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Hello everyone,
I would like to update you on the latest changes to GOG Downloader (the optional app that can be used to download your GOG.com purchases).
We have just released an updated version (0.9.30) which includes three important things:
1. a faster app core (thx to updated Adobe AIR Runtime, and jQuery 1.3.3)
2. updated file resuming, witch will now allow:
- more reliable auto-resuming, witch should fix _some_ of the problems
- auto discovery of incomplete/complete files
3. an option to send bug report to gog.com
If you have the downloader already installed, you will be notified about the update next time you launch the app; if you don't have the app yet, check out the list of downloads in My Account page for any of your purchases)
2. UPDATED APP CORE
While updating our source code, we also updated all libraries involved which should make the whole app a bit faster and less resource hungry.
3. UPDATED FILE RESUMING
This was, and still is, the most important thing about the downloader. We have received numerous reports from our users, that there are issues with this, especially on slower, less reliable, connections.
The real problem with fixing this is actually recreating this situation, to have a peek at what's really causing this. We tried a lot of different setups, we've used faulty network hardware, we used cellphones as modems to access Internet, we tried disconnecting cables on different levels of the connection, we used software to slow the connection down, we tried downloading files to very slow hard drives, but so far we couldn't recreate problems that some of you were experiencing.
So, as the first step, we changed the way that files are handled, discovered, and resumed. It should help with at least some of the problems.
The second thing, was to enable the downloader app to discover files from previous sessions. This means that if you have an incomplete file backed up before the downloader encountered an error, you can copy that incomplete file into download folder, then add the game to the downloader again, and the app will continue from the incomplete file instead of starting at zero. This is hardly a resolution for the problem, but it will at least allow for some temporary workaround, until we get all the issues sorted out.
So if you have problems using the downloader, you can try to:
1. Start the download normally
2. From time to time, make a copy of the temporary files in the GOG Downloader downloads folder to a safe backup location
3. If the downloader encounters an error click "Send report" (more info below), and shut it down
4. Copy your backed up files back into GOG Downloader downloads folder
5. Relaunch the app, and resume the transfer (or add the game again using the website), the transfer should resume at the point of last backup
Please remember, that this is only a temporary workaround as we work on fixing all the real issues.
3. BUG REPORTS
As mentioned before, we are adding an option to submit bug reports straight from the downloader. Every time you encounter an error while using GOG Downloader, you will have an option to "Send report" to us - please click on it, as it is essential for understanding and solving the problems :).
The report includes:
* GOG Downloader application logs (detailed information about file transfers and errors)
* your gog.com user name
Report does NOT include:
* any personal or hardware info (no hardware logs, no apps list, etc)
We will keep these logs as short as possible and we'll be using them only to find & fix bugs in GOG Downloader. After that we will delete them. We won't spam you, won't spy on your system and won't create any stats regarding downloader and it's usage.
Post edited July 21, 2009 by Venom
edit: sorry, this forum has another alyout han used to :)
Post edited September 06, 2009 by Plague
yes, same thing for me Plague... ;)
Post edited September 07, 2009 by pilpoil
I am seriously annoyed at the downloader program.
It bluescreens my computer - BSOD if I try to do the windows crash report. It wastes bandwidth - and unlike bit torrent it does not repair corrupted downloads so you can have an error due to a crash corrupt your files and you will not know until it is completed.
You could fix these issues for all of us TODAY if you bothered to set up a torrent that we could link to when we get a corrupted download. Bit torrent would fix the problem for us in a matter of minutes with the way it woulc treat the file as a partially downloaded torrent being resumed.
I bought six games in your promo. So far i have successfully downloaded ONE. I have tried several times to get these games to download and the downloader will ALWAYS crash within an hour or two.
Please fix this and quickly.
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MaxNormal: Please fix this and quickly.

Dude, use something else like Gigaget or something. Jesus, nothing is perfect!
* 2. updated file resuming, which will now allow:
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MaxNormal: Please fix this and quickly.

Can't you just download normally? If you need a resume, there are plenty of download managers out there, but just be aware that not every site supports them.
Post edited September 13, 2009 by Navagon
// This post turned out massive. I'll try to revide it later.
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MaxNormal: It bluescreens my computer - BSOD

Since it doesn't bluescreen my computers with Windows versions XP to 7, nor any other computer I've tried it on with a variety of setups, I'm tempted to believe the problem is with your computer and not the app. Do you know of other people with this problem? Have you tried it on other computers? Obviously it could conflict with some other running software, try experimenting with other software closed.
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MaxNormal: It wastes bandwidth

I ran some network monitoring just now, and the bandwidth spent next to equals data downloaded and kept. IOW nothing's wasted. If you're thinking about dynamic limiting allowing other simultaneous use of the web, then true. It doesn't do that well. Thankfully the GOG.com servers roof way before the common connection does.
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MaxNormal: unlike bit torrent it does not repair corrupted downloads so you can have an error due to a crash corrupt your files and you will not know until it is completed.

It does seem to check and fix download in progress, so when you're able to resume the download after a crash it turns out ok. If you run into a problem right next to completion though, the file corrupts, gets checked off as completed, and needs to be completely re-downloaded.
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MaxNormal: You could fix these issues for all of us TODAY if you bothered to set up a torrent that we could link to when we get a corrupted download.

I don't think torrents would do as much good as you say. Torrents works nice for sharing, but I have bad experience with torrents established in order to "serve" files. Read: slow download speeds. The file integrity you want is achievable through FTP, read below.
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MaxNormal: I bought six games in your promo. So far i have successfully downloaded ONE.
Please fix this and quickly.

The fix exists.
Decent-speed FTP downloads are available to you; the option called "download using browser."
I've managed to download games through the FTP downloads on ISDN-like unstable "broadband" connections. The built-in download manager of Opera web browser managed to resume the files just fine after both connection time-out (due to the broadband instability) and manual halts. I assume other download managers will be able to as well.
Except your sucpicious blue- and blackscreening, wich I honestly doubt is caused by the app itself, (will you even be able to do that within Adobe Air?) I've had every conceivable problem with the GOG.com downloader on windows computers. Stable and unstable connections, slow and rapid connections, xp, vista, win7, failed file resuming, failed file starting, failed restart due to timeout, failed restart due to an imagined "full HDD", you name it.
When it was at it's worst, I combined download managers with FTP.
It's decently fast, it's reliable, and it scales to your use.
Note: I've never once had any trouble with the GOG.com downloader on stable connections of 1 megabit per second or more.
For the GOG.com crew:
The two main issues I have with the downloader is inability to resume when your connection times out, and inability to resume when the downloader pretends there's not enough free disk space. (note: with the new update it is possible to halt the process when you get the error message and then restart the downloader. It will resume upon the partially downloaded file. If you respond to the queries however, the downloader will restart as it's 'solution' and overwrite the part file)
- Inability to resume when you time out.
By time out I'm talking about a connection which the computer thinks is online, no longer is connected to the Internet. To recreate this you could probably just pull the cable from the router to the dsl modem, or from the dsl modem to the ISP.
A definite way to recreate this is to use a web-café or academy-style connection that requires you to "log in" as a guest in the browser before using the web.
Those logins time out after an hour or two and recreate the problem.
- Pretending there's not enough free space
When measuring remaining disk space at resume, the downloader takes no consideration to the existing partial file download. A conflict might arise which has the downloader restart a near-completed download (overwriting the partial download should you not be quick enough to back it up).
Example: You have 17 GB remaining disk space on your target device and are downloading a game that consumes 10 GB.
The download has reached 8 GB (80%) and you resume.
- At this point there is 9 GB remaining on your device. 10 GB, the size of the complete file, is not free.
The download halts, saying there's not enough free space on the device. Eventually restarting, overwriting the old 80% part file with the new 0.1% part file.
Somehow I feel it should subtract the size of the partial file from it's filesize demand upon resume.
Post edited September 14, 2009 by Rubbercookie
Have the GoG team considered using metalinks for downloads? That in itself will solve corruption completely to name just one if its advantages.
More info @ www.metalinker.org and a list of programs.
Im using metalinks on my remote server and it's fantastic. While it can take advantage of p2p networks, it depends on the client program as to what it will use - and it can be created without p2p links anyway. Works through user/pass security too so should be ideal and safe for GoG to use.
Best thing for me about it is chunk verification, so if part of it is corrupted it just re downloads that chunk from http/ftp similar to how a torrent keeps itself corruption free.
Post edited September 16, 2009 by finesse
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Rubbercookie: - Pretending there's not enough free space
When measuring remaining disk space at resume, the downloader takes no consideration to the existing partial file download.

Calculating free space actually appears to be broken in other parts too :). If you have 900 Mb free space and download game of 600 Mb, then after the download is completed, downloader will issue a "Not enough space" warning, even though download was completed flawlessly (as integrity check confirms).
I wonder, why check for free space AFTER the download at all?..
Hey everyone, thanks for all the feedback you're providing. We're creating a summarized list of all reported bugs, and we'll be working on fixing all of then for the next update. Unfortunately for now I can't give you any timeframe for the next release.
Regarding you're feature suggestions. Our main aim is to provide a great experience for everyone using a browser, so our main focus is on providing better/more download servers. Downloader is suppose to be just an alternative for people who (for now) have trouble with browser downloads. We do not want the GOG Downloader to become a primary way you download your games, so we're not planning on adding many new features in the future.
So, once again, big thanks for all the feedback, it sure will help us squash all the bugs.
i've tried SEVERAL different times to download Arx Fatalis. i've tried on firefox, internet explorer, the gog downloader app, and flashget downloader app attached to firefox. i've tried with my firewall and antivirus on and off, i've probably downloaded this game roughly 10 times now. every single time i download it, no matter what i do, i always get the same problem. i start the install and a lil window pops up saying "checking file integrity please wait", then when its finished an error message pops up and says "the setup files are corrupted. please download a new copy of the program...." i'm extremely frustrated and very dissapointed that i havent been able to get this game to download and install properly. i even tried using a different internet connection, my usual internet connection is wireless, i tried downloading the game on a friend's internet connection and got the same error message. i sent an email to gog support staff and havent received a reply.
Post edited September 27, 2009 by LoneNite
Hey, good to see this being updated again.
In the future could we possibly get tighter integration between the downloader app and your account?
I'd like to see it at the point where you could add/queue downloads (Maybe even launch the installer) from within the app.
I'm getting 30kbps downloading Gothic 2 Gold (2GB), on a 10Mbps line. And after waiting 5 hours, I find it corrupt and have to download it again.
By contrast, I just downloaded the Risen demo through Steam (1GB) in 18 minutes.
Seriously annoyed.
P.
I have not had a single problem and I've downloaded nine games, all up roughly 6 gig.
Good downloader program. I can pause, resume, etc, with absolutely NO errors whatsoever.
All the complaints here baffle me.
Downloading since monday Pandora Directive at an astounding rate of 25 k/s and a crash every 20 minutes or so.
This is not only the vintage of GOG (good old games) but also GOD (good old dowload, with a modem 9600:-).
I just bought republic: the revolution from this site, the downloader has yet to show the game in the queue and its been over an hour. the refresh button is constantly running but it isnt showing anything, im not sure if its something im doing wrong or if its the downloader. Ive gone over the faqs and reinstalled the downloader but nothing seems to help. if anyone has an idea of what the problem could be please let me know