Download Issues

[Purcy]

Hi all. I am new to the Usenet world after spending the last years on torrents. I have found that Usenet is good, however I have had quite a few disappointments in downloading where I have found that the download is not complete and that I have needed more repair blocks. I have done quite a bit of reading around the web and have tried Quickpar however this this still hasn't been able to run the repair as the wasn't enough repair blocks available. Given that the downloads themselves are extremely large , you can probably understand my frustration. Hopefully someone may be able to provide me with some advice on the following questions that I have to hopefully resolve this issue:
1. I have read that I should contact the uploader toask for further Par2 blocks to be posted to allow the repair. How would I do that?
2. I have also read that I should have a backup server loaded to download the missing blocks. Astraweb seems to be the server of choice, but I don't seem to be able to find the account [block filler). Any suggestions?
I can understand peoples enthusiasm for newsgroups/Usenet but I must be honest , if the majority of downloads end up unusable, what is the use?

[sander]

@1: I've never heard of that. And I certainly haven't done it.
@2: Normally not necessary if you have a normal, good newsserver.

So: what's the exact messages you get after a download.
And how you do get the NZB yourself? Via binsearch.info, or some other place.
I can think of a few reasons for your problems:
* you create wrong NZBs on binsearch.info, for example without the pars
* you try to download posts that are beyond the retention of your newssprovider

[Purcy]

Sander, thanks for the quick response. The exact messages you get after a download is:
On SABnzbd
» Repair failed, not enough repair blocks (148 short)
How did I get the NZB? Via nzbsearch.net
I might add, that after running it through QuickPar the majority of folders were missing blocks. Any thoughts?

[sander]

I would check there are "par2" files in your NZB. Without par2-files, SABnzbd can not repair anything if in the download things are missing. So, how can you check if there are par2-files in a NZB? That's a bit technical, but it should work:
Option 1: open the .NZB-file itself with a text editor, and search for "par2" or "PAR2".
Or
Option 2: open the file sabnzbd.log for reading, and search for "PAR2 added to queue" (or "par2 added to queue")
So: did you find those files for the downloads that eventually failed?

Furthermore: check the age of a post: while it's in the download queue of SABnzbd, hover your mouse pointer above the download: SABnzbd will give a popup with the Age. What's the age for your (failing) downloads?

[TuffScout]

How old is your nzb Purcy?
Try Supernews, that server holds files for over 600 days. (http://supernews.com/)

[pobox]

Astraweb 25 GB for $10 is the non-expiring block account to use as a backup server.

[Purcy]

Hi Sander,

yes there are PAR2 files within the NZB and the post is 211 days old. I can understand that this could effect the download but I have got to ask, why only some of the blocks?

[sander]

Hi Sander,

yes there are PAR2 files within the NZB and the post is 211 days old. I can understand that this could effect the download but I have got to ask, why only some of the blocks?

Which newsserver-provider do you use? And what's their retention.

About other downloads: are there downloads that go OK? If so, what's their age?

[Purcy]

Hi Sander,

I am currently using my ISP, Internode, in Australia, who are purportedly affiliated with Giganews, although I am trying to confirm this. In regards to the other downloads, yes I do have success with some, with ages varying from 3 days through to over 300.

I guess it is just hit and miss at times, with those NZB over a certain age deteriorating. It is just very frustrating when you download extremely large files and have to cross your fingers and toes to try and get them complete!

All that said, are you aware if there is any easy way of retrieving PAR2 files that may be able to assist in recovering a download?

One thing that I did note was that the download only contained 11 PAR2 files while the information data on the NZBSearch site indicated that there was 13 included in the download. Are you aware of anyway of interrogating the NZBSearch info any further?

[TuffScout]

Sometimes blocks can be damaged too. if this happens often, try an other news server for 1 month or so.

[sander]

One thing that I did note was that the download only contained 11 PAR2 files while the information data on the NZBSearch site indicated that there was 13 included in the download. Are you aware of anyway of interrogating the NZBSearch info any further?

That's not good; both the .NZB and the sabnzbd.log logfile should show all PAR2 files that a search site shows. (SABnzbd will only download the PAR2 that are needed, but that's something else). This could be caused by the way how you make a .NZB on a search site.

[pobox]

Your ISP service 'news.internode.on.net' is provided by Astraweb, not Giganews.

A Highwinds server would be a good backup for Astraweb, such as a block account from Newsgroupdirect.