mds-crash-state? What's wrong!?

I've got a 12" G4 Powerbook running OSX and recently while using the internet, the internet froze and closed itself. I can't get it to open anymore and every thing else is acting really slow and often locks up. I my HD, I found a file called mds-crash-state. I can delete it, but it come right back. It seems that maybe the computer runs a little better in the seconds that it stays deleted?

Does anybody know what this problem is and how it can be solved? Do I have a virus!? Thanks
-Tyler

I should point out that I don't actually know what the numbers in my OS are. It just made me pick one. I can't figure out how to tell!

Welcome to Mac-Forums, Tyler2000.

To know which OS version you Mac is running on and to find all sorts of info on the hardware and system as well, justgo to the blue Apple Logo in the menubar and select About this Mac...

It'll tell you all you want to know.

Tyler, did you figure it out?

Brown Study said:

Tyler, did you figure it out?

Click to expand...

It's a problem with Spotlight.

http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-162046.html

It's version 10.4.9 if it matters. No I haven't figured it out. I'm not incredibly computer technical and I can't interpret any of the information I've found. For example:
"# The Spotlight indexing process may crash, leaving the file mds-crash-state in the volume's .Spotlight-V100 directory. This file appears to prevent Spotlight from indexing the volume again — even if the volume is removed from Privacy — until the volume's .Spotlight-V100 directory has been removed via the command:

1. sudo rm -ri /path_to_volume/.Spotlight-V100

# where /path_to_volume is the path of the volume in question. [1]
# The volume can then be reindexed by any of the following methods:

1. Restarting your Mac.
2. Using Disk Utility to first unmount, then mount the volume.
3. Issuing the command: sudo mdutil -E /path_to_volume "

I don't know how to issue commands, mount/unmount volumes, and restarting my computer didn't do anything.

By the way, I can't even access the internet at all. I'm using another computer to attend the forum.

Thanks for the help thus far.

Browny is great with Terminal stuff. I'd tell you to get rid of some internet related preference files but I'm afraid you'd have to re-enter all your settings.

Let's see first if Browny can come up with a Terminal trick for you.

Tyler, I'd just as soon stay away from Terminal, if it's all the same with you. The computer needs to be running properly first, anyway.

Restart it while holding down the Apple key and the "s" key. White type will scroll up on a black background. When it stops flowing, type

fsck -fy

(include the space and the hyphen) where the cursor is at the bottom of the white type. Then hit return. This runs Disk Utility's disk-repair program, but without having to load the DVD.

When it's done, and if the message says the disk appears to be OK but it was repaired or modified, type fsck -fy and hit return again. Do this until the message says the disk is OK, but without including a message saying the disk was modified.

Then type

reboot

and hit return to restart the machine properly.

When the computer is up, go into the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder, and double-click Disk Utility. When it's running, click on the name of your hard drive at the top left, then on the Repair Permissions button at the bottom left.

Then let us know what happened.

after typing fsck -fy it gave me this:

** /dev/rdisk0s3
** Root file system
**Checking HFS Plus volume.
**Checking Extents Overflow file.
** Checking Catalog file.
disk0s3: I/O error.
disk0s3: I/O error.
Invalid key length
(4, 14357)
** Volume check failed.
localhost:/ root#

That doesn't seem to say everythings okay to me. Hope to hear from you soon.
-Tyler

Try running it again. If it can't be fixed, perhaps the best solution would be an archive and install of the system, whereby all your files are saved but the old system is tucked away in a folder and replaced with a new one.

You'd have to update it again.

Or you could purchase DiskWarrior. It might fix it. Kind of pricey, though.

Edit: This thread explains archive and install.

I rebooted it and tried it a few more times. Still no dice. Are there any risks involved? Is there any other little stuff I may have forgotten about that I should try first? I think my computer is still under warrenty. Thanks alot. You've been really helpful.

Edit: I removed a sentence after seeing your edit.

It's still under warranty? Gosh, take it back to get it looked at, man! This isn't normal Apple quality at all. I dunno where you live but if you have an Apple Store nearby, get an appointment and get a Genius to check it out.

I think any Genius at an Apple store would suggest the same thing. Archive and install is no big deal. The thing to do after that is to run maintenance regularly to prevent the small stuff from becoming big stuff.

MainMenu or Onyx would keep the system in good shape, plus an occasional fsck -fy every once in a while. In six years and two computers, I've never needed more.

This machine is nearly five years old, and I've never had a system failure, just small stuff fixed when running maintenance, usually AppleJack that's run much as fsck -fy is, from an Apple "S" startup.

I googles mds-crash-state and this came up in the hits:

mds-crash-state : This file only exists if mds, the main Spotlight process, crashes. This file’s presence in a volume’s .Spotlight-V100 directory:
- Prevents Spotlight from crashing repeatedly.
- Usually prevents Spotlight from updating the volume’s metadata store.
- May indicate corrupted files on the volume.

Click to expand...

Upon second thought, Browny suggests an Archive & Install: go for it. See where this takes the usability of your PowerBook. Let us know how it goes.

If it does not improve then I would take it in for a good check-up.

Tyler, I'm pretty sure it's just screwed up coding, maybe from a crash or two.

If an archive and install doesn't fix it, that would be evidence something else is wrong, and the Apple store would be less reluctant to argue against it.

After the new system is in place, don't forget to update it. You can go through Software Update again.

Oh man. You wouldn't believe this. I'm getting so sick of this. I went through all the steps of the Archive and Install, and while it was re-installing it had an error. So I try again, but now it won't give me ANY options in select a destination. It doesn't even show my HD. What's up!?

A possible reason for the initial problem was that initially it said I didn't have enough disk space to install, but then it changed it's mind when I selected the archive/install option.

I'm pulling my hair out!

It won't show the hard drive because it's moved the old system folder into the archived system folder, but there's not enough space to create the new one.

You'll have to go to an Apple store and ask if they could hook it up to another computer to trash the old system file.

The only consolation you can get out of this is knowing it wouldn't be under warranty, because the problem was a full disk.

See if they can burn some of your files to a DVD to clear out more space, and maybe trash some other stuff you know you don't need.

Christ. It gets worse. My warrenty ran out on the 8th of this very month. If I have to take it somewhere, It'll be at least another week. I go to school in a small town and I'm just home for the weekend. Do you know any major chains I could go to? What should I tell them when I get there? Thanks so much for all of your help. I just don't know how this could have happened!

I don't know of any that would know what they're doing. Best Buy and their ilk would probably break it. But I'm in Canada, so I don't know what the others are like first-hand. Circuit City sounds no better than Best Buy. Most of those places hate Macs.