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WizOSX · Mar 3, 2005, 09:38 PM

When you do a search, why won't it find individual files in the system folder? For example, we all have a screensaver called "Flurry.saver." If you search for flurry, it won't come up. I find it distressing that if I want to look for a file on the hard drive that it won't search through everything. Are there any other parts of your hard drive that finder ignores?

ManOfSteal · Mar 3, 2005, 09:51 PM

Shows immediately for me.

Name contains "flurry"
Search both visible and invisible items always!

WizOSX · Mar 3, 2005, 10:10 PM

Originally posted by ManOfSteel

Name contains "flurry"
Search both visible and invisible items always!

I'm being particularly dense here I guess, but I don't see how to do that. If you choose "name contains," you can't choose "visible and invisible" under visibility.

alphasubzero949 · Mar 3, 2005, 10:14 PM

^^^ Works for me.

ManOfSteal · Mar 3, 2005, 11:00 PM

Originally posted by WizOSX:
I'm being particularly dense here I guess, but I don't see how to do that. If you choose "name contains," you can't choose "visible and invisible" under visibility.

Hit the "+" button add a field!

WizOSX · Mar 4, 2005, 10:37 AM

Thanks, MOS. I just did that but it still will not find the screensaver file "flurry" or any other file in the system folder. Paint me confused!

WizOSX · Mar 4, 2005, 10:50 AM

Related question--every time I do a search for anything, even things that are not on the HD, I always get one result--an entry in private>tmp>501 folder. What the heck is this folder?

Laurence · Mar 4, 2005, 12:21 PM

That could be the cache of previous searches or something. Every time you search it stores it for autocomplete or something?

Boondoggle · 02:47 PM

I'm not getting it either. I tried "flurry", "Flurry" and "Flurry.saver", with show visible and invisible on.

I've had this problem before.

I then tried "Random.saver" with the actual file selected in a finder window. didn't find that either.

There is something screwy with Find. Hope spotlight is better.

bd

edit: I just tried it in an admin account and got the same result.

broken.

WizOSX · Mar 4, 2005, 04:22 PM

alphasubzero949, MonOfSteel and boondoggle--

Are you all using 10.3.8?

Big Mac · Mar 4, 2005, 04:32 PM

I have assumed that Find does not search inside of /System. I can't find it either, running 10.3.7.

ManOfSteal · Mar 4, 2005, 04:41 PM

Originally posted by WizOSX:
alphasubzero949, MonOfSteel and boondoggle--

Are you all using 10.3.8?

MonOfSteel? Interesting.

ManOfSteal is running 10.3.8...

WizOSX · Mar 4, 2005, 04:46 PM

MonOfSteel--must be your Jamacian background, steel drums and all. Funny I never noticed the second "a"--just assumed it was Steel.

Boondoggle · Mar 4, 2005, 04:50 PM

Originally posted by WizOSX:
alphasubzero949, MonOfSteel and boondoggle--

Are you all using 10.3.8?

I am.

ManOfSteal · Mar 4, 2005, 04:52 PM

Originally posted by WizOSX:
MonOfSteel--must be your Jamacian background, steel drums and all. Funny I never noticed the second "a"--just assumed it was Steel.

What about the first "a"? ManOfSteal.

WizOSX · Mar 4, 2005, 05:03 PM

Originally posted by ManOfSteal
What about the first "a"? ManOfSteal.

That was an "honest" typo. However, I have quite a few students from the Caribbean and many say "mon" for "man"--so it must have stuck in my brain--a sort of Freudian slip--at least that's my excuse.

PeterS · Mar 4, 2005, 07:30 PM

Originally posted by WizOSX:
When you do a search, why won't it find individual files in the system folder? For example, we all have a screensaver called "Flurry.saver." If you search for flurry, it won't come up. I find it distressing that if I want to look for a file on the hard drive that it won't search through everything. Are there any other parts of your hard drive that finder ignores?

I don't know where else Find does not search but certainly by default it does not look in the /System folder. Presumably this is Apple's way of protecting folk from themselves so they won't poke around in that folder and may do some harm. Such warning of course would not apply to gurus who inhabit this forum! See Apple Support Article 25558
HTH

WizOSX · Mar 5, 2005, 12:58 PM

Now I'm even more confused. We have two people who found it, two who did not and one who says it can't be, due to Apple's rules! I wonder if there is something else that must be set in preferences, etc.

Boondoggle · Mar 5, 2005, 02:46 PM

yeah it is confusing. I don't mind if the System folder is not included in most searches, but at least Search "Everywhere" really should mean everywhere.

Maybe the users who did find it have enabled the root account or something.

bd

Randman · Mar 5, 2005, 02:51 PM

10.3.8 here and no flurry to be found.

Orion27 · Mar 5, 2005, 03:32 PM

10.3.8 here no flurry to be found either

Boondoggle · Mar 6, 2005, 11:59 AM

Per the kbase article referenced above you should not find it unless you've selected the System folder as a Specific Place.

If you don't have System Folder as a Specific Place and you're still finding it that would be odd.

bd

Fonzie · Mar 6, 2005, 12:54 PM

The above works for me, I could not find the Flurry.saver either by just searching normally

CharlesS · Mar 6, 2005, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by WizOSX:
Now I'm even more confused. We have two people who found it, two who did not and one who says it can't be, due to Apple's rules! I wonder if there is something else that must be set in preferences, etc.

Possible explanations:

1. When I tried this, I found a "Flurry.saver" which was in my /Library/Screen Savers folder. It appears to be the old Flurry screensaver by Calum Robinson which was available back in the 10.1 days before Mac OS X included a built in Flurry screen saver. Apparently I never got around to removing it after upgrading.

2. When I use the Find dialog box to search, it does indeed skip the /System folder, but if I specifically click on the System folder and then type my search into the Finder window's search field, it finds it.

edit: Boondoggle beat me to #2.

Boondoggle · Mar 6, 2005, 05:43 PM

I'm hoping that spotlight won't screen searches this way... since it indexes the drive and metadata maybe System folder searches won't create as much overhead.

bd

ApeInTheShell · Mar 6, 2005, 06:55 PM

It could also be because of permissions. I rarely use find because I prefer the column view. I pretty much know where everything is on the computer and if not my alternative is Terminal.

MrForgetable · Mar 6, 2005, 08:27 PM

i must specify system to find flurry.

if not then it will not find it.

Detrius · Mar 6, 2005, 10:35 PM

It doesn't show up for me. I'm running 10.3.8 Server.

Here's a theory... the people that it IS showing up for: do you have multiple copies of the OS installed on your various connected hard drives? Are you sure it isn't seeing those copies?

CharlesS · Mar 7, 2005, 03:08 AM

Originally posted by Boondoggle:
I'm hoping that spotlight won't screen searches this way... since it indexes the drive and metadata maybe System folder searches won't create as much overhead.

bd

I'd be pretty surprised if Spotlight spent the extra time to index the System folder...

Boondoggle · Mar 7, 2005, 04:32 AM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
I'd be pretty surprised if Spotlight spent the extra time to index the System folder...

Well, it is pretty much a one-time hit though as the bulk of the files will not change. In fact, a basic index could be pre-configured in an OS install, so there would be virtually no hit.

bd

theolein · Mar 7, 2005, 05:08 AM

The folder /private/tmp/501 is where QuickTime movies are cached when you play them in your browser. That's an old trick for those of us who don't have QTPro and still want to save the movies to the local hard drive. Just copy the file from there after having played it in the browser to the desktop and rename it with a .mov extension.

I don't have 10.3.8 (am upgrading today) but in 10.3.7 you have to add the System folder as a specific place in order for find to look there.

I actually never use find. I almost always use the terminal to search for stuff with either the locate command or the find command.

sudo locate Flurry.saver

and

sudo find / -name "Flurry.saver"

find the screensaver with no problem in /System/Library/Screen Savers/Flurry.saver

CharlesS · Mar 7, 2005, 04:45 PM

Originally posted by Boondoggle:
Well, it is pretty much a one-time hit though as the bulk of the files will not change. In fact, a basic index could be pre-configured in an OS install, so there would be virtually no hit.

bd

From what I've heard, people have already been complaining about excessively long initial index times.

jasong · Mar 7, 2005, 05:45 PM

I would be very surprised if the lack of searching/indexing in /System has anything to do with overhead. It seems much more likely it is safety mechanism. Anyone here who has a Windows machine must remember those great "virus" emails, "search for file X and delete it."

I agree it is weird that Everywhere doesn't actually search everywhere.

-- Jason

PeterS · Mar 7, 2005, 11:00 PM

Originally posted by theolein:
snip

I actually never use find. I almost always use the terminal to search for stuff with either the locate command or the find command.

sudo locate Flurry.saver

and

sudo find / -name "Flurry.saver"

find the screensaver with no problem in /System/Library/Screen Savers/Flurry.saver [/B]

Just out of interest sake, never having used terminal for searches before, I tried "sudo locate Flurry.saver" and terminal required my password before it would process the search. When it did so, the correct location of Flurry.saver appeared. I then tried the same search in terminal but without sudo, just "locate Flurry.saver" and terminal did not demand my password but processed the search and came up with same results as when sudo was included. Why would this be?

Chuckit · Mar 7, 2005, 11:09 PM

Originally posted by PeterS:
Just out of interest sake, never having used terminal for searches before, I tried "sudo locate Flurry.saver" and terminal required my password before it would process the search. When it did so, the correct location of Flurry.saver appeared. I then tried the same search in terminal but without sudo, just "locate Flurry.saver" and terminal did not demand my password but processed the search and came up with same results as when sudo was included. Why would this be?

Command-line utilities will always be able to find it because /System is world-readable. Finder's Find command can't find it just because Apple apparently made it that way.

theolein · Mar 8, 2005, 01:22 PM

Originally posted by PeterS:
Just out of interest sake, never having used terminal for searches before, I tried "sudo locate Flurry.saver" and terminal required my password before it would process the search. When it did so, the correct location of Flurry.saver appeared. I then tried the same search in terminal but without sudo, just "locate Flurry.saver" and terminal did not demand my password but processed the search and came up with same results as when sudo was included. Why would this be?

The sudo is not necessary for this, but I use it normally since it then finds all files including those that are not normally readable by the user.