Unity fails to find application

[NoBugs!]

Unity usually fails to find an application - for example, I type "ccsm" in the general dash search, it spins for 30 seconds or so and says no results.

I switch to "applications" tab on bottom, search again, it spins a long time and only shows bleachbit... why?

Running ccsm from the console works immediately, as does alt+f2.

Searching for "Firefox" doesn't even return anything either, only a few random files that contain that text.

I do have applications checked, and "all" selected in the filter.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: unity 7.0.0daily13.05.01ubuntu.unity.experimental.certified-0ubuntu1 [origin: LP-PPA-ubuntu-unity-experimental-prevalidation]
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-19.29-generic 3.8.8
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-19-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,regex,workarounds,gnomecompat,scale,put,move,resize,grid,mousepoll,imgpng,place,session,expo,unityshell]
CrashDB: unity
Date: Wed May 1 21:21:46 2013
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-03-07 (421 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Beta amd64 (20120301)
MarkForUpload: True
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to raring on 2013-03-23 (39 days ago)

[Bhavani Shankar (bhavi)]

Hi Luke,

Thanks for reporting the bug. Are you able to reproduce the same on raring/saucy?

Regards
Bhavani

[NoBugs! (luke32j)]

Yes, this bug was on 13.10.

$ cat /etc/issue
Ubuntu Saucy Salamander (development branch) \n \l

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for Unity because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[NoBugs! (luke32j)]

This is definitely still happening. For example, I type "gimp" very fast, it says sorry, there are no search results. I press backspace, and Gimp shows up. It looks like there may be a race condition somewhere in the code.

I tried these steps again and again, and most times, after searching for something else, then searching "gimp" very fast, it says "Sorry, there is nothing that matches your search." Typing the name slowly seems to always show the icon, but not the name "gimp".

Also, searching "ubuntu" has the same effect - sometimes it lists Ubuntu SDK, Ubuntu One, Software center, sometimes it only lists Files & Folders.

Maybe it's caused by the hard drive being old and full (86%), but searching applications really should be the primary purpose of the Ubuntu search in the dash.

[NoBugs! (luke32j)]

It's happening on a new install too! In 13.10 I'm not seeing any applications, and can't search. Perhaps it's something with my backed up data I moved to the new machine?

[NoBugs! (luke32j)]

I think I found a possible cause. It's suspicious that this happened after I copied some old files to my home. I had an experiment project from long ago, turning a dictionary into a usable format to use on my calculator. (attached) There were thousands of files in ~/Projects/Calctionary/a, ~/Projects/Calctionary/b, etc.

When I deleted the folder, logged out and logged back in, Unity app search works fine.

[NoBugs! (luke32j)]

Yikes, today this happened, after I searched for something in nautilus in home.

First nautilus greys out, then so does Firefox, although the meter said low CPU and iowait.

I also noticed no applications would be found, not Gimp, not update manger, nothing.

Then it took forever to shut off when I pressed ctrl+alt+del, I had to hold power to reboot. It appears there is something very seriously wrong with the search systems!