"Waiting for results from macOS..." when searching for files

[LudoMC]

I'm using Alfred 4.6.6 [1300] on macOS Monterey 12.3.1 (fresh Monterey install on new laptop, not upgraded from another OS).

 

When looking for files, with "open" or using space then filename, I almost always get the "Waiting for results from macOS..." message and never get any answer. The file is found by Spotlight, so I suppose it's not an indexing issue (it also passes the File Search Troubleshooting in Alfred help).

When restarting the laptop, it sometimes works for some time and then reverts to the same problem. I can't see when I switch from working to non-working, but as soon as I have this issue, there is no way back except from a reboot.

 

I'm looking for files on the laptop's SSD, not external files (as I also have external volumes indexing issue but that will be in another thread!).

Any help is appreciated, what I could check, test, etc. I of course re-indexed several times, even if, as said above, index looks OK.

 

Thanks!

Edited May 15, 2022 by LudoMC
typo

[vitor]

13 hours ago, LudoMC said:

as I also have external volumes indexing issue but that will be in another thread

 

The issues are probably related and have the same solution. Omitting relevant information makes it harder to figure out the cause.

 

13 hours ago, LudoMC said:

what I could check, test, etc.

 

Have you followed all the troubleshooting steps?

 

13 hours ago, LudoMC said:

fresh Monterey install on new laptop

 

But did you use the Migration Assistant?

 

13 hours ago, LudoMC said:

I of course re-indexed several times

 

How long have you waited between reindexes? Those should take a good while, so doing it multiple times before it’s done might just be delaying it.

[LudoMC]

19 minutes ago, vitor said:

 

The issues are probably related and have the same solution. Omitting relevant information makes it harder to figure out the cause.

 

I didn't want to mix potentially different issues into the same thread. I have this part explained here if you want to check but in the case of external drives, Spotlight doesn't find the files either, so I lent more towards a macOS issue than an Alfred one, while for the local drive, Spotlight seeing the files, and even the Alfred File Search troubleshooting giving me all green, it was for me a different problem. I may be wrong though.

 

19 minutes ago, vitor said:

 

Have you followed all the troubleshooting steps?

 

Yes I did. Carefully. And should have said so. Sorry.

 

19 minutes ago, vitor said:

 

But did you use the Migration Assistant?

 

No I didn't. Had all my files on a NAS, so didn't need to migrate my old account. Just created a fresh new user on the fresh new laptop, mounted my external drive and here we go.

 

19 minutes ago, vitor said:

How long have you waited between reindexes? Those should take a good while, so doing it multiple times before it’s done might just be delaying it.

Yes I know the process is quite long and I let it plenty of time to complete. I think I never try re-indexing less than a week before the previous one. I'm struggling with this issue for months (I'm patient, or desperate, your choice! 😁)

 

Before posting, I also found this thread that linked to the same troubleshooting page you linked above.

Thanks for your help and sorry for not having put more details in the first post.

Edited May 16, 2022 by LudoMC

[Vero]

@LudoMC Could you please provide your Diagnostics file, which you can get by typing "?diagnostics" into Alfred? You can then attach the file to an email to our info@ address.

 

I'm wondering whether you've got some paths in your search scope that may no longer be valid, and causing macOS to await results from those paths.

 

With the Diagnostics, I should be able to provide some more insight.

[LudoMC]

File sent!

 

Regarding the folders, I also tried emptying the list in the search scope, but it didn't help.

Also tried to reinstall Alfred of course, deleting every of its files everywhere in the system.

 

Help the diag file will help!

 

Thanks

[Vero]

@LudoMC Reinstalling Alfred won't help, as the issue is a macOS one, not an Alfred one.

 

I've had a look at your Diagnostics and could you remove the two volumes you've added (ludo and video)?

[LudoMC]

Looks like you're onto something.

Removing both of them seems to bring back a normal behaviour.

Adding the ludo one alone, works so-so (sometimes results, sometimes same issue), and even a little bit slower when working.

Adding the video one (alone or with the other volume) is always giving the issue.

 

I removed both anyway as the external volumes indexing is to working on my side, which in fact nicely transitions to my other issue. Is there a know problem with indexing external AFP volumes? I didn't have any issue on previous OS with same drives, mounted the same way. I initially didn't want to create a thread here as I thought is was more Mac than Alfred related, which is why I created this one (external link), but any help is welcomed as it really hampers my work (as said above, almost all my files are on my NAS, so on external volumes!)

 

Thanks again

[Vero]

@LudoMC Indexing an external drive is by nature difficult; The index for it is held on your Mac, so every time your Mac connects, it needs to rebuild the index or is working from a potentially outdated/invalid index.

 

Your best bet to get to it without indexing is to use File Navigation to browse the drive: Open Alfred and type "/Volumes/" to start navigating to the right folder. You could also create shortcuts or a List Filter to automatically open certain paths in Alfred or Finder, rather than searching for them.

 

If you're able to get an index to work in a stable way from Spotlight, you could create a File Filter workflow to search the external volumes. This ensures that Alfred's default results (your apps, local folders, workflow keywords, etc) aren't hampered by the slow external volumes, yet you can get to it quickly with your File Filter keyword.

[LudoMC]

I completely understand the complexity of this. What is puzzling me is that it worked flawlessly on my previous system, with the same external volumes. indexes where there, working fine, in Alfred and Spotlight.

I don't know if Monterey reworked the indexing feature but I clearly have a regression going from High Sierra to Monterey (yes big jump!).

I don't think this is an Alfred's issue but an OS one. I'll continue digging and try to have Spotlight work on my external drives. I'm sure Alfred will work too then! I've seen several posts all over the Internet regarding the same issue, so I'm hoping we'll see the end of this soon.

 

Thanks again for your help!