Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
Moderator: James Steele
-
- Posts: 3110
- Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: San Francisco
- Contact:
Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
Is there any way to get Spotlight to show results from unmounted drives? Instead of archiving to DVD I now use raw sata drives and a drive dock. I've tried a couple of utilities that sort of keep track of unmounted volumes, but they're all unreliable, badly implemented and buggy. There must be a way to get Spotlight to do this in a reliable way. ...any ideas?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Last edited by dix on Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:02 am, edited 2 times in total.
16-inch MBP M4 Max (2024), 15.5.x, 64GB RAM ::: 14-inch MBP M1 Max (2021), 13.6.x, 64GB RAM, UAD Quad Tb Satellite, 4 displays ::: 2009 4,1 > 5,1 MacPro 12-core 3.33 ghz , 10.14.x, 96GB RAM, GeForce GTX 770 , NewerTech eSATA/USB3 PCIe Host Adapter, UAD-2 Quad, ::: 15-inch MBP (2015) 10.14.x, 16GB RAM ::: Lynx Aurora (n) USB ::: DP (latest version), Vienna Ensemble Pro danwool.com
- MIDI Life Crisis
- Posts: 26285
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Contact:
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
That's a tough one. I don't Spotlight can, only those nasty shareware apps. You're only chance would be if there were a way to save search results somehow in Spotlight and port the resulting text to a file of some kind.
2013 Mac Pro 2TB/32GB RAM
OSX 10.14.6; Track 16; DP 12; Finale 28
LinkTree (events & peformances)
Instagram
Facebook
MIDI LIFE CRISIS
OSX 10.14.6; Track 16; DP 12; Finale 28
LinkTree (events & peformances)
MIDI LIFE CRISIS
- FMiguelez
- Posts: 8266
- Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: Body: Narco-México Soul/Heart: NYC
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
.
If it's OK to ask, why would you want to do this?
What are you trying to accomplish exactly?
Even if you could keep track of files in an unmounted drive and find them via some kind of pre-stored directory, you would still have to mount the drive to actually access the files...
If it's OK to ask, why would you want to do this?
What are you trying to accomplish exactly?
Even if you could keep track of files in an unmounted drive and find them via some kind of pre-stored directory, you would still have to mount the drive to actually access the files...

Mac Mini Server i7 2.66 GHs/16 GB RAM / OSX 10.14 / DP 9.52
Tascam DM-24, MOTU Track 16, all Spectrasonics' stuff,
Vienna Instruments SUPER PACKAGE, Waves Mercury, slaved iMac and Mac Minis running VEP 7, etc.
---------------------------
"In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth." ― Richard Feynman
Tascam DM-24, MOTU Track 16, all Spectrasonics' stuff,
Vienna Instruments SUPER PACKAGE, Waves Mercury, slaved iMac and Mac Minis running VEP 7, etc.
---------------------------
"In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth." ― Richard Feynman
- MIDI Life Crisis
- Posts: 26285
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Contact:
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
I totally get that. I have several drives that aren't even installed in a computer or enclosure, but are loaded with TBs of data. Or they might be in an enclosure, but all the ports are in use. It could also be useful to send the data (Spotlight results) to another computer or collaborator. For example, it would be great to send a list of 200GB of SFX...
Hey, FM! How are you doin?
Hey, FM! How are you doin?
2013 Mac Pro 2TB/32GB RAM
OSX 10.14.6; Track 16; DP 12; Finale 28
LinkTree (events & peformances)
Instagram
Facebook
MIDI LIFE CRISIS
OSX 10.14.6; Track 16; DP 12; Finale 28
LinkTree (events & peformances)
MIDI LIFE CRISIS
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
How about just taking a screen shot and printing it out to keep with the drive? I don't even use spotlight any more since I found
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Better than Spotlight, it searches within packages and hidden files.
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Better than Spotlight, it searches within packages and hidden files.
828x MacOS 15.5 M1 Studio Max 1TB 64G DP11.34
-
- Posts: 3110
- Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: San Francisco
- Contact:
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
That IS why. As the number of archive-drives grows it becomes more of a PIA to mount every one in order to execute a simple search for an old project or file. With a DVD archive you can write on the box or the media what the disk has on it, with a TB of data it's not possible.FMiguelez wrote:.
If it's OK to ask, why would you want to do this?
What are you trying to accomplish exactly?
Even if you could keep track of files in an unmounted drive and find them via some kind of pre-stored directory, you would still have to mount the drive to actually access the files...
I did learn that the Spotlight data for every disk is stored on that disk so I guess I'm looking for a utility or a trick that would copy that data to my OS drive. I'm surprised this isn't simpler. It seems like people that work on networks, where media is always going on and off line would need this type of search capabilities. Even if there was a reliable utility for this, I'd still feel better having the data stored in somewhere in the Mac OS for the archival long-haul.
16-inch MBP M4 Max (2024), 15.5.x, 64GB RAM ::: 14-inch MBP M1 Max (2021), 13.6.x, 64GB RAM, UAD Quad Tb Satellite, 4 displays ::: 2009 4,1 > 5,1 MacPro 12-core 3.33 ghz , 10.14.x, 96GB RAM, GeForce GTX 770 , NewerTech eSATA/USB3 PCIe Host Adapter, UAD-2 Quad, ::: 15-inch MBP (2015) 10.14.x, 16GB RAM ::: Lynx Aurora (n) USB ::: DP (latest version), Vienna Ensemble Pro danwool.com
Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
Check out Disktracker. Inelegant GUI, but you scan any mounted volume to a Disktracker catalog, later search the catalog without mounting any scanned volume.dix wrote:Is there any way to get Spotlight to show results from unmounted drives?
Thanks!
http://www.portents.com/disktracker/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Frank
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Frank Ferrucci
http://www.ferruccimusic.com
Mac Pro 6,1 64gb RAM DP9.52 OSX 10.12.6 MIO 2882d & ULN2d Firewire Audio Interfaces, MOTU MTP-AV USB
http://www.ferruccimusic.com
Mac Pro 6,1 64gb RAM DP9.52 OSX 10.12.6 MIO 2882d & ULN2d Firewire Audio Interfaces, MOTU MTP-AV USB
Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
Check out Disktracker. Inelegant GUI, but you scan any mounted volume to a Disktracker catalog, later search the catalog without mounting any scanned volume.dix wrote:Is there any way to get Spotlight to show results from unmounted drives?
Thanks!
http://www.portents.com/disktracker/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Frank
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Frank Ferrucci
http://www.ferruccimusic.com
Mac Pro 6,1 64gb RAM DP9.52 OSX 10.12.6 MIO 2882d & ULN2d Firewire Audio Interfaces, MOTU MTP-AV USB
http://www.ferruccimusic.com
Mac Pro 6,1 64gb RAM DP9.52 OSX 10.12.6 MIO 2882d & ULN2d Firewire Audio Interfaces, MOTU MTP-AV USB
- Kurt Cowling
- Posts: 387
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: Milwaukee, WI
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
I use CDFinder http://www.cdfinder.de/. The UI is fine and when you search inside CDFinder it also searches Spotlight at the same time and shows the results together. In other words, you can search your mounted and unmounted volumes with one search.
--Kurt
--Kurt
DP 11.34 , 2021 MacBook Pro M1-Max, 2017 iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, Omnisphere, Trilian, Stylus RMX, EZ Drummer 2, Falcon, Real Guitar, Sample Modeling brass. Audio Modeling reeds, strings, Kontakt 6, Flux Pure Limiter 3, PSP Vintage Warmer, PSP MixPack, PSP StereoPack, PSP Impressor, Altiverb 7, Izotope RX10 Standard, Yamaha S-90ES, Yamaha MOXF-8, Yamaha MX60, Sibelius subscription, Adobe CC and Motion 5.
- FMiguelez
- Posts: 8266
- Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: Body: Narco-México Soul/Heart: NYC
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
.
The above suggestions seem interesting. I will check them out in detail later today.
I must say that my backup/archiving tasks have been eased and simplified tremendously by having a couple of dedicated large HDs for this purpose. One with TM and one regular cloning...
No more keeping track of a ton of DVDs, and finding and revisiting old projects is a snap
I've been working on a few VERY BORING projects. Jaaaawn....
How about you, my friend?
The above suggestions seem interesting. I will check them out in detail later today.
I must say that my backup/archiving tasks have been eased and simplified tremendously by having a couple of dedicated large HDs for this purpose. One with TM and one regular cloning...
No more keeping track of a ton of DVDs, and finding and revisiting old projects is a snap

Hey, Mike. I'm doing fine. Thanks for askingMIDI Life Crisis wrote: Hey, FM! How are you doin?

I've been working on a few VERY BORING projects. Jaaaawn....
How about you, my friend?
Mac Mini Server i7 2.66 GHs/16 GB RAM / OSX 10.14 / DP 9.52
Tascam DM-24, MOTU Track 16, all Spectrasonics' stuff,
Vienna Instruments SUPER PACKAGE, Waves Mercury, slaved iMac and Mac Minis running VEP 7, etc.
---------------------------
"In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth." ― Richard Feynman
Tascam DM-24, MOTU Track 16, all Spectrasonics' stuff,
Vienna Instruments SUPER PACKAGE, Waves Mercury, slaved iMac and Mac Minis running VEP 7, etc.
---------------------------
"In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth." ― Richard Feynman
- MIDI Life Crisis
- Posts: 26285
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Contact:
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
Great, dude! I'm PM you when I take a break later. All's well in LaLaLand.FMiguelez wrote: How about you, my friend?
2013 Mac Pro 2TB/32GB RAM
OSX 10.14.6; Track 16; DP 12; Finale 28
LinkTree (events & peformances)
Instagram
Facebook
MIDI LIFE CRISIS
OSX 10.14.6; Track 16; DP 12; Finale 28
LinkTree (events & peformances)
MIDI LIFE CRISIS
-
- Posts: 942
- Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
+1 for cdfinder, very fast to index
Kurt Cowling wrote:I use CDFinder http://www.cdfinder.de/. The UI is fine and when you search inside CDFinder it also searches Spotlight at the same time and shows the results together. In other words, you can search your mounted and unmounted volumes with one search.
--Kurt
Mac 2.8 8-core, 20 GB RAM, Mac 10.9, DP 8, EWQLSO Platinum Play, Mach V II, Kontakt 5, Superior Drummer, AIR, Absynth 5, Plectrum, CronoX, Albino3, RMV, cup of tea.
-
- Posts: 3110
- Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: San Francisco
- Contact:
Re: Spotlight results from unmounted drives?
Thanks for the input! I've tried all the utilities suggested above, and a couple more, with mixed results. I was hoping that Spotlight could be cajoled into reporting on offline drives. Apparently it can not. Maybe Lion'll offer something like this.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
16-inch MBP M4 Max (2024), 15.5.x, 64GB RAM ::: 14-inch MBP M1 Max (2021), 13.6.x, 64GB RAM, UAD Quad Tb Satellite, 4 displays ::: 2009 4,1 > 5,1 MacPro 12-core 3.33 ghz , 10.14.x, 96GB RAM, GeForce GTX 770 , NewerTech eSATA/USB3 PCIe Host Adapter, UAD-2 Quad, ::: 15-inch MBP (2015) 10.14.x, 16GB RAM ::: Lynx Aurora (n) USB ::: DP (latest version), Vienna Ensemble Pro danwool.com