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Mac Forum / General / General / October 2008Spotlight spotty?
Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the Spotlight box appears. But fairly often, nothing happens. If I go on working and try again a few minutes later, usually it's there. What turns Spotlight on and off, seamingly arbitrarily? > Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not > others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the > Spotlight box appears. But fairly often, nothing happens. If I go on > working and try again a few minutes later, usually it's there. What turns > Spotlight on and off, seamingly arbitrarily? The user mistakenly hitting option instead of command? Or just a flaky keyboard? Do other command-key combinations also occasionally miss? Spotlight is my primary file system interface; I use it more than I use Finder to open documents and launch apps since shortly after 10.4 shipped. I haven't once seen cmd-space not pop open the search field.  Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix >> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the >> Spotlight box appears. But fairly often, nothing happens. If I go on >> working and try again a few minutes later, usually it's there. What turns >> Spotlight on and off, seamingly arbitrarily? LOL! Look how I spelled "seamingly"!! > The user mistakenly hitting option instead of command? Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty sure I know the difference. And when it doesn't show, I look down at the keyboard to be sure I'm hitting the right keys. > Or just a flaky keyboard? Do other command-key combinations also occasionally miss? No other indications of keyboard problems. If I remember right, it has also happened with my original iMac thin keyboard. > Spotlight is my primary file system interface; I use it more than I use > Finder to open documents and launch apps since shortly after 10.4 > shipped. I haven't once seen cmd-space not pop open the search field. That's how I like to use it, to access apps not on the Dock, and for general searches. But it'd be much better if it were reliable. >>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > That's how I like to use it, to access apps not on the Dock, and for > general searches. But it'd be much better if it were reliable. Could you sometimes be a millisecond late on the command key? If it isn't down before the space bar, Spotlight won't pop up. If I had trouble, I'd try again immediately. If it failed again I'd try using the other command key. >>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > trouble, I'd try again immediately. If it failed again I'd try using > the other command key. Virtually impossible, the way I do it. I put my little finger on the Cmd key, then roll my wrist and press down on the Spacebar with my other fingers. The Cmd has to be first. > >>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not > >>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > key, then roll my wrist and press down on the Spacebar with my other > fingers. The Cmd has to be first. Your little finger? The weakest one? Is it possible that you're sometimes actually lifting off of the command key by the time the roll has proceeded far enough to press the space bar? Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix >>>>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>>>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > sometimes actually lifting off of the command key by the time the roll > has proceeded far enough to press the space bar? LOL! I'm a big guy! Even with my little finger I can press a computer key. Try it, it's not that hard! > >>>>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not > >>>>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > LOL! I'm a big guy! Even with my little finger I can press a computer key. > Try it, it's not that hard! So basically you're dismissing the suggestion out of hand? Hint: How big or strong you are has almost nothing to do with the possibility I suggested. Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix >>>>>>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>>>>>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > Hint: How big or strong you are has almost nothing to do with the > possibility I suggested. Hint: How little or much of a sense of humor has a lot to do with how you interpret my messages You're taking yourself way to seriously here, Greg. Please review my previous post. Note that it starts with "LOL!". This is computerese for "Laughing Out Loud", which was my way of telling you that I was joking with you about my size and the strength of my little finger. I try not to be subtle with you because you take yourself so seriously, but even that doesn't work. In the future, when you read/reply to my posts, try to remember that I DO have a sense of humor and even though you don't get it, your literal interpretations of my replies will usually get us nowhere. As for my dismissing your suggestion out of hand, I can't say. I am dismissing it. I've been pressing computer keys for over 40 years, and pressing key combos like Cmd-Space for as long as we've had them. So I thing by now I know how to do it. I may miss occasionally, but on the second try, I get it right. This is happening repeatedly, not just once or twice. And it is not my keying capabilities that are the problem. I think I've wasted enough of my time on this line of thought. If you still feel I don't know how to press the keys, feel free to believe what you will and even post your thoughts. That I can't control. What I can do is not waste more time in this ridiculous line of silliness. It seems you can't accept that an Apple computer could have such a flaw, especially if you're not experiencing it. I am, believe it or not. > >>>>>>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but > >>>>>>>> not [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > Hint: How little or much of a sense of humor has a lot to do with how you > interpret my messages Hint: Plain text doesn't convey non-overt humor well. > You're taking yourself way to seriously here, Greg. No, I'm just trying to help someone diagnose and correct a problem. > Please review my > previous post. Note that it starts with "LOL!". This is computerese for > "Laughing Out Loud", which was my way of telling you that I was joking with > you about my size and the strength of my little finger. Then you weren't doing it well, bluntly. I know what LOL stands for. Given the placement of it, it made the most sense to me that that was your reaction to what I said, not an indication of how your following comments were to be interpreted. > I try not to be subtle with you Then you're failing. > because you take yourself so seriously, Not sure where that came from. > but even that doesn't work. Because you're not doing it well. If you don't say what you mean, you can't reasonably criticize someone for not understanding what you wanted to convey. You didn't say what you meant. Your error. > In the future, when you read/reply to my posts, > try to remember that I DO have a sense of humor and even though you don't > get it, your literal interpretations of my replies will usually get us > nowhere. You should try to remember that any one person's sense of humor isn't universal. > As for my dismissing your suggestion out of hand, I can't say. I am > dismissing it. I've been pressing computer keys for over 40 years, and > pressing key combos like Cmd-Space for as long as we've had them. So I > thing by now I know how to do it. I may miss occasionally, but on the > second try, I get it right. This is happening repeatedly, not just once or > twice. And it is not my keying capabilities that are the problem. Of course not. Silly of me to suggest that a described action that seemed extremely likely to cause observed behavior might be a candidate for causing that behavior. I find it interesting that the technique that I consider a prime candidate for the problem you're seeing is one that you describe as "virtually impossible" to be the source of the problem. > I think I've wasted enough of my time on this line of thought. If you still > feel I don't know how to press the keys, feel free to believe what you will > and even post your thoughts. That I can't control. What I can do is not > waste more time in this ridiculous line of silliness. It seems you can't > accept that an Apple computer could have such a flaw, especially if you're > not experiencing it. I am, believe it or not. I believe that you're experiencing what you say you're experiencing. I never implied otherwise. I know quite well that Apple is capable of delivering software with bugs, design flaws and misfeatures. I never implied otherwise on that count either. (And you should see the list of bug reports I've submitted to Apple over the life of OS X. Four separate ones on floating windows vs. Leopard's 'Spaces' feature alone.) But I know what you're experiencing is not universal; not by a long shot. Therefore the likely - almost guaranteed - answer is that it's a local issue. And one obvious possibility, no matter how incapable of error the user thinks himself, is that the human/computer interaction is simply not happening as intended. You explicitly asked for help. I tried to offer some. If you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question. Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix >>>>>>>>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but >>>>>>>>>> not [quoted text clipped - 120 lines] > You explicitly asked for help. I tried to offer some. If you don't want > to hear the answer, don't ask the question. Thanks for validating everything I said. And I maintain my right to filter the suggested solutions to my problems. > > You explicitly asked for help. I tried to offer some. If you don't want > > to hear the answer, don't ask the question. > > Thanks for validating everything I said. By disagreeing with it in almost every particular? Any time. > And I maintain my right to filter the suggested solutions to my problems. Did anyone say you shouldn't? You're quite free to completely ignore good advice because it doesn't conform to your prejudices. Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix >>> You explicitly asked for help. I tried to offer some. If you don't want >>> to hear the answer, don't ask the question. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Did anyone say you shouldn't? You're quite free to completely ignore > good advice because it doesn't conform to your prejudices. Finally, you got it! > Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not > others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the > Spotlight box appears. But fairly often, nothing happens. If I go on > working and try again a few minutes later, usually it's there. What turns > Spotlight on and off, seamingly arbitrarily? I'm running OS X 10.5 and haven't experienced any difficulty with Spotlight launching on a Command-Space. SignatureJames Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft@me.com > Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not > others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the > Spotlight box appears. But fairly often, nothing happens. If I go on > working and try again a few minutes later, usually it's there. What turns > Spotlight on and off, seamingly arbitrarily? Launch Console to see if there are messages logged about SystemUIServer crashing. That's the process controlling the menu bar in the upper right. It's likely to be crashing and restarting if you haven't run Software Update since the OS was first installed. SignatureGoogle is a pro-spamming service. I will not see your reply if you use Google. >> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > right. It's likely to be crashing and restarting if you haven't run > Software Update since the OS was first installed. Don't find any such messages. And I did install 10.5.4 a month or so ago, so there has been an update. Very strange. >>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > ago, so there has been an update. > Very strange. Well, I used to press the keys in wrong order (or try to do it at the same time) now I always press cmd then space bar and works ok. Also, you can try if it happens with other apps of the sort (like quicksilver). You may even like it (I prefer quicksilver to spotlight) >>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Also, you can try if it happens with other apps of the sort (like > quicksilver). You may even like it (I prefer quicksilver to spotlight) I like Spotlight pretty well, when it works. Sometimes it finds things I didn't expect it to find, but that's ok. It's Finder that is in serious need of fixing. I'm getting to really dislike it. Does Quicksilver replace Finder? > I like Spotlight pretty well, when it works. Sometimes it finds things I > didn't expect it to find, but that's ok. It's Finder that is in serious > need of fixing. I'm getting to really dislike it. Does Quicksilver replace > Finder? Would you elaborate a bit on just what it is you don't like about Finder. SignatureJames Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft@me.com >> I like Spotlight pretty well, when it works. Sometimes it finds things I >> didn't expect it to find, but that's ok. It's Finder that is in serious >> need of fixing. I'm getting to really dislike it. Does Quicksilver replace >> Finder? > > Would you elaborate a bit on just what it is you don't like about Finder. I don't like that it automatically resets to find everything on my hardrive when I specifically selected a particular folder to search, and that it automatically resets to search file contents when I wanted to search only file names. Very, very bad design. A couple of nights ago, I needed to search a CD for a particular file. For some reason, it reset to searching the Mac HD twice, both times for content instead of filename. On my third try, I was able to convince it that I wanted to search the CD for a filename only. Very frustrating! And I'm not the only one who has this complaint about Finder, I've talked to others who've posted or responded to my posts about this issue. People here like to bash Windoze, and I'm certainly not a fan of it or MS, but I've never, in all the years I've used Windoze, found a design flaw like this, that wasn't fixed in the next release. This is a designed in "feature" and, apparently, can't get fixed until enough people complain, as I have done, directly to Apple. Who knows when it will get fixed? I haven't installed 10.5.5 yet, and I'm hoping it's been fixed there. But not holding my breath! [commenting on Finder] > I don't like that it automatically resets to find everything on my hardrive > when I specifically selected a particular folder to search, and that it > automatically resets to search file contents when I wanted to search only > file names. Very, very bad design. I'm not experiencing the above "automatic resets" when I use the search option (enabled by Command-F) in Finder. Am I misunderstanding the above? SignatureJames Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft@me.com > [commenting on Finder] > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I'm not experiencing the above "automatic resets" when I use the search > option (enabled by Command-F) in Finder. Am I misunderstanding the above? Tell me how ... whenever I do command-F, it is preset to "This Mac" and "Contents" >> [commenting on Finder] >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Tell me how ... whenever I do command-F, it is preset to "This Mac" and > "Contents" Oops, I somewhat misunderstood what you meant by "automatic resets". Indeed when I first do the Command-F I do get the "This Mac" and "Contents" option. However once I change things and don't close that particular Finder window whatever settings are most recently used will be remembered and can then be modified as appropriate. SignatureJames Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft@me.com >>> [commenting on Finder] >>> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > whatever settings are most recently used will be remembered and can then be > modified as appropriate. Yes, some genius at Apple has decided that you and I are too stupid to know where and what we want to search and has set Finder to automatically override our choice and force us to re-enter our criteria. For some reason, it did it to me twice the other night! In all my years of computing, I can't remember a dumber or more frustrating "feature", probably because this is something I do so often and have gotten used to it working. Who, at this point in the evolution of the GUI, came to this brilliant decision? Even MS isn't this dumb. If it wasn't dumb enough in the first place, they have refused to fix it in subsequent releases. Dumb and Dumber! On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 12:42:21 -0500, salgud wrote (in article <l9y9y13scmt$.e5dsyygxijfr.dlg@40tude.net>): [commenting on the default settings for a Finder search] > Yes, some genius at Apple has decided that you and I are too stupid to > know where and what we want to search and has set Finder to automatically [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > the first place, they have refused to fix it in subsequent releases. Dumb > and Dumber! Actually I don't have a problem with the defaults that Apple has chosen. If one would like something different they can set the criteria the way they want and then place that window in the dock for quick retrieval. SignatureJames Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft@me.com > >>> [commenting on Finder] > >>> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > Even MS isn't this dumb. If it wasn't dumb enough in the first place, they > have refused to fix it in subsequent releases. Dumb and Dumber! I usually use "find" or "grep" on the command line. The "Searching..." and Spotlight features haven't worked reliably ever in OS X. SignatureGoogle is a pro-spamming service. I will not see your reply if you use Google. >>>>> [commenting on Finder] >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > I usually use "find" or "grep" on the command line. The "Searching..." > and Spotlight features haven't worked reliably ever in OS X. I assume you're talking about doing searches from the Terminal? Didn't know you could do that, might give it a try. What is "grep"? > > I usually use "find" or "grep" on the command line. The "Searching..." > > and Spotlight features haven't worked reliably ever in OS X. > > I assume you're talking about doing searches from the Terminal? Didn't know > you could do that, might give it a try. What is "grep"? Pattern matching tool. Given file or console data as input, it'll emit lines that match a pattern you've specified. The syntax of grep patterns is somewhat large, so instead of trying to reproduce it here I'll suggest you type 'man grep' in a terminal window and look at the section that starts with "REGULAR EXPRESSIONS." Command options for 'find' are somewhat arcane. While Kevin apparently likes it (and I do, too, for that matter) I've known people to literally be angered by it on their first exposure. An alternative is the 'locate' command which seems to inspire less fury and also tends to be faster. Its primary shortcoming is that it works by querying a database which may be out of date depending on the last time the system maintenance scripts ran. The locate database (on Mac OS X at least) is, amusingly, built with find. Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix > > > I usually use "find" or "grep" on the command line. The "Searching..." > > > and Spotlight features haven't worked reliably ever in OS X. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > scripts ran. The locate database (on Mac OS X at least) is, amusingly, > built with find. Right. Find can be extremely powerful, and is easy to use once you know your way around the command-line switches. That said, I still to this day find myself visiting the find manual page often. SignatureSend responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts. JR > >>>>> [commenting on Finder] > >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > I usually use "find" or "grep" on the command line. The "Searching..." > > and Spotlight features haven't worked reliably ever in OS X. I'll have to disagree with Kevin there. I find Spotlight very useful. > I assume you're talking about doing searches from the Terminal? Didn't know > you could do that, might give it a try. What is "grep"? man grep BTW, you can also do Spotlight searches from the command line, and the results are (to me anyway) quite useful: man mdfind SignatureSend responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts. JR > >>>>> [commenting on Finder] > >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > I assume you're talking about doing searches from the Terminal? Didn't know > you could do that, might give it a try. What is "grep"? They're not easy tools to use unless computer tech is your job. The "find" command searches by file attributes, like name, owner, and modification date. The "grep" command searches file contents for patterns. Find a file in my home directory ending in "prefs" and having the word "iTunes" in it: find /Users/mcmurtri -name \*prefs -print0 | xargs -0 grep iTunes Very accurate, fairly efficient, but not for the casual user. I'm a Software Engineer so accuracy and efficiency is important. Spotlight has to be disabled for software development directories because the thousands of constantly changing files causes the indexers to drag the computer to a crawl. SignatureGoogle is a pro-spamming service. I will not see your reply if you use Google. In article <kevinmcm-451840.14015507102008@C-61-68-245-199.per.connect.net.au>, > The "grep" command searches file contents for > patterns. It can also search the output of any command-line tool. SignatureSend responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts. JR >>>>>>> [commenting on Finder] >>>>>>> [quoted text clipped - 58 lines] > thousands of constantly changing files causes the indexers to drag the > computer to a crawl. Does look a little complicated. I think I'll have to put up with Finders annoyances for now. > >> I like Spotlight pretty well, when it works. Sometimes it finds things I > >> didn't expect it to find, but that's ok. It's Finder that is in serious [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > installed 10.5.5 yet, and I'm hoping it's been fixed there. But not holding > my breath! I can't follow your description of what's happening well enough to determine whether it happens here and whether it's a feature, a bug or a local anomaly. But if you can't think of any bugs or misfeatures that have lasted more than one major release of Windows you don't use Windows enough. Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix >>>> I like Spotlight pretty well, when it works. Sometimes it finds things I >>>> didn't expect it to find, but that's ok. It's Finder that is in serious [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > have lasted more than one major release of Windows you don't use Windows > enough. Once again, Greg, read my post BEFORE you reply. I didn't say that no glitch has ever persisted in multiple versions of Windoze. Please reread and if you want to post a relevant reply, I'll be happy to read it. > >> People here like to bash Windoze, and I'm certainly not a fan of it or MS, > >> but I've never, in all the years I've used Windoze, found a design flaw [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Once again, Greg, read my post BEFORE you reply. I did. Did you? > I didn't say that no > glitch has ever persisted in multiple versions of Windoze. Perhaps you just phrased it terribly. What did you really mean when you wrote this... "I've never, in all the years I've used Windoze, found a design flaw like this, that wasn't fixed in the next release." > Please reread > and if you want to post a relevant reply, I'll be happy to read it. Apparently you won't. Not it if suggests that you might be in any way imperfect. Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix >>>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > need of fixing. I'm getting to really dislike it. Does Quicksilver replace > Finder? Well, it doesnt replace finder, it is like a spotlight on steroids, you can open docs, programs, etc and you can do stuff like copy, email, etc. Using only the keyboard. If you dont like finder I suggest you to give Forklift a try. You may like it. >>>>>> Does anyone know what causes Spotlight to function sometimes, but not >>>>>> others? I've noticed that I can do a Cmd - Space most of the time, and the [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > Well, it doesnt replace finder, it is like a spotlight on steroids, you > can open docs, programs, etc That's what I like about Spotlight. If only it were reliable. >and you can do stuff like copy, email, etc. Using only the keyboard. If you dont like finder I suggest you to > give Forklift a try. You may like it. I'll take a look at it. |
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