Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Spotlight Not Finding Apps

northy124

northy124

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 18, 2007
2,293
8
Hey guys,

Recently spotlight froze and I deleted the Pref files for it in hopes it would solve it (IDK why I didn't shut down). But now as they are gone I can no longer search for Apps via Spotlight and it is killing me having to go to the folder and search :(

Is there a way to make things right again?

Northy
 
Open Terminal and enter this:
Code: 
mdls -name kMDItemKind /Applications/iTunes.app
What does it output?
 
northy124 said:
Hey guys,

Recently spotlight froze and I deleted the Pref files for it in hopes it would solve it (IDK why I didn't shut down). But now as they are gone I can no longer search for Apps via Spotlight and it is killing me having to go to the folder and search :(

Is there a way to make things right again?

Northy
Click to expand...

Two days ago I began having problems with Spotlight as well. My iMac was having an issue waking from sleep... I would get a black screen with no box to enter my password. I decided to try to repair premissions. I tried to use Spotlight to find Disk Utility. It would not find it even though I could see it in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder. It found several other items I looked for but not Disk Utility. I googled and found instructions for rebuilding the Spotlight database. I followed those but after it rebuilt itself Spotlight still would not find Disk Utility. I called AppleCare and was told to do an Archive & Install with Snow Leopard. (AppleCare noted that Archive & Install is the default option with Snow Leopard so I didn't change anything onthe install options that came up, FYI.)

I did the Archive & Install and ran all Software Updates and all seems to be back to normal for me now. It's also worth noting that Safari was hanging a bit for me prior to all of this. I would get the spinning beachball for a few seconds often when changing tabs.

I hope this may of some help for you.
Regards,
m&c
 
Gregg2 said:
!!!!
It's practically brand new!

(Interesting typo there... a Freudian slip, perhaps?)
Ok, if no one gets that, I can explain. Later.
Click to expand...
No it wasn't a Freudian slip, it was a "Keyboard buttons aren't working properly and I should prove read more slip :p"
 
mac&cheesey said:
I called AppleCare and was told to do an Archive & Install with Snow Leopard. (AppleCare noted that Archive & Install is the default option with Snow Leopard so I didn't change anything onthe install options that came up, FYI.)
Click to expand...


Hi, I am having a similar issue right now. Are you sure about the Archive and Install thing being the default?

As far as I remember, Archive and Install in previous OS versions did a clean install and moved your old installation to another directory (untouched otherwise).

What exactly will happen if I just use the default installation of SL?
 
I solved this myself by Creating a new account (suggestion from someone else about something else lol) in SL and it worked :)
 
Most common fix for spotlight problems is, which I don't know whether you've tried, but I see you've already sussed it!

Code: 
sudo mdutil -E -i on /
 
funkahdafi said:
Hi, I am having a similar issue right now. Are you sure about the Archive and Install thing being the default?

As far as I remember, Archive and Install in previous OS versions did a clean install and moved your old installation to another directory (untouched otherwise).

What exactly will happen if I just use the default installation of SL?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am sure. I was nervous too but AppleCare assured me that the Archive & Install option was the default option with Snow Leopard (I have the SL retail disc, but not the one in the Box Set, not sure if it would be different). I did it and it worked. Although, my black screen with no log-in window problem has returned. Not sure what to do now.

Good luck,
m&c
 
mac&cheesey said:
Yeah, I am sure. I was nervous too but AppleCare assured me that the Archive & Install option was the default option with Snow Leopard (I have the SL retail disc, but not the one in the Box Set, not sure if it would be different). I did it and it worked. Although, my black screen with no log-in window problem has returned. Not sure what to do now.

Good luck,
m&c
Click to expand...

So... you installed and after the installation you had a new, clean install (without any apps or data) and a second folder that contained your old installation? That's what archive & install is supposed to do...
 
funkahdafi said:
So... you installed and after the installation you had a new, clean install (without any apps or data) and a second folder that contained your old installation? That's what archive & install is supposed to do...
Click to expand...

No, everything was the same as it was prior to the A&I. It seemed like it simply rewrote the OS but left everything where it was.

I was sceptical too. The guy on the phone at AppleCare assured me it would work prior to me starting. I gave it a go and it did.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back