Problems with stalling downloads

[Dan Watson]

I have just put up a fresh install of HFS (2.2f) on a fresh install of XP Pro and am having the same issues that have plagued me for years; at long last I'm posting them here on the support forum. Really, really hoping someone can assist. I'll provide any info requested.

Smaller files serve fine but anything over a couple of megs in size, file transfer just stalls out usually some around 2nd meg, 3rd meg. I've troubleshot my share of network issues and have eliminated a lot of stuff here:

Current setup is a Qwest Cisco 67x router connected to a Linksys WRT54G. Both routers have been swapped out, no effect. have tried both port 80 and port 8080, both seem to work fine but same issue with any larger files, gets several megs in and just freezes. Since I can download smaller <1M files, jpegs etc without issue, I am assuming that port forwards are not the issue anyway. Have tested from multiple external IPs and multiple providers, same symptoms. Just times out mid-download.

This issue occurs both with file and folder downloads and occurs regardless of browser used (have tried IE, Firefox, Opera). Downloading files via http works flawlessly otherwise; no problem grabbing 100 meg drivers, patches and the like, so I'm reluctant to blame a flaky DSL connection. Have tried constant pings multiple times and haven't seen packets being dropped...I've run an FTP server in the past without any issues of this kind. I've also run an Orb server (which runs on port 80, I believe) and have been able to download 100M files from that server without any problems too.

In a nutshell: problem appears to be restricted specifically to a) large files (3 megs and up) and b) HFS alone. Any thoughts? Any other info I can provide? Thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to offer. As mentioned, HFS works flawlessly for me as an image server and I'd love to use it for other things as well.

[rejetto]

welcome Dan,
i'm sorry for your headache.
try to reply point by point

1. could you please describe in details what happens when you download a 10M file ? i only understood "it does not work".

2. try enabling
log menu > log what > disconnections
and see if some useful information comes out.

3. try running version 2.3 beta, you can find it on "beta" forum board
let me know if this runs smoothly

[DW]

welcome Dan,
i'm sorry for your headache.
try to reply point by point

1. could you please describe in details what happens when you download a 10M file ? i only understood "it does not work".

2. try enabling
log menu > log what > disconnections
and see if some useful information comes out.

3. try running version 2.3 beta, you can find it on "beta" forum board
let me know if this runs smoothly

Thanks for your prompt response, it's totally appreciated!

as far as 1), regardless of browser, I'll get the standard download bar, time remaining, MB remaining, etc. Things will be cruising right along at expected speeds, and then progress will just stop, i.e. "16.7 MB remaining, 37.6 KB.sec, 22 min remaining" or whatever. The browser doesn't freeze, nor does anything else on the PC, but the download essentially times out.

Should have mentioned by the way that I have verified this issue is cross-platform, have gotten same symptoms via Mac, one more reason to think it's definitely something server-side. What's nice for troubleshooting purposes is that I have two DSL connections at home, so when I test this, it's from a truly separate IP and I know this isn't related to some goofy loopback issue, etc. Because it's a time out problem, I'd be ready to blame this on dropped packets or something, maybe an unstable internet connection, but as said, other protocols don't note any problems, nor do other apps running on port 80. If my DSL was causing me to drop packets every 90 seconds or so, I'm confident I'd notice it in other apps.

I'll try enabling the log and I'll give the beta a whirl as well, thanks again.

[dw]

Update: disconnects log shows disconnect due to inactivity, per attachment below.

Giving beta a spin as we speak.

[dw]

Beta exhibits same issues  

[rejetto]

mm, that log is too little to understand.
if for some reason the download is stuck, then there's no activity, and that would be normal for HFS to disconnect for inactivity.
can you give me access to your file server? write to support@rejetto.com