And even more Java - This bug is solved because the problem is known



  • This is possibly more of a Stupid Programmer WTF, but, Java is involved so I'm blaming Java.

    I've been using this download manager program for a while, and even though it's written in Java it's actually pretty good, with a decent UI and no really obvious WTFs.  But recently I started noticing that quite a few downloads would randomly fail with an error message of:  "no permission to write to hard disk".  Since I knew it wasn't a permissions issue, I decided to visit their support forum.  There I found a thread that began in 2009, continuing up to the present, with quite a few people reporting this same problem.

    At first, the developer's response was the standard "our program is fine, you're doing something wrong."  When posts about the problem continued, the developer offered such helpful advice as "uninstall your ant-virus program" and "use an older version of Java" (Hello security flaws!!) along with rambling incoherent messages about The Great Firewall of China and other stuff.  When more people pointed out that they had actually tried the devloper's helpful advice but still had the same problem, the developer pretty much went back to "our program is fine, you're doing something wrong."

    Eventually a couple of people dug into the problem and concluded that it had something to do with a flaky file server and/or internet connection.  The theory being that your connection to the server is lost or reset but the server still detects your IP status as downloading and so it denies attempts to reconnect or resume download.  And so the program tries to reconnect and fails.   The developer never came right out and admitted that this was the problem but hinted that it might be the case.  This of course led a lot of people to ask the obvious question:  why don't you at least show us decent error message, like "Your connection has fuxxored". 

    The response (posted July 2011):

    ". . . the problem of the wrong message is known by the developers for many years and is too difficult to remove. That's one of the reasons why since 2009 jD is being redeveloped."

    and my personal favorite:

    "This thread is tagged [solved] because the problem is known.  All customers who had such problems have been helped and do no longer have the problem, otherwise they would have said so."



  • @El_Heffe said:

    download manager

    That brings back memories... what, Download Accelerator Plus still exists?? Oh man, too much...



  • @El_Heffe said:

    download manager

     

    Surely this is TRWTF, now that browsers' built-in downloaders are good at resuming. And if you *need* a separate download manager, there are good free ones that work.

    I like DownThemAll pretty well, but haven't used it in ages because the built-in one just works.

     



  • @joemck said:

    I like DownThemAll pretty well, but haven't used it in ages because the built-in one just works.

    I use DownThemAll every time some SpectateSwamp-like bastard thinks it's a good idea to link to a huge bunch of files individually (or embed them as images) instead of making a single downloadable zip archive out of them.


  • BINNED

    @El_Heffe said:

    and even though it's written in Java it's actually pretty good, with a decent UI
     

    Pics or it didn't happen.

     



  • @joemck said:

    Surely this is TRWTF, now that browsers' built-in downloaders are good at resuming.

    Wow, a time traveller from the distant future!  I envy you, good sir, but please do not taunt us with technology so far beyond our reach.  In our poor time period of 2011, browsers' built-in downloaders are only capable of resuming when the phase of the moon is right (and woe betide he who reboots his computer and then expects his browser to continue downloading where it left off).

     

    @joemck said:

    And if you *need* a separate download manager, there are good free ones that work.

    This, on the other hand, is totally correct.  It's called wget.  Nothing further is necessary.

     



  • @joemck said:

    browsers' built-in downloaders are good at resuming
    True.  But they don't allow you to que up a bunch of files from different sources.  @joemck said:
    there are good free ones that work
    The one I use is free and it works .... most of the time.



  • OP is talking about JDownloader. It does what no other download manager does. It can automatically wait on RapidShare and other similar sites, it can use your premium account if you have it, it can bypass those moronic "link protector" sites etc, so it can't really be compared to other download managers.
    Now, you blame my dear Java once more and I ax you.



  • Am I the only one still experiencing the years-old bug in which Firefox's download manager considers an interrupted download to have completed successfully, even if it's not the size the server said it should be? That's about as far from "just works" as you can get.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    Isn't TRWTF needing this sort of thing in a download manager? What are you guys downloading? Perhaps TRWTF is your ISP or something, at which point I could see the value. Or maybe having a fiber connection has just spoiled me.



  • @boomzilla said:


    Isn't TRWTF needing this sort of thing in a download manager? What are you guys downloading? Perhaps TRWTF is your ISP or something, at which point I could see the value. Or maybe having a fiber connection has just spoiled me.

    No, like... downloading radio shows posted to Rapidshare. You can queue up like 100 downloads and not have to track your daily quotas or wade through any captchas, 60 second "waiting periods" for a link to become active for a download, etc. These things are totally unrelated to the type of internet connection you have.

    JDownloader is honestly pretty amazing for a Java program with a GUI.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Power Troll said:

    No, like... downloading radio shows posted to Rapidshare. You can queue up like 100 downloads...

    o_O



  • @boomzilla said:

    @Power Troll said:
    No, like... downloading radio shows posted to Rapidshare. You can queue up like 100 downloads...

    o_O

    X Minus One!!



  • @Power Troll said:

    These things are totally unrelated to the type of internet connection you have.

    That they may be, but totally related to the (lack of) intelligence of the user and of whoever guy uploaded them to Rapidshare in the first place. TRWTF, however, is Rapidshare itself.



  • @derula said:

    @Power Troll said:
    These things are totally unrelated to the type of internet connection you have.

    That they may be, but totally related to the (lack of) intelligence of the user and of whoever guy uploaded them to Rapidshare in the first place. TRWTF, however, is Rapidshare itself.

    I couldn't agree more. I think that the shows are uploaded by some Russian, and the website is in Russian (which idk), though, so my options are limited.



  • I though Rapidshare was only for porn.



  • @The_Assimilator said:

    I though Rapidshare was only for porn.

    Tell me more about that. It's news to me.


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