Log entries mentioning errors are common and can mislead. Those marking the consequences of errors may not mention the word error. Turn detective to work out where the error really is with these tips.
diagnosis
When Spotlight can’t find the files you expect it to, it could be that they weren’t indexed, or that Spotlight’s search has failed to find their index entries. Here’s how to tell those apart and work out what went wrong.
What happens when you can’t solve a problem, so you get a log extract and ask Claude to diagnose it for you? Here’s a full worked example.
What you can learn from browsing the log, and why it’s so important in diagnosis and troubleshooting, research into macOS, and measuring performance. With a worked example.
Running the basic test on a folder in your Home folder, extending that to documents that use a custom mdimporter, to other volumes and locations, and other search terms.
Intel Macs tell you why they last shut down, in the ‘shutdown cause code’ written to the log by their System Management Controller. What do Apple silicon Macs do?
A strategy for diagnosing problems using the log. How to limit the number of entries shown using appropriate periods and predicates, and more.
How to read T2M2’s report on your Time Machine backups, interpret the results, and discover where any problems are occurring.
Using the correct term gets us half way to a diagnosis: kernel panics, freezes, app crashes and unresponsive apps are distinguished here.
Is that Mac completely dead due to a severe failure, or could it just be in DFU mode? They aren’t easy to distinguish on most Macs.
The Eclectic Light Company 