.DataDetectorsDynamicData[299]: Could not launch query, mds might have an issue

8/11/14 8:44:08.860 PM com.apple.audio.DriverHelper[211]: The plug-in named AirPlay.driver requires extending the sandbox for the IOKit user-client class AMDSIVideoContext.

8/11/14 8:44:12.333 PM com.apple.DataDetectorsDynamicData[297]: Could not launch query, mds might have an issue

8/11/14 9:00:20.417 PM Mail[345]: Could not launch query, mds might have an issue

8/12/14 5:45:26.053 PM com.apple.audio.DriverHelper[230]: The plug-in named AirPlay.driver requires extending the sandbox for the IOKit user-client class AMDSIVideoContext.

8/12/14 5:45:28.502 PM com.apple.DataDetectorsDynamicData[280]: Could not launch query, mds might have an issue

8/12/14 5:56:43.460 PM Mail[309]: Could not launch query, mds might have an issue

8/12/14 6:29:45.218 PM sudo[469]: vance : TTY=ttys000 ; PWD=/Users/vance ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist

8/12/14 6:29:45.502 PM mds[471]: (Normal) FMW: FMW 0 0

8/12/14 6:30:31.716 PM mds[79]: (Normal) FMW: FMW 0 0

8/12/14 6:30:31.858 PM mds[79]: (Warning) Server: No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputer"

8/12/14 6:30:32.083 PM mds[79]: (Warning) Server: No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputer"

8/12/14 6:30:33.192 PM mds[79]: (Normal) Volume: volume:0x7ff160014600 ********** Bootstrapped Creating a default store:0 SpotLoc:(null) SpotVerLoc:/Volumes/Mac SD/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1 occlude:0 /Volumes/Mac SD

8/12/14 6:30:35.653 PM mds_stores[136]: (Error) Permissions: Failed stat on perm journal with error 9

8/12/14 6:31:07.429 PM com.apple.audio.DriverHelper[218]: The plug-in named AirPlay.driver requires extending the sandbox for the IOKit user-client class AMDSIVideoContext.

8/12/14 6:31:21.119 PM mds_stores[136]: (Error) SecureStore: Access token 5 changed uid from -1 to 501

Here are some Error logs when I restarted mds....................

Aug 12 18:29:45 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds[471]: (Normal) FMW: FMW 0 0

Aug 12 18:30:31 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds[79]: (Normal) FMW: FMW 0 0

Aug 12 18:30:31 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds[79]: (Warning) Server: No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputer"

Aug 12 18:30:32 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds[79]: (Warning) Server: No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputer"

Aug 12 18:30:33 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds[79]: (Normal) Volume: volume:0x7ff160014600 ********** Bootstrapped Creating a default store:0 SpotLoc:(null) SpotVerLoc:/Volumes/Mac SD/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1 occlude:0 /Volumes/Mac SD

Aug 12 18:30:33 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds_stores[136]: (/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/68BB3FC1-DEB1-497D-827E-5C13BB0D5495)(Warning) IndexState in void updateMetaInfoForState(CIMetaInfo *, unsigned int, unsigned int):shadow live count mis-match expected:3 got 2

Aug 12 18:30:35 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds_stores[136]: (Error) Permissions: Failed stat on perm journal with error 9

Aug 12 18:31:07 Vances-Mac-mini.local com.apple.audio.DriverHelper[218]: The plug-in named AirPlay.driver requires extending the sandbox for the IOKit user-client class AMDSIVideoContext.

Aug 12 18:31:21 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds_stores[136]: (Error) SecureStore: Access token 5 changed uid from -1 to 501

Aug 12 18:39:33 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds_stores[136]: (/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T)(Warning) IndexStore in void setAttributes(si_set_attr_ctx *, Boolean):Unexpected transaction id 3. Expected 2. Attempting repair

Aug 12 18:39:33 Vances-Mac-mini.local mds_stores[136]: (/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T)(Warning) IndexStore in void setAttributes(si_set_attr_ctx *, Boolean):Transaction id is now 3

It has been 30 minutes now and the HD has not stopped for more then a second.

Well I removed GarageBand, booted in safe mode and repaired the disk permissions. The amount of data being written and read by the kernel has dropped to near zero, but the drive heads are still continually moving. This even happens in safe mode. I thinking the hard drive is failing or has a some kind of hardware error. I am going to have Apple replace it while I am on vacation. I want to thank everyone for their efforts.

Last question; Is there a link that walks you though the process of making an image of the hard disk to a USB drive so you can easily restore ones personal data and settings to a newly installed hard disk?