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General discussion (archive)[UPDATED] Official GOG.com Downloader topic(58 posts) (58 posts) 
(58 posts) 
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Posted July 21, 2009
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
Posted July 22, 2009
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Protoss: It works now, it seems to use Internet Explorer settings so refused to work with Proxy in IE enabled [...]

Thx for the tip, we'll look into it.
Posted July 27, 2009
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malebolgia2163: I've been having a problem with the downloader. I'll run the program and it will not open up in a window- it'll just stay minimized in the desktop tray. There is nothing I can do to get it open up into a window. I have tried re-installing it, but the same thing keeps happening. Has this problem ever happened before?

Yes, unfortunately this is a known bug that we are still working on.
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Valrog: Does it matter if the internet connection is interrupted and then the IP address changes?

As long as you have the downloader app runing only on one computer at a time it will work fine.
Post edited July 27, 2009 by Venom
Posted July 29, 2009
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81RED: EDIT: Fixed. Something was messed up in the \users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\AIR\ELS\com.gog.com.downloader.RUBBISH structure.
Deleted it, now everything is back to normal.
(Where the hell did that spacing come from? :))

Thx for the info, I'll look into it :)
Posted August 05, 2009
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predcon: Can we add a function to add optional content like wallpapers and stuff to the queue?

First of all we have to get all the bugs sorted out. Once we'll have a stable, bullet-proof download engine then we'll be able to put more features in it.
Posted August 17, 2009
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predcon: When you have a stable, bullet-proof download engine, you'll announce it in the newsletter won't you?

When you launch the downloader it automatically checks for updates, so you won't miss any new patches we release. As for the newsletter, it's hard to say right now.
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Darkjedibob: I also got stuck with the perm-minimized bug that malebolgia mentioned[...]
Venom, you mentioned that you're aware of the bug, but has anyone figured out what causes it?

Yes, it's on our "known bugs" list, and we're working on it. We hope to fix it in the next release. Unfortunately I can't post any specific dates yet.
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Darkjedibob: DownThemAll seems to be working just fine for it though.
no, I guess not. Hit the pause/resume issue that's mentioned a few pages back.

Third party download managers won't be able to resume paused transfer due to security reasons.
Post edited August 17, 2009 by Venom
Posted August 19, 2009
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Juro: I have a 7Mb connection, my max download speed is approximately 200Kb/s, but most of the time I can only get a 50-70 Kb/s download speed. Anyone have any suggestion about that?

Well, you should try to download one file using your browser to see if the speed improves.
We do not have any speed limits for our downloads, so theoretically you should be able to max out you connection speed. But in real life conditions there are many factors that can slow down your transfer.
Posted August 27, 2009
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Sarukar: It's good to see a new version!
There are still a few things which would be nice to see in the Downloader app:
1) Notification of game updates. A few times now, a game was updated on GOG because of a bug. It would be nice, if the Downloader could recognize this (if the game is in the download folder) and do an update (patch the file, so that you don't have to redownload the whole installer).
2) Download of additional content. GOG has additional content available for almost any game it I would really love to see the Downloader capable of actually downloading it (and possibly sort it into folders like wallpapers, avatars, sounds,...).
3) It would also be nice, if the downloader would be aware of my bought games, so that it could be used to select and download those which aren't already present in the target folder.
It would be really great to see some blue post about these points...
Thanks and cheers,
Sarukar

Hi Sarukar, few things regarding your post:
In general, the downloader was always planned as an optional handy little tool for situations when the download via web is not possible and not really a full-blown downloader / installer / updater client. Features like updates notification are obviously a great idea but first and foremost it should be implemented on the website. Other things, like being aware of installed games and allowing quick-updating instead of full redownload do sound interesting but are not possible with the current (Adobe AIR) technology. Last but not least, downloading additional game content from the downloader is planned for one of the upcoming updates :).
Post edited August 27, 2009 by Destro
Posted August 27, 2009
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Ofoug: Regardless of whether I use your neat downloader or the http download I get speeds of only 15-35KB/s however... My current download of BG&E will be done sometime tomorrow night at this rate, and I was hoping to play this evening while it's still weekend =)
I'm guessing it's a matter of being assigned to a bad download server? Is there any way of forcing the system to switch to another one?

The server is being selected by our CDN (Content Delivery Network) routing algorithm. It routes the users directly to the nearest server or the one that should offer the best download speed at that moment. However, it's not possible to manually change your routing.
I'd strongly recommend contacting our support regarding this issue. We have some special tools for diagnosing such connection problems between CDN and you.
Posted September 04, 2009
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Easy_D: When I start it, all I get is an empty text-box with an exit button, I try to click it but nothing happens. You can see the actual GUI behind the box though. But clicking around does nothing.
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ZamFear: I've seen this happen, and found a way to fix it.
On Vista:
Go to C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\AIR \ ELS
On XP:
Go to C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\Adobe\AIR\ELS
In there, there should be a folder named "com.gog.downloader.[random gibberish]". Delete it.

Thx for the tip, we'll look into it.
Posted September 25, 2009
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.
Posted October 15, 2009
Everything should work fine now.
Posted April 11, 2010
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Yshinozuka: Is there no fix to the minimized issue? I'm having problems with this as well despite it working a couple of weeks ago.
Please give point 4 from this support article a shot. If AIR2 Beta doesn't help, deleting the Downloader's temporary folders is pretty much 100% sure to do the trick.
Posted April 10, 2012
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Remmu: I haven't been able to use the GOG downloader for a long time now, I guess a whole year perhaps. I've tried download the official downloader several times, UAC is always disabled and still no go. The game, in this case, Empire Earth, shows up in the GOG downloader, but the download speed is just 0KB/s. I've tried clicking on pause and resume several times and also tried downloading different games with it, still no go, none of them download. I have this issue only with the GOG downloader, not when downloading from GOG without the downloader.
Please do not post in a thread that's from last year. This suggests you're still using the old downloader, but I can't be sure as you haven't even posted the version number.
Closing the topic, please PM me the version and I'll see what can be done about it. Thank you.
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General discussion (archive)[UPDATED] Official GOG.com Downloader topic(58 posts) (58 posts) 
(58 posts)