I have this exact same problem, after the December 2018 updates. I was able to remove a .Net update, which did not resolve the issue. The SP 2010 updates cannot be uninstalled. Other things I've tried, which have NOT worked:
- Restart servers
- Open the page peopleresults.aspx in SP Designer and save it.
- Edit the web part settings, like Display, Results Query, Appearance, Layout, etc.
- Created a new page with only the "People Search Core Results" web part.
- Changed XsltTransformTimeOut
PS C:\Users\someone> Add-PSSnapin
Microsoft.Sharepoint.Powershell
PS C:\Users\someone> $farm = Get-SPFarm
PS C:\Users\someone> $farm.XsltTransformTimeOut
1
PS C:\Users\someone> $farm.XsltTransformTimeOut = 5
PS C:\Users\someone> $farm.Update
<snip>
PS C:\Users\someone> $farm.XsltTransformTimeOut
5
- Checked web and SP log files, and event viewer, for additional information about the error.
Right now we are about to declare this part of the search unfixable. The "All Sites" search still works, and it shows "People Matches" in the right side column of the search results. We also have Lync to find people, but many prefer using this feature in SP.
I can't spend too much more time on this, but if I find anything I will make an update here. We're getting closer to begin migration to SP 2019.
Found others having same issue in TechNet forum, People Search Not Working.
