howdytom Posted November 14, 2023 Share Posted November 14, 2023 (edited) Hi there, I have noticed a strange behaviour, which occurs frequently since Alfred version 5.1.2 or 5.1.3 on macOS Ventura 13.6.1. When I turn on my Mac Spotlight does not find any files and folders on my Data partition. Spotlight shows files on the System partition, only. When I reboot the Mac Spotlight and Alfred immediately is working again. I did not change any settings! Somehow Spotlight is not triggered for non-system partitions. I tried to re-add the partition to the Search Scope and I also did a full macOS Metadata reindex multiple times to no avail. Is this known macOS Ventura or Alfred issue? Edited November 14, 2023 by howdytom Link to comment
manusz Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 (edited) I had a similar issue with Spotlight. After a week of trial and error troubleshooting it turned out that the issue did not occur when I logged in on my Mac account with the password. It seems that the fingerprint log-in causes some hiccup. I still don't know the root cause of this, but not using the fingerprint sensor (nor Apple Watch if you have one) may be a workaround in your case too. Mind you, Alfred uses the Spotlight index, so if Alfred produces correct results the Spotlight index is OK. What remains is that the Spotlight search engine starts producing incomplete results. Edited November 15, 2023 by manusz howdytom 1 Link to comment
howdytom Posted November 15, 2023 Author Share Posted November 15, 2023 Thank you for your reply. Indeed, I am using a security key to sign in. I will do some more testing. Link to comment
manusz Posted November 16, 2023 Share Posted November 16, 2023 Good luck and keep us posted please. I am highly interested in a real solution for this issue. Link to comment
howdytom Posted November 21, 2023 Author Share Posted November 21, 2023 Temporarily I unplugged the security key however the Spotlight Index issue still occurs randomly. I do not think it is related to Apple Watch or fingerprint sensor to sign in. It looks like a Ventura Bug in 13.6.1. Link to comment
manusz Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 That is too bad..... It seems that you have been bitten by different bug than the one that got me. if I find a solution I will let you know. Link to comment
howdytom Posted November 21, 2023 Author Share Posted November 21, 2023 Thanks. So far I haven't found a way to reproduce the issue. It is always happening when I am busy. Than I have to browse through the Finder window, which is very annoying. Link to comment
manusz Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 Are you saying that, when Spotlight looses track, Alfred can not find what you are searching for? Link to comment
howdytom Posted November 21, 2023 Author Share Posted November 21, 2023 Just now, manusz said: Are you saying that, when Spotlight looses track, Alfred can not find what you are searching for? Exactly Link to comment
manusz Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 That is not what I am seeing here, so definitely a different bug. All I can suggest is to rebuild the Spotlight index. If you have not do so already, Alfred offers the tools to do that under the Preferences - Advanced. Link to comment
howdytom Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) Today, when I turned on my Mac Spotlight does not find any files and folders on my Data partition. When I reboot the Mac Spotlight and Alfred immediately is working again. What else can I do? I really appreciate any assistance. I followed along the Troubleshooting File Indexing Issues page. The Search Scope is set correctly I have performed a deeper reindex multiple times to no avail: Reindex macOS Metadata Index and Deleting the .Spotlight-V100 Folder Alfred diagnose still shows macOS metadata missing essential items. Spotlight randomly does not find any files on my Data partition . After rebooting a second time, all files show up just fine. Starting Diagnostics... File: 'Data' Path: '/Volumes' ----------------------------------------------------------- Check file cache database... ✅ File cache integrity is ok ----------------------------------------------------------- Check if file is readable... ✅ Alfred has permissions to read this file. Unix Permissions: 509 Underlying Type: NSFileTypeDirectory Extended Attributes: ( "purgeable-drecs-fixed" ) ----------------------------------------------------------- Check if volume '/' is indexed by macOS... ✅ Indexing is enabled on this drive ----------------------------------------------------------- Check direct file metadata... ⚠️ Direct metadata is missing, this file is likely not indexed by macOS Display Name: Other Names: Content Type: Last Used: ----------------------------------------------------------- Check mdls file metadata... ❌ macOS metadata missing essential items ----------------------------------------------------------- ❌ Troubleshooting failed Edited November 28, 2023 by howdytom spelling Link to comment
howdytom Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 Anyone? Today it happened again. Link to comment
Vero Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 @howdytom Could you please try dragging in an individual file from the volume in question? E.g. a document, PDF, image rather than the volume itself? This should provide some more insight. Have you contacted Apple for support with this as your issue is a Spotlight issue at its core? If you do, I would recommend focusing your issue specifically on finding results in Spotlight without mentioning Alfred or other third-party tools you're using, as this may sidetrack the discussion away from getting the help you need. Let us know how you get on howdytom 1 Link to comment
howdytom Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) @Vero Thank for your reply. I have attached a diagnostic report before and after restart. It looks like somehow Indexing is randomly disabled on first startup? Got it. so far I have not contacted Apple. Starting Diagnostics... File: 'IMG_2932.JPG' Path: '/Volumes/Data/Downloads' ----------------------------------------------------------- Check file cache database... ✅ File cache integrity is ok ----------------------------------------------------------- Check if file is readable... ✅ Alfred has permissions to read this file. Unix Permissions: 384 Underlying Type: NSFileTypeRegular Extended Attributes: ( "com.apple.lastuseddate#PS" ) ----------------------------------------------------------- Check if volume '/Volumes/Data/' is indexed by macOS... ⚠️ Indexing may not be enabled on this drive /System/Volumes/Data/Volumes/Data: Error: unknown indexing state. ----------------------------------------------------------- Check direct file metadata... ⚠️ Direct metadata is missing, this file is likely not indexed by macOS ----------------------------------------------------------- Check mdls file metadata... ❌ macOS metadata missing essential items /Volumes/Data/Downloads/IMG_2932.JPG: could not find /Volumes/Data/Downloads/IMG_2932.JPG. ----------------------------------------------------------- ❌ Troubleshooting failed **After rebooting a second time, all files show up just fine. ** Starting Diagnostics... File: 'IMG_2932.JPG' Path: '/Volumes/Data/Downloads' ----------------------------------------------------------- Check file cache database... ✅ File cache integrity is ok ----------------------------------------------------------- Check if file is readable... ✅ Alfred has permissions to read this file. Unix Permissions: 384 Underlying Type: NSFileTypeRegular Extended Attributes: ( "com.apple.lastuseddate#PS" ) ----------------------------------------------------------- Check if volume '/Volumes/Data/' is indexed by macOS... ✅ Indexing is enabled on this drive ----------------------------------------------------------- Check direct file metadata... ⚠️ Direct metadata is missing, this file is likely not indexed by macOS Display Name: Other Names: Content Type: Last Used: ----------------------------------------------------------- Check mdls file metadata... ❌ macOS metadata missing essential items kMDItemFSContentChangeDate = (null) kMDItemFSCreationDate = (null) kMDItemFSCreatorCode = "" kMDItemFSFinderFlags = (null) kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon = (null) kMDItemFSInvisible = 0 kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden = (null) kMDItemFSIsStationery = (null) kMDItemFSLabel = (null) kMDItemFSName = (null) kMDItemFSNodeCount = (null) kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID = (null) kMDItemFSOwnerUserID = (null) kMDItemFSSize = (null) kMDItemFSTypeCode = "" ----------------------------------------------------------- ❌ Troubleshooting failed Edited November 29, 2023 by howdytom Link to comment
howdytom Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 (edited) UPDATE. In the meantime I have upgraded to macOS Sonoma 14.4.1. Indeed, it looks like a bug caused by the YubiKey security key. When a YubiKey is plugged in and you enter the Smart Card passcode into the macOS login screen, macOS Spotlight stops working. Searching in the System Preferences does not work anymore. It is impossible to find any files, folders and Emails in Apple Mail. Apple Mail search remains empty. Rebuilding and deleting Spotlight Index does not resolve the issue. As a result, Spotlight is somehow completely disabled. It makes no difference which USB-C port the YubiKey is connected to the Mac. It’s always happening using macOS Sonoma 14.4.1. I didn’t want to believe it is related to the YubiKey, but actually it is. It looks like Touch ID and security keys as alternative Login option will break Spotlight?! I have also opened an Apple Bug Report. Workaround: 1. Unplug the YubiKey Security key before Login. 2. Log out of my user account or restart the Mac Studio. Make sure the YubiKey Security key is unplugged. 3. Login using my user account password 4. Spotlight is working again! Unplugging the YubiKey before login makes it useless I hope this helps anyone who is experiencing the same Spotlight issue. Edited April 5 by howdytom Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now