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DavidHorn
24th January 2006, 09:27
Hello -

I manage a website for a client which includes a 21Mb MP3 file. Over 600 people have downloaded this file, and most have no problems whatsoever.

However, a significant minority are unable to download the complete file - many of them seem to crash out at a seemingly random 2 mins and 44seconds precisely (the whole file is about 30 minutes).

Seemingly, when the client then sends the customer a link to the MP3 file in an email, they no longer have problems downloading the file.

I can recommend that people use a download manager, and I can recommend that the file is sent to individuals on a CD (although this then incurs further time / cost) ...

... what other solutions are there?

Is this common?

Many thanks in advance,

David
confused
24th January 2006, 11:26
I cant see how it makes any difference if its downloaded from a link in an email, do you have other files for download of a similar size, if so do these have problems?
DavidHorn
24th January 2006, 11:33
No - it shouldn't make any difference at all, that's part of what's confusing me. Nope, other downloads happen fine - although they're not as big as this one.
confused
24th January 2006, 11:38
do you have a link ?
The people that are having trouble, do they h ave anything in common? same ISP ? or some sort of download manager maybe
crus
24th January 2006, 11:44
Hi,

How are you redirecting the customer to the link,
are they clicking on the link the same way as in the email or are you passing them through a tracking script.

What server ienvironment are you running?

D
DavidHorn
24th January 2006, 13:12
Hi -

Unfortunately, I can't send you the link (it costs $40 to get to the link, and my client doesn't want me sending it around).

They're not being re-directed through a tracking script, or anything like that, it's just a plain old link written in HTMl on a web page.

It's running on a shared hosting service - using Apache.

I think the bottom line is that it's a download manager problem on the user end. The only really odd thing is the fact that when there is a problem, it only downloads 2mins 44 seconds of the file - no more, no less.

Anyway, thanks for your help guys,

David