What's wrong with a file?
You finally got your download in the safe haven of your computer. Eagerly you browse to the location and you unpack it. #%$*&@#%$@! IT DOESN'T WORK!
First thing's first; what happened on my side?
- I've ripped a CD and got a directory full of MP3's.
- I've compressed that directory using Ark for zip-files or WinRar for rar-files.
- I've uploaded it to a file hosting service.
My 'old' uploads are done on Windows XP with WinRar, I use Linux with Ark nowadays. Differences:
Old: .rar files; New: .zip files
Old: password: CaesarTjalbo; New: no password
Old: uploaded to rapidshare.DE; New: uploaded to rapidshare.COM
WinRar I've used like this:
- I use a compression profile, which is a set of predefined settings. For example: if I've used the standard profile then there's no password on the archive, if I've used the profile for this blog then the password is CaesarTjalbo. Since I only have 2 profiles there really is no other option.
- I compress contiguously; I select the entire content of what I want to archive and have WinRar break it down for me. That means that FileName.part2.rar really is useless without part 1 and vice versa. It also means that when you have all parts, you only need to extract 1 part, WinRar extracts the rest for you.
- I've set the Recovery record, it's 1%. That means you can try to Repair the file. See WinRar's help for more information, look under Recovery record.
On your side: Common problems:
- Some filenames are too long. That's my fault and it has happened because I rarely type in filedata myself but use FreeDB or CDDB in stead. It should not lead to a completely useless archive but only to those files whose filenames are too long. A typical characteristic is that the filenames can't be changed with a rename.
Let me know in the comments what happened and which files it's about.
- Some characters in filenames are allowed on the Linux filesystem but not on the Windows filesystem, most noticeably : and ". I try to remember to look for it before I post an archive but I've made some mistakes in the recent past. Mail or comment, I'll fix it asap.
- Password doesn't work. That's very possible and has happened once. Since I use a compression profile with WinRar however, it's either no password and you won't be asked about it, or CaesarTjalbo. That has an odd serie of vowels so you best copy/paste in stead of typing it over, count the *'s, it's 12 characters long. The password is case-sensitive.
Feel free to comment/mail though, I'll up it again without password.
- It doesn't unpack. Do you use WinRar? Is your version up-to-date? If so, try downloading the file again. Still fails? Let me know in the comments. I guess it's possible to damage a file during upload or download. If you feel this has happened try the Repair function of WinRar.
Problems with .zip files: comment/mail and try to look if you can see where it goes wrong, if it's a single song or an entirely corrupt archive.
Please do understand: with the more files I upload, publish and receive no complaints about, the less likely it is that it's a problem I can do something about.
My follow up: I download the file myself and try to unpack it, I even listen to the MP3's. If there's a problem I'll change the post on the blog, if not I'll at least let you know I've tested it.
First thing's first; what happened on my side?
- I've ripped a CD and got a directory full of MP3's.
- I've compressed that directory using Ark for zip-files or WinRar for rar-files.
- I've uploaded it to a file hosting service.
My 'old' uploads are done on Windows XP with WinRar, I use Linux with Ark nowadays. Differences:
Old: .rar files; New: .zip files
Old: password: CaesarTjalbo; New: no password
Old: uploaded to rapidshare.DE; New: uploaded to rapidshare.COM
WinRar I've used like this:
- I use a compression profile, which is a set of predefined settings. For example: if I've used the standard profile then there's no password on the archive, if I've used the profile for this blog then the password is CaesarTjalbo. Since I only have 2 profiles there really is no other option.
- I compress contiguously; I select the entire content of what I want to archive and have WinRar break it down for me. That means that FileName.part2.rar really is useless without part 1 and vice versa. It also means that when you have all parts, you only need to extract 1 part, WinRar extracts the rest for you.
- I've set the Recovery record, it's 1%. That means you can try to Repair the file. See WinRar's help for more information, look under Recovery record.
On your side: Common problems:
- Some filenames are too long. That's my fault and it has happened because I rarely type in filedata myself but use FreeDB or CDDB in stead. It should not lead to a completely useless archive but only to those files whose filenames are too long. A typical characteristic is that the filenames can't be changed with a rename.
Let me know in the comments what happened and which files it's about.
- Some characters in filenames are allowed on the Linux filesystem but not on the Windows filesystem, most noticeably : and ". I try to remember to look for it before I post an archive but I've made some mistakes in the recent past. Mail or comment, I'll fix it asap.
- Password doesn't work. That's very possible and has happened once. Since I use a compression profile with WinRar however, it's either no password and you won't be asked about it, or CaesarTjalbo. That has an odd serie of vowels so you best copy/paste in stead of typing it over, count the *'s, it's 12 characters long. The password is case-sensitive.
Feel free to comment/mail though, I'll up it again without password.
- It doesn't unpack. Do you use WinRar? Is your version up-to-date? If so, try downloading the file again. Still fails? Let me know in the comments. I guess it's possible to damage a file during upload or download. If you feel this has happened try the Repair function of WinRar.
Problems with .zip files: comment/mail and try to look if you can see where it goes wrong, if it's a single song or an entirely corrupt archive.
Please do understand: with the more files I upload, publish and receive no complaints about, the less likely it is that it's a problem I can do something about.
My follow up: I download the file myself and try to unpack it, I even listen to the MP3's. If there's a problem I'll change the post on the blog, if not I'll at least let you know I've tested it.
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