When I launch files the disk activity goes solid and doesn’t end. Any ideas?
Please always specify OS info, app version etc.
openSUSE Tumbleweed x86_64 20250205
GNOME 47.3
Files 47.2
Is it indexing all files on the drive?
I don’t know what localsearch-3 is doing?
You can try running 'iotop' command as root and see which process is doing disk IO.
While 'iotop' is running, you can use left and right arrow keys to switch between READ and WRITE sorted outputs.
I was able to use ‘System Monitor’ and view that the “localsearch-3” process was responsible for all the disk activity, and I also was able to “End Process.”
The question is; what is “localsearch-3” up to, is it indexing the whole drive, why now, and should or could I stop that process from starting?
LocalSearch is the service that provides the ability to search for files on the Gnome desktop. If you for example do a global search for files in the Files app or in the search of the shell, it uses localsearch to find the files.
The process in question, localsearch-3, runs in the background to create an index of files, which is then used to find the files during a search.
You can set which folders are indexed in the system settings app, in a subpage of the search page.
Normally, disabling the process is not recommended, as without it, the file search will stop operating. If you’d wish to stop the service from starting, you need to disable and mask the SystemD service files for LocalSearch.
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Now I just witnessed localsearch-3 isn’t dependent on ‘Files’, I’m trying to figure out why it is causing constant disk activity?
Well, LocalSearch isn’t exclusively used by the Files app. Therefore, it runs as a background service, scanning regularly the files it should index, so the index is up-to-date.
Huh! The issue seems to have magically resolved itself. Today I did update to openSUSE Tumbleweed x86_64 20250206, I dono…
Once the file system has been indexed, it only needs incremental updates that do not require a lot of I/O or time to complete.
The said disk activity began a couple weeks ago and had been running non-stop. I forged this install on 2024-09-25, so it’s not a new install…I understand indexing and don’t believe this was that.