Spotlight not working in 10.5.7

Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I just upgraded from 10.4.x to 10.5.7 and now when I use spotlight to search for a file(s) I don't get any results. THe search is completes immediately. From research I have done it sounds like the index is missing. I found suggestions about going into System preferences selecting spotlight then click on the privacy tab then add the hard drive icon from the desktop wait a bit and then remove the hard drive from the privacy tab and that should have the index rebuilt.

I tried it and it did not work, any suggestions?

Thanks.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Have you recently used a utility which can shut down Spotlight indexing? OnyX for example has an option to turn it off. However, even turning it off will slow things down not cause Spotlight to stop completely.

Regards.
 
OP
R
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Have you recently used a utility which can shut down Spotlight indexing? OnyX for example has an option to turn it off. However, even turning it off will slow things down not cause Spotlight to stop completely.

Regards.

To the best of my knowledge I have not used any application that would shut down Spotlight indexing.
----------------------------------
I also tried a terminal line command to try and to index my laptop with the following line command, it failed, below is the syntax and message I got

Last login: Wed Aug 5 05:53:31 on ttys000
my-name-computer:~ myname$ sudo mdutil -E /
Password:
/:
No index.
my-name-computer:~ myname$
----------------------------------

I certainly don't know line command mac instructions, it was something I found in my research in trying to fix the problem. I'm guessing the "-E/" is referring to the drive is that correct? Maybe that could be the problem???

Any suggestions with either the line command or perhaps an alternative way to do indexing?

Thanks
 
OP
R
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
You can rebuild the spotlight database using an app like MainMenu

MainMenu | Keep your Mac in shape

Thanks for the suggestion. I selected rebuild spotlight index from the system menu. Initially it gave me some message about "growl" needing something I gave it the okay. Less then a minute it said the index was rebuilt. I then open a folder in finder, I see a file called tracking.xls, in the spotlight box in the top right I type "track" there is no churning just instantly it gives no results.

After trying main menu I went to the terminal utility I typed in
"sudo mdutil -E /" - the response was the same as I indicated earlier "no index"

Thoughts?
 
OP
R
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanks for the suggestion. I selected rebuild spotlight index from the system menu. Initially it gave me some message about "growl" needing something I gave it the okay. Less then a minute it said the index was rebuilt. I then open a folder in finder, I see a file called tracking.xls, in the spotlight box in the top right I type "track" there is no churning just instantly it gives no results.

After trying main menu I went to the terminal utility I typed in
"sudo mdutil -E /" - the response was the same as I indicated earlier "no index"

Thoughts?

I also tried OnyX to try and rebuild the index for spotlight but it did not seem to work.

Any suggestions on what else to try? If I were to bring the laptop into a Mac store would someone look at it there?
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top