FIX - Files Are Downloaded Corrupted !!!

dogbite's picture
Description: 
As you may experienced this (or not, but its there), files get downloaded corrupted by slsk. This is a serious issue. I have seen this mostly with .flac files. how did i spot it?... well every time i download a lossless file i check its integrity and sometimes i get sync error. you probably think hey maybe the uploader has a corrupted file... true, sometimes , but in most cases you re download the file and it doesent have the sync error. i am unaware what triggers this to happen but it happens. Not just with audio files but with all file types. in rare occasions even an small file like an image can get downloaded corrupted. It gets all these green pixel and stuff but after re-download its fine. this is a serious problem for VIDEO_TS files (dvd .vob) since there is no way to check the vob file integrity. The only way is to spot the error by viewing the video. This has also happened to me... it gets glitches for a second or two. i have used both NS and QT during the years and this problem is on both the new QT and the NS as well. ive been testing and this error happens more often on win7 than on XP. also spoted that version 2014.2.14 has less download errors than other new ones. still a vob file what downloaded corrupted on that version but audio files where clean (maybe just lucky). I was also lucky that there was a torrent for the vobs so i checked the files downloaded with slsk on the torrent client and it returned that its was 99.9% downloaded. a chunk of a vob file was corrupted. THIS IS SERIOUS NIR. im suprised no one reported that anywhere. please check this issue.
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Comments

Of course downloading a perfect file would be best. However if that is not possible (interruptions, transfer errors...) it'd be nice if slsk could find out that the file is not perfect, e.g. with a final crc check and compare this against the source. If there's something wrong the file could be checked with a rolling crc as does rsync. This way only the corrupted part needs to be downloaded again, not the whole file.

dogbite's picture

Nice idea. Yes, it could be possible by fetching the md5 once you queue or after the download or even when the download starts, or perhaps give a standalone right-click button [Verify files] or [Fetch md5]. I assume this things would eat a lot of memory, even cripple your slsk. there must be a way. its easy for audio files and images but for video files is really important since there isint a way to verify its integrity. I think a right-click would be the best options... since it gives you the choice to do it or not. who knows.

I've been using Soulseek in its various iterations for many years now, and corrupted files have never been an issue for me or the hundreds of people that I've spoken to on here. Any time that I've come across users with Soulseek issues like yours, the problem has always been due to local hardware or software failings.

You haven't said what hardware or OS you're using (Mac, PC, Windows, Model etc.), but I would be willing to bet that this is your and not Nir's problem.

If you're using a motherboard with onboard disk controllers (like about 100% of desktop-grade PCs), try the following checklist:

  • Check your motherboard's BIOS revision, if it's out of date then take it to the latest version
  • Run a heavy-duty RAM test on your system, many PCs have built-in diagnostics for such purposes

I think that you'll find the answer to your file corruptions via one of the above, though you might also want to try temporarily disabling your antivirus software, as Soulseek has a long history of not getting on well with various antivirus products. If this makes a difference, and your antivirus permits you to set file exclusions, try setting it to not scan files with .flac and other appropriate extensions in the directories that Soulseek is using. I wouldn't exclude scanning executable files, however, though you rarely see .exe (or .com or .scr) files shared on Soulseek.

Hope this helps,
uglybunz

dogbite's picture

I believe that is not the case. if an uploader has an connection issue there is a high chance that the downloader will download a corrupted file. i think that should not happen. its not the drive and certainly not the bios that affects this. btw how do you know you havent downloaded a corrupted file, i test all the files that where downloaded and been using various OS, LINUX, XP-SP2 and WIN7 on Laptop and PC and i can say 100% that this occurs in rare occasions either because of bad file chunk calculation or something else. idk, im not an expert on programing and its issues i am just sure that there is a issue. on the laptop i dont even have a antivirus. these errors can simply be overlooked by many users since they take low-end audio files or just its just ignorance. the only good thing about this is that it happens quite rarely. Nir does code the program but im sure its NOT his fault. maybe its unfixable.

dogbite is not the only user with this problem. I also encountered files with errors though I also can't say what the reason is (bad source, transfer error etc). I can mostly solve it by redownloading the file, though not necessarily from the same source. However also using other sharing tools didn't give me corrupted files as much as I can say. And I do various stuff with my computer.
No matter what the reason is, if soulseek could find the corruption and re-get the bad parts that would help immensely.

dogbite's picture

Here is a image file that was downloaded corrupted with slsk some time ago. When re-downloaded the file was good.

i cant upload the file correctly (obviously) and i get these files:
http://i.imgur.com/OXUiYgq.jpg

http://oi59.tinypic.com/v6jcpw.jpg

the tinypic one looks close to the original glitch what i see in irfanview while imgur somewhat corrects the purple scissors so they can be seen. interesting.

did someone say glitch...
...i had even odder ones but deleted them. sometimes images can look very odd when gliched but thats an another story.

You can see that there is a grey part with dots in the line where the purple starts... thats the part that got downloaded wrong (or did not download at all). my connection was fine the uploader was online. if i remmember there where no other tasks on the pc just slsk. when the file was re-downloaded it was fine with no viruses or similiar bull. i can provide a .rar with good and bad files but dont see hows that gonna help. if i only had a detailed log or something from that day.