The first half is just trashing the Spotlight index, which is the first thing I 
tried.  However, I haven't tried wiping the system caches by booting in safe 
mode, so I'll do that when I get back.  Though I'm dubious, because those 
caches should be system-wide, and this is a per-account-only problem.


> On Oct 26, 2018, at 12:43 PM, Carl Hoefs <[email protected]> 
> wrote:
> 
> You might try giving this a try:
> 
> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8545970
> 
> -Carl
> 
> 
> 
>> On Oct 26, 2018, at 12:30 PM, Macs R We <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> For a few months now, I've had a problem with Spotlight crashing almost 
>> immediately nearly every time I call it up (command-space). The crash report 
>> shows:
>> 
>> Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL)
>> Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000000000000
>> Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY
>> Termination Signal:    Illegal instruction: 4
>> Termination Reason:    Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0x4
>> Terminating Process:   exc handler [0]
>> Application Specific Information:
>> XPC API Misuse: Release of last reference on a suspended connection.
>> 
>> (I once had chops as a dump reader, but with no access to the source, I 
>> won't even try.)
>> 
>> Assuming corruption, I tried trashing the drive's Spotlight index and 
>> rebuilding it. Spotlight behaved for almost 24 hours, then was back to its 
>> old tricks.  Future repetitions of this tactic gave zero relief, even 
>> temporary.
>> 
>> About a month ago, I started getting kernel panics, and assumed the problem 
>> was hardware and escalating… so I brought the MBP into the Apple Store just 
>> under the warranty line (my logic board had been replaced this summer due to 
>> physical damage from a swollen battery). It failed a couple shop tests, so 
>> it went to Houston and came back with a few new parts and a totally clean 
>> bill of health. But apparently none of this was related to the Spotlight 
>> problem, which persevered.
>> 
>> I determined the problem existed only in my user account, so not hardware, 
>> not index corruption, and not OS damage. I figured, maybe a local preference 
>> file. Running DiskWarrior over the files located a few hinky prefs, none of 
>> which were obviously associated with Spotlight. I got rid of most of those 
>> (the Little Snitch deformity is well-known and apparently purposeful), but 
>> it didn't help.
>> 
>> My experience has been that if I can type enough of the search string and 
>> then hit return REALLY FAST, I can make it launch the app or file without 
>> crashing, or at least before crashing. This made me think: Spotlight no 
>> longer just finds things in the file system, it now "helpfully" looks at 
>> internet sources, dictionaries, and the like. What if it wasn't faulting on 
>> the file search, but some helper routine like a web suggestion facility? 
>> That might implicate something like a corrupted preference file that wasn't 
>> obviously related to Spotlight.
>> 
>> I tried invoking Spotlight with all my networks disconnected. It didn't help.
>> 
>> It was at that point I remembered that I had an old copy of Preferential 
>> Treatment, which apparently hasn't been updated in ages. I ran it, and it 
>> found exactly one hinky (zero-length) pref: 
>> com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64.plist. Feeling certain I had found the culprit, I 
>> removed it and rebooted.
>> 
>> Nope.
>> 
>> At this point, I'm out of ideas. Does anybody here have insight into 
>> Spotlight's peculiarities, or any suggestion as to where I might look to 
>> solve this issue?
>> 
>> -- 
>> Macs R We -- Personal Macintosh Service and Support
>>   in the Wickenburg and far Northwest Valley Areas.
>>                           http://macsrwe.com
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> MacOSX-talk mailing list
>> [email protected]
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> 

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