User profile for user: Couchcowboy
Couchcowboy Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

mdworker crashes constantly; spotlight re-indexes

I have searched the internet and all communities trying to find a solution to my spotlight problem. I have posted in a couple of other forums and am re-posting here in a more organized fashion those posts plus additional information.

I recently moved my administrative user account over from an older mac via firewire/lightning connection, using the migration app. Since that time, my iMac, with the latest El Capitan update, has been continuously indexing. It takes hours (I transferred about 500Gb of files), then works OK for a brief period and then begins indexing again. I have moved my hard drive into the "privacy" portion of Spotlight prefs and back out, causing re-indexing. I have deleted the Spotlight index and had it re-index via Terminal, used disk utility to check my hard drive, used Onyx to rebuild permissions and re-index Spotlight. Spotlight takes a few hours to re-index, seems to work fine for a short time and then begins re-indexing and is not available for use once again. It has completely slowed my work to a crawl, since I use Spotlight continuously to retrieve and compare files and folders, as well as launch apps.

I noted on the crash logs that mds_stores is crashing and have had mdworker crash almost daily. SophosWebintelligence had also crashed on similar but not always the same days. I deleted Sophos anti-viral software, placed my hard drive into the "Privacy" section of Spotlight prefs to stop the continuous indexing, booted into safe mode, re-booted into my regular desktop, pulled my hard drive out of privacy settings, allowed Spotlight to AGAIN index my hard drive overnight and thought my problem was fixed. It lasted a day. It's now back to re-indexing and the crash logs show mds_stores crashed again, but now, while watching Console during indexing, mdworker is crashing mili-second by mili-second! Under user diagnostic reports, it lists mdworker_2016-06-(various times)_Dorks-iMac.crash over and over and under system diagnostic reports it lists mds_stores_2001-06-(various times)_Dorks-iMac.crash. I also noted this in the logs:

6/30/16 7:10:46.589 AM mdworker[9839]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.5 instead of 10.11.5. This is not a bug in Gestalt -- it is a documented limitation. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:


Not sure the above is the most relevant thing in the logs, but never had problems on my newer mac until I made the mistake of migrating my user account from my older mac. Not sure what NSProcessInfo is, but will research it.

If anyone has any suggestions, they would be very much appreciated. If any additional info would help, I'd be glad to get it. I didn't want to post too much useless stuff here and needlessly take up too much of your time. I apologize for the font changes, but couldn't figure out how to copy/paste while keeping same style.

Posted on Jun 30, 2016 8:46 AM

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20 replies
User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,739 points

Jun 30, 2016 3:56 PM in response to Couchcowboy

The first step is to get rid of "Sophos," which might be causing the problem and is certainly worse than useless.

Please remove the "Sophos" product by following the instructions on this page, and also this one, if applicable. If you have a different version, the procedure may be different.

Back up all data before making any changes. Never install any "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" software again.

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User profile for user: Couchcowboy
Couchcowboy Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Jun 30, 2016 4:23 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you so much for your note! I'm thrilled you took the time to post! You may not have noticed on my note that I had already deleted Sophos. I had already looked though your posts as well and tried a couple of your suggestions such as booting into safe mode. You had been referenced as well regarding your note to move Spotlight-V100 to the trash before booting into safe mode. I had moved my hard drive into Spotlight privacy setting to stop the indexing because I couldn't get an "open" dialogue in services. Here's my note to Eric's recommendation of your post:

"when I triple click on the spotlight-V100 line Linc listed and control click, it does not give me an "open" dialogue. Instead I have choices of "reveal in Finder", "show info in Finder", or "open in TextEdit". I tried reveal in Finder, and it opens Macintosh HD, which I assume probably has an invisible file that is spotlight-V100, but can't see it to trash it. When I show info in Finder, it brings up the .Spotlight-V100 info box and lists it's location as Macintosh HD, but command clicking on title box and scrolling down to Macintosh HD only opens the same Macintosh HD folder which doesn't show the spotlight file. The Spotlight-V100 info box has a red - (negative) on the icon and sharing & permissions state I have no access. It shows "system" has read & write privileges and "everyone" has No Access. I am in an administrative account and can unlock the info box to change privileges, but didn't want to do that until hearing back from someone with more experience, such as yourself."


However, I now note that I DO HAVE an open dialogue box in another administrative account (when I didn't have it in the problem account), which opens the Spotlight-V100 folder, but is not visible in it's enclosing folder, Macintosh hard drive. Should I change the permissions to be able to see the folder?


Again, thank you so much for taking the time to help!!!

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,739 points

Jun 30, 2016 6:21 PM in response to Couchcowboy

This is a diagnostic procedure. It makes no changes and therefore will not, in itself, solve the problem.

I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. That's what I suggest you use, even if your preferred browser is something else.

The instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

Step 1

Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

{ mdutil -as 2>&-; echo; mdimport -L 2>&1; echo; syslog -F \$Message -k Sender mdworker -o -k Message Rne Norm -k Sender mds -o -k Sender sandboxd -k Message Seq mdutil | tail -100 | sort | uniq | tail -50; } | pbcopy

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear.

The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.

The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.

If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

Step 2

Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Terminal. In the Console window, look under the heading DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION on the left for crash reports related to Spotlight. If you don't see that heading, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar. A Spotlight crash report has a name beginning in "mds," "mdworker," or "mdwrite," and ending in ".crash". Select the most recent such report, if any, from the System and User subcategories and post the entire contents—the text, please, not a screenshot. In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)

Please don’t post any other kind of diagnostic report, such as hang logs—they're very long and not helpful.

When you post the results, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

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User profile for user: Couchcowboy
Couchcowboy Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Jun 30, 2016 8:37 PM in response to Linc Davis

Mr. LInc,

Here is the post from the Terminal command:

/:

Indexing and searching disabled.


2016-06-30 22:22:44.717 mdimport[1585:654288] Paths: id(502) (

"/Library/Spotlight/iBooksAuthor.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/iWork.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Office.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Application.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Archives.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Audio.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Automator.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Bookmarks.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Chat.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/CoreMedia.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iCal.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Image.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto8.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/MIDI.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Notes.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/PDF.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/PS.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/QuartzComposer.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/RichText.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/SystemPrefs.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/vCard.mdimporter",

"/Applications/Corel Painter 12/Corel Painter 12.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Corel Painter.mdimporter",

"/Applications/Evernote.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/EvernoteSpotlightImporte r.mdimporter",

"/Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GBSpotlightImporter.md importer",

"/Applications/Pixelmator.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Pixelmator.mdimporter" ,

"/Applications/Tags.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/OpenMetaSpotlight.mdimporter ",

"/Applications/Tagit.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/OpenMetaSpotlight.mdimporte r"

)


Call location:

Stack: (0x7fff8cbcf4da 0x7fff8719873c 0x7fff8cc364bd 0x7fff85c6707b 0x10843c730 0x10843a38c 0x10843a969 0x108400af3 0x7fff80fc699d 0x7fff80fc691a 0x7fff80fc4351)

Stack: (0x7fff8cbcf4da 0x7fff8719873c 0x7fff8cc364bd 0x7fff85c6707b 0x10c8a0730 0x10c89e38c 0x10c89e969 0x10c864af3 0x7fff80fc699d 0x7fff80fc691a 0x7fff80fc4351)

Stack: (0x7fff8cbcf4da 0x7fff8719873c 0x7fff8cc364bd 0x7fff85c6707b 0x111e65730 0x111e6338c 0x111e63969 0x111e29af3 0x7fff80fc699d 0x7fff80fc691a 0x7fff80fc4351)

(Server.Warning:445) No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputer"

(Server.Warning:445) No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputerIndexed"

(Server.Warning:445) No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeNetwork"

(Worker.Fatal:102) Uncaught exception: 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: 'launch path not accessible'

0 CarbonCore 0x00007fff818d46df ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 113

1 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff87bed40b _dispatch_client_callout + 8

2 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff87bed303 dispatch_once_f + 67

3 CarbonCore 0x00007fff81860fbc _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 987

4 CarbonCore 0x00007fff818607d0 Gestalt + 139

5 EWSEmbedded 0x000000010c89e164 eWeb_IsSystemCompatible + 63

5 EWSEmbedded 0x0000000111e63164 eWeb_IsSystemCompatible + 63

6 EWSEmbedded 0x000000010c89e346 _Z13DoGenericCallP9Interface + 32

6 EWSEmbedded 0x0000000111e63346 _Z13DoGenericCallP9Interface + 32

WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.5 instead of 10.11.5. This is not a bug in Gestalt -- it is a documented limitation. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

mpeg2parser MPEG2PSInject: found offset is 46 1068628 108

mpeg2parser MPEG2PSInject: warn - didn't find offset right away offset 0 file offset 1068582

mpeg2parser MPEG2VideoEmitBuffer: MPEG2 dumping frame because it is too short 4


Here is the Pastebin URL from the Console crash report:

http://pastebin.com/5vv0LQmW


Can't thank you enough for your time!

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,739 points

Jul 2, 2016 4:55 AM in response to Couchcowboy

Please remove "Flip4Mac."

Any third-party software that doesn't install from the App Store or by drag-and-drop into the Applications folder, and uninstall by drag-and-drop to the Trash, is a system modification.

Whenever you remove system modifications, they must be removed completely, and the only way to do that is to use the uninstallation tool, if any, provided by the developers, or to follow their instructions. If the software has been incompletely removed, you may have to re-download or even reinstall it in order to finish the job.

I never install system modifications myself, and except as stated in this comment, I don't know how to uninstall them. You'll have to do your own research to find that information.

Here are some general guidelines to get you started. Suppose you want to remove something called “BrickMyMac” (a hypothetical example.) First, consult the product's Help menu, if there is one, for instructions. Finding none there, look on the developer's website, say www.brickmymac.com. (That may not be the actual name of the site; if necessary, search the Web for the product name.) If you don’t find anything on the website or in your search, contact the developer. While you're waiting for a response, download BrickMyMac.dmg and open it. There may be an application in there such as “Uninstall BrickMyMac.” If not, open “BrickMyMac.pkg” and look for an Uninstall button. The uninstaller might also be accessed by clicking the Customize button, if there is one.

Back up all data before making any changes.

You will generally have to restart the computer in order to complete an uninstallation. Until you do that, there may be no effect, or unpredictable effects.

If you can’t remove software in any other way, you’ll have to erase and install OS X. Never install any third-party software unless you're sure you know how to uninstall it; otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.

Trying to remove complex system modifications by hunting for files by name often will not work and may make the problem worse. The same goes for "utilities" such as "AppCleaner" and the like that purport to remove software.

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User profile for user: Couchcowboy
Couchcowboy Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Jul 2, 2016 5:08 AM in response to Linc Davis

I uninstalled Flip4Mac using the included uninstaller, restarted the computer, and moved my hard drive out of Privacy setting in Spotlight prefs. After allowing Spotlight a few hours to re-index, it seemed to work fine until this morning, when once again, it starts to re-index. Multiple messages began to appear in Console ever second that all involved mdworker in some fashion or another, commonly saying "deny". Interestingly, it never showed another "crash" log, with the last one remaining the one visible day before yesterday.

I guess I have no choice but to go nuclear. Since I had no problems until I migrated the one user account from the old computer, do you think it would work to simply delete this account, re-create a new account and then move data only (pictures, movies, PDF's, text files) back to this newly recreated account after first being sure Spotlight would behave?

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User profile for user: Couchcowboy
Couchcowboy Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Jul 2, 2016 2:43 PM in response to Eric Root

Doesn't Spotlight index all accounts when indexing? I have used another administrative account and Spotlight was indexing there as well. Does that mean that account is compromised as well, or is the indexing because of the problem triggered in the known problem account?


I did boot into Safe mode to clear the pipes a little, but not sure how I could check Spotlight indexing in Safe mode? Would Spotlight index in safe mode? While in Safe mode, would I pull my hard drive out of Privacy setting to begin re-indexing and then leave it for a few hours, then try to add/subtract some files to see if Spotlight crashes and starts re-indexing all over? Spotlight re-indexing over and over is really the only problem I've had, so it's a hard thing to check, since it takes hours to re-index my near 600Gb of data, if you know what I mean.


Again, I appreciate your macfu more than you can know!

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User profile for user: Couchcowboy
Couchcowboy Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Jul 3, 2016 5:35 AM in response to Linc Davis

Here is the result:


/:

Indexing and searching disabled.



2016-07-03 07:32:04.064 mdimport[1943:493048] Paths: id(502) (

"/Library/Spotlight/iBooksAuthor.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/iWork.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Office.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Application.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Archives.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Audio.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Automator.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Bookmarks.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Chat.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/CoreMedia.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iCal.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Image.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto8.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/MIDI.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Notes.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/PDF.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/PS.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/QuartzComposer.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/RichText.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/SystemPrefs.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/vCard.mdimporter",

"/Applications/Corel Painter 12/Corel Painter 12.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Corel Painter.mdimporter",

"/Applications/Evernote.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/EvernoteSpotlightImporte r.mdimporter",

"/Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GBSpotlightImporter.md importer",

"/Applications/Pixelmator.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Pixelmator.mdimporter" ,

"/Applications/Tags.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/OpenMetaSpotlight.mdimporter ",

"/Applications/Tagit.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/OpenMetaSpotlight.mdimporte r"

)



(Import.Normal:1294) Using too many resources after 1024 files (wired: 0 resident: 561239 swapped: 0 regions: 1303), hit usage threshold importing redactedt@pop.redacted.net/INBOX.mbox/823178EB-96A0-45F3-8671-3F849C6E1900/Data/1/1/Attac hments/11450/2/Jan%202015%20CIO%20Monthly%20Letter.pdf, exiting to clean up now.

(Import.Normal:1294) Using too many resources after 64 files (wired: 0 resident: 568189 swapped: 0 regions: 1083), hit usage threshold importing /Applications/Adobe Illustrator CS6/Scripting.localized/Sample Scripts.localized/AppleScript.localized/Contact Sheet Demo.localized/Contact Sheets.app, exiting to clean up now.

(Import.Normal:1294) Using too many resources after 64 files (wired: 0 resident: 574519 swapped: 0 regions: 1290), hit usage threshold importing /Users/bill 1/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDo cuments/com.apple.console.sfl, exiting to clean up now.

(Import.Normal:1294) Using too many resources after 896 files (wired: 0 resident: 570896 swapped: 0 regions: 1174), hit usage threshold importing /Applications/Firefox.app, exiting to clean up now.

(Import.Normal:1294) Using too many resources after 960 files (wired: 0 resident: 575278 swapped: 0 regions: 1419), hit usage threshold importing /Applications/iClock.app, exiting to clean up now.

(Server.Warning:445) No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputerIndexed"

Failed to retrieve system accounts, setting setAccountsUnavailableFromSpotlightImporter: Error Domain=com.apple.accounts Code=10002 "(null)"

SecStaticCode: verification failed (trust result 5, error -2147409622)

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect() failed path:/var/run/mDNSResponder Socket:11 Err:-1 Errno:1 Operation not permitted

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect() failed path:/var/run/mDNSResponder Socket:12 Err:-1 Errno:1 Operation not permitted

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect() failed path:/var/run/mDNSResponder Socket:14 Err:-1 Errno:1 Operation not permitted

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect() failed path:/var/run/mDNSResponder Socket:15 Err:-1 Errno:1 Operation not permitted

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect() failed path:/var/run/mDNSResponder Socket:17 Err:-1 Errno:1 Operation not permitted

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect() failed path:/var/run/mDNSResponder Socket:18 Err:-1 Errno:1 Operation not permitted

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect()-> No of tries: 1

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect()-> No of tries: 2

dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect()-> No of tries: 3

mdworker(1810) deny mach-lookup com.apple.bird.token (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 12084321)

mdworker(1811) deny mach-lookup com.apple.bird.token (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 10956672)

mdworker(1812) deny file-read-data /Applications/App Store.app (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1428358)

mdworker(1812) deny file-read-data /Users/dennisluter/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1428358)

mdworker(1812) deny file-read-data /Users/dennisluter/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices/com.apple.launc hservices.secure.plist (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1428358)

mdworker(1812) deny file-read-data /private/var/folders/kp/hpws012n7mb5mfxtb856bxk40000gn/0/com.apple.LaunchServic es-134501.csstore (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1428358)

mdworker(1812) deny mach-lookup com.apple.bird.token (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 12168278)

mdworker(1813) deny mach-lookup com.apple.bird.token (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.emlx plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 10781990)

setting error: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4099 "The connection to service named com.apple.bird.token was invalidated." UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=The connection to service named com.apple.bird.token was invalidated.}

tcp_connection_host_start 17 DNSServiceCreateConnection failed: -65563

tcp_connection_host_start 18 DNSServiceCreateConnection failed: -65563

tcp_connection_host_start 19 DNSServiceCreateConnection failed: -65563

tcp_connection_host_start 20 DNSServiceCreateConnection failed: -65563

tcp_connection_host_start 21 DNSServiceCreateConnection failed: -65563

tcp_connection_host_start 22 DNSServiceCreateConnection failed: -65563

tcp_connection_host_start 23 DNSServiceCreateConnection failed: -65563

tcp_connection_register_with_helper 23 net_helper_connection_start failed

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,739 points

Jul 3, 2016 6:57 AM in response to Couchcowboy

The Spotlight index may be corrupt.

Please back up all data before proceeding.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

/.Spotlight-V100

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Open

from the contextual menu. A folder should open with a subfolder named ".Spotlight-V100" selected. Move the subfolder to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Restart the computer. If you try to search now from the magnifying-glass icon in the top right corner of the display, there should be an indication that indexing is in progress.

You can't see the folder in the Trash because it's invisible. The next time you empty the Trash, it should be deleted.

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User profile for user: Couchcowboy
Couchcowboy Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Jul 3, 2016 7:10 AM in response to Linc Davis

I've tried this multiple times, but my Services lists "reveal in Finder" or "show info". Reveal in Finder opens Macintosh hard drive, but no Spotlight-V100 file is visible, regardless of whether I look in icon, column or any other view. Show info opens the info dialogue for the Spotlight-V100 file, but command clicking on the title and going up to the Macintosh hard drive it is stored in again shows nothing. I note in the permissions portion of the info dialogue, I am not listed and only "system" is listing as having read/write privileges; everyone is listed as No access. Interestingly, in another administrative account that is not the problem account, I do have the "open" (as opposed to the Reveal in Finder and Show info) dialogue under Services, but get the same result. Additionally, the .Spotlight-V100 folder in the Get Info dialogue box has a red - (negative) sign on the bottom right of the folder, indicating no access.

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mdworker crashes constantly; spotlight re-indexes

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