Spotlight Crashes Often - Despite Rebuilding Search Index

Question

growler62000 Author

Level 1

120 points

Spotlight Crashes Often - Despite Rebuilding Search Index

Lately, when I begin to type into the Spotlight Search field, It goes away/crashes. Sometimes the actual spotlight icon disappears from my Menu Bar for several seconds. It does this often when I hit the space bar. As I start to type my 2nd word. Other times, just in the middle of typing my 1st word.

I tried rebuilding the search index a few times. No help.

I looked at Console System log right after a crash & this is what it listed:

Sep 24 15:13:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Spotlight[7613]): Service exited due to signal: Illegal instruction: 4 sent by exc handler[0]

Sep 24 15:13:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Networking.9669C101-0DEC-4CFF-8FE2-9722B285D142[7616]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Sep 24 15:13:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.1D927728-7EF3-4521-8877-8F3C5187BA14[7633]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Sep 24 15:13:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.ReportCrash[7635]): Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash

Several minutes later, Spotlight crashed many times in a row as I kept trying to call up my “Apple Forum” folder.

This is what was listed:

Sep 24 15:17:28 iMac syslogd[40]: ASL Sender Statistics

Sep 24 15:18:06 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent): Unknown key for integer: _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit

Sep 24 15:18:06 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Development): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:06 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.32): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:06 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:06 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:08 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Spotlight[7634]): Service exited due to signal: Illegal instruction: 4 sent by exc handler[0]

Sep 24 15:18:08 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.ReportCrash[7640]): Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash

Sep 24 15:18:13 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Safari.History[7638]): Service did not exit 5 seconds after SIGTERM. Sending SIGKILL.

Sep 24 15:18:13 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent): Unknown key for integer: _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit

Sep 24 15:18:13 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Development): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:13 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.32): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:13 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:13 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:18 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Spotlight[7639]): Service exited due to signal: Illegal instruction: 4 sent by exc handler[0]

Sep 24 15:18:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent): Unknown key for integer: _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit

Sep 24 15:18:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Development): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.32): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:22 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:23 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Safari.History[7641]): Service did not exit 5 seconds after SIGTERM. Sending SIGKILL.

Sep 24 15:18:24 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Spotlight[7642]): Service exited due to signal: Illegal instruction: 4 sent by exc handler[0]

Sep 24 15:18:29 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent): Unknown key for integer: _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit

Sep 24 15:18:29 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Development): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:29 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.32): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:29 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:29 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:30 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Safari.History[7643]): Service did not exit 5 seconds after SIGTERM. Sending SIGKILL.

Sep 24 15:18:38 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Development): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:38 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.32): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:38 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:38 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:41 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Spotlight[7644]): Service exited due to signal: Illegal instruction: 4 sent by exc handler[0]

Sep 24 15:18:41 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Networking.2528DA4F-3A0D-412C-8537-324BFEEB583B[7651]): Service exited with abnormal code: 1

Sep 24 15:18:46 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Safari.History[7646]): Service did not exit 5 seconds after SIGTERM. Sending SIGKILL.

Sep 24 15:18:47 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent): Unknown key for integer: _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit

Sep 24 15:18:47 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Development): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:47 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.32): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:47 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:47 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64): Unknown key for Boolean: _HighBitsASLR

Sep 24 15:18:52 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Spotlight[7653]): Service exited due to signal: Illegal instruction: 4 sent by exc handler[0]

Sep 24 15:18:57 iMac com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.Safari.History[7654]): Service did not exit 5 seconds after SIGTERM. Sending SIGKILL.

Suggestions for a solution?

Thanks for any help,

Steve

IMAC (RETINA 5K, 27-INCH, LATE 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12.6), Seagate 5TB Expansion XHD for TM x2

Posted on Sep 24, 2018 3:42 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Carolyn Samit

Level 10

165,615 points

Sep 24, 2018 5:27 PM in response to growler62000

Hi,

A Safe Mode boot deletes system caches might t help ...

To start up in safe mode:

Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do.
Release the Shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault.

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.

Then try Spotlight.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 2

growler62000 Author

Level 1

120 points

Sep 25, 2018 3:56 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks for the suggestions.
B4 I got around to trying different account or safe mode or using Terminal commands, I tried the suggested work-a-round from this thread:

“Spotlight crashes after typing a few letters since Safari 12 update

Sierra 10.12.6”

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8546951

unchecking "Bookmarks & History" option in the Spotlight pane of System Preferences.

So far it WORKS!

It seems there is a bug with Safari 12 & macOS 10.12.6 Sierra.

(I know I need to upgrade to maxOS 10.14 Mohave)

Reply

Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Oct 2, 2018 7:01 PM in response to kg23

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem or a suggestion for change. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem/suggested change solved sooner.

Click here to send Feedback

Reply

Answer 4

growler62000 Author

Level 1

120 points

Sep 24, 2018 5:22 PM in response to growler62000

Per

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/spotlight-crashing-whenever-i-try-to-use-it -to-open-something.1847437/

I deleted plist

Macintosh HD/Users/Iconoclast/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spotlight.plist

No help!

Reply

Answer 5

Sep 26, 2018 2:35 PM in response to growler62000

Thanks very much, I have been trying to fix this for days (obvious now that it was since I upgraded Safari). This is the correct answer, thanks very much!

For any one who is interested, I tried re-checking the "Bookmarks & History" and the bug with Spotlight happens again. It's very predictable, if your Spotlight search has matches then it crashes at some point (for me almost always when I typed a " " (space) character.

Great find, thanks.

Reply

Answer 6

Zrubek

Level 1

4 points

Sep 26, 2018 9:55 PM in response to growler62000

I also had this error on my system running Sierra 10.12.6 and the only recent change was the update to Safari 12.

Looking at the crash logs (In Console - User reports) certainly calls out the same things reported here as follows:

Process:	Spotlight [370]
Path:	/System/Library/CoreServices/Spotlight.app/Contents/MacOS/Spotlight
Identifier:	com.apple.Spotlight
Version:	1.0 (1075.40)
Build Info:	SpotlightUI-1075040000000000~244
Code Type:	X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:	??? [1]
Responsible:	Spotlight [370]
User ID:	501

Date/Time:	2018-09-26 08:59:32.454 -0500
OS Version:	Mac OS X 10.12.6 (16G1510)
Report Version:	12
Anonymous UUID:	203C2CBC-8F7A-2B08-2B4D-E56DB6EF22CC

Time Awake Since Boot: 120 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread:

7 Dispatch queue: com.apple.root.default-qos

Exception Type:	EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL)
Exception Codes:	0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note:	EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Signal:	Illegal instruction: 4
Termination Reason:	Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0x4

Terminating Process: exc handler [0]

Application Specific Information:

XPC API Misuse: Release of last reference on a suspended connection.

Application Specific Signatures:

API Misuse

The important thing to note is what THREAD has crashed as seen below:

Thread 7 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.root.default-qos

0 libxpc.dylib 0x00007fffd9152504 _xpc_api_misuse + 75

1 libxpc.dylib 0x00007fffd9141b7f _xpc_connection_last_xref_cancel + 52

2 libxpc.dylib 0x00007fffd9141b22 -[OS_xpc_connection _xref_dispose] + 17

3 com.apple.SafariServices.framework 0x00007fffc94c685f SSGetFullySimplifiedStringForURL + 746

4 com.apple.QuickLookUIFramework 0x00007fffc9203940 -[QLPreviewSchemeHandler_http _calculatePreviewURL:previewData:previewProperties:previewType:] + 331

5 com.apple.QuickLookUIFramework 0x00007fffc917d535 _QLPreviewItemGeneratorCopyPreviewUsingSchemeHandlerForURL + 158

6 com.apple.QuickLookFramework 0x00007fffc9483568 _QLPreviewReplyCreatedWithURL + 861

7 com.apple.QuickLookFramework 0x00007fffc9489e0e _XPreviewReplyCreatedWithURL + 219

8 com.apple.QuickLookFramework 0x00007fffc948a27e QLPreviewReply_server + 80

9 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x00007fffd9014e0c mach_msg_server_once + 476

10 com.apple.QuickLookFramework 0x00007fffc9480d7f _QLPreviewWaitForPreviewTypeIfNecessary + 2631

11 com.apple.QuickLookFramework 0x00007fffc94801bc QLPreviewGetDisplayBundleID + 180

12 com.apple.QuickLookUIFramework 0x00007fffc9214a6f __65-[QLPreviewDocument startLoadingWithForcedDisplayBundleID:hints:]_block_invoke + 99

13 com.apple.QuickLookFramework 0x00007fffc94adfe4 QLTryCatchAndCrash(void () block_pointer) + 20

14 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fffd8ec1524 _dispatch_call_block_and_release + 12

15 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fffd8eb88fc _dispatch_client_callout + 8

16 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fffd8ec7196 _dispatch_queue_override_invoke + 743

17 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fffd8eba6b5 _dispatch_root_queue_drain + 476

18 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fffd8eba48c _dispatch_worker_thread3 + 99

19 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fffd91075a2 _pthread_wqthread + 1299

20 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fffd910707d start_wqthread + 13

What this more or less tells me is that the Quicklook previewer is crashing when attempting to give you a preview of any weblink (in my case any *.webloc file).

What I had to do to fully fix this after trying all the normal things including rebuilding the spotlight index, trying safe mode, trying a new user, running disk check, checking the actual contents of the *.webloc files for corruption or malformed links, was to reinstall Sierra 10.12.6 by shutting down my system and holding COMMAND +R to "internet recovery" the OS on my machine.

Once the OS was reinstalled, full functionality was restored and I can now use spotlight as normal and include all items in the results with no further issues.

Reply

Answer 7

growler62000 Author

Level 1

120 points

Oct 2, 2018 9:52 PM in response to Eric Root

I sent feedback, under Safari:

I said:

The Safari 12 update broke Spotlight Search!

For many users. Search crashes when typing.

Sierra & High Sierra per Apple Support Forums.

The work-a-round is to uncheck "Bookmarks & History" option in the Spotlight pane of System Preferences.

Reply

Answer 8

Ade Ward

Level 1

9 points

Oct 4, 2018 2:17 PM in response to growler62000

Holy schmoly - Spotlight crashing has been annoying me for at least a week. I found that if I typed super quickly, it sometimes didn't crash. It was getting very frustrating. Thank you for signposting this answer - I completely agree this solution works.

Reply