Downloaded files won't play anymore, progess reset to zero

[dybre]

As the topic says, I have a large torrent that I've been downloading in section.

Well today, the video files that were already completed won't play anymore (they were working fine before). After a hash check, the progress for that torrent reverted back to zero.

This was on version 1.24.

I've tried upgrading to the latest version. Re-starting the torrent with the same directory and still nothing.

Can someone explain this?

[russellnixon]

I have registered for the VIP member to speed up down loads today, and when I went back to the site it wiped off all the download time I had done.

Why would it do that and is what happens every now and again. After 4days of waiting for downloads Im not a happy bunny!!! :angry:

[The UnUsual Suspect]

You posted in the wrong section if your asking for help.

Also, your unclear as to what this means...

I have a large torrent that I've been downloading in section.

but I suspect you may be improperly using the function to disable files in a torrent, and may be infact deleting completed files then not understanding why they aren't there.

First thing you need to do is read the rules for requesting support, then be very clear exactly what you've done to produce this problem. If your going to use your own unique lingo to describe things, such as "downloading in section", then your going to have to describe what this means to use exactly, and post screenshots for anything you can't fully describe.

[dybre]

You posted in the wrong section if your asking for help.

Also, your unclear as to what this means...

but I suspect you may be improperly using the function to disable files in a torrent, and may be infact deleting completed files then not understanding why they aren't there.

First thing you need to do is read the rules for requesting support, then be very clear exactly what you've done to produce this problem. If your going to use your own unique lingo to describe things, such as "downloading in section", then your going to have to describe what this means to use exactly, and post screenshots for anything you can't fully describe.

What I meant by "downloading in sections" is just downloading a few files at a time, rather than downloading the entire batch of files.

Also, I didn't try to disable files or anything. The only thing I did was open bitcomet, and resume downloading. After the auto hash check, thats when I noticed the torrent progress set at zero and the previously downloaded video files unplayable.

[greywizard]

Well, I've read today quite a few other similar reports of progress reset to 0% after a hash-check.

What nobody explained clearly was why or in what conditions was that hash-check triggered. Usually BitComet hash-checks the contents of a torrent only if it has a record of some changes regarding the location of the files (e.g. they became unaccessible) or other actions which may have changed the contents of the file.

It certainly doesn't (or at least shouldn't) do that on a regular basis when you start BitComet and simply resume your tasks.

In order to narrow this down, a little more info will be in order.

1. What OS do you use?

2. Did anything change on your system before this started happening (e.g. updates in Windows, new software you installed, whatever major you can remember)?

3. What security software/antivirus do you use?

4. (This is very important) Where is the location for the files which had the progress reset to 0%? On a fixed drive (inside your computer) or on a removable drive?

5. Did you tried to play the files directly from their folder (i.e. not by using BitComet's preview feature) with your usual video player? I mean, you didn't try to use the Play/Preview feature inside BitComet, right? That way we'll know for sure that the files are actually corrupted, not only inaccessible from within BitComet.

5. Can you check and report back if the Save Path in the task's properties window is still the same as the actual location of the files on the disk?

6.Did the extension of the files changed back to .bc! or it's still the same?

[dybre]

Well, I've read today quite a few other similar reports of progress reset to 0% after a hash-check.

What nobody explained clearly was why or in what conditions was that hash-check triggered. Usually BitComet hash-checks the contents of a torrent only if it has a record of some changes regarding the location of the files (e.g. they became unaccessible) or other actions which may have changed the contents of the file.

It certainly doesn't (or at least shouldn't) do that on a regular basis when you start BitComet and simply resume your tasks.

In order to narrow this down, a little more info will be in order.

1. What OS do you use?

2. Did anything change on your system before this started happening (e.g. updates in Windows, new software you installed, whatever major you can remember)?

3. What security software/antivirus do you use?

4. (This is very important) Where is the location for the files which had the progress reset to 0%? On a fixed drive (inside your computer) or on a removable drive?

5. Did you tried to play the files directly from their folder (i.e. not by using BitComet's preview feature) with your usual video player? I mean, you didn't try to use the Play/Preview feature inside BitComet, right? That way we'll know for sure that the files are actually corrupted, not only inaccessible from within BitComet.

5. Can you check and report back if the Save Path in the task's properties window is still the same as the actual location of the files on the disk?

6.Did the extension of the files changed back to .bc! or it's still the same?

1. Vista 64bit

2. No new software or hardware changes

3. AVG Antivirus (free edition)

4. Directory was set to an internal drive. Never changed.

5. I did not use BitComet's preview feature. I went directly to the file.

6. The directory is still the same.

If I go to the directory the completed files appears completed. No .bc! However, any video player I try it with can't play it. Which leads me to believe that the files are corrupted.

The files worked fine last night, and the day before that and so on...

[greywizard]

OK, that's officially weird.

However, the question which still stands unanswered at the core of all this is, why was the hash-check triggered in the first place?

Try this:

For a task which is completed in your Task List (e.g. a video file) backup its contents (so that you have them in case it goes haywire) and the run a manual hash check on the task.

Does the same scenario repeat itself?

If not, that means we're nowhere near a simple answer as there is not easy way to fathom if this is a BitComet bug or it's related to something else.

However, it may be worth to run a physical disk check, on the partition where the files of the task reside with either Window's Checkdisk or whatever else software you please, just to make sure that you don't have any bad sectors (i.e. signs of impending hardware failure).

[zupi2]

Hi! Just to note, seems I have the same problem:

I use version 1.25, Windows XP with SP3, AVG antivirus, saved on external HDD, played with external player, no changes in save path, no changes in the system.

Description:

- have been doing download for 30 days now (7 seasons: 171 avi files in 7 directories). Total progres was at 90% (43 GB downloaded). For the past few days I have been watching already downloaded videos, no problems. But today, all videos became corrupted (even those that played fine yesterday). After manual hash check, videos became fine but only the first few seconds all the rest has been lost! All videos have been reported as 1-2% downloaded (1,1% overall progress)!

[dybre]

I find that when downloading torrents thats quite large in size..auto hash check tends to run when i want to continue downloading (for most of the time).

[merlin97501]

I'm having this same problem. I was downloading a couple huge torrents (59GB and 37GB) that have set back to nothing.

What happened was: last night BitComet crashed. When I restarted I noticed that both of these huge torrents were 100% complete. I didn't believe this but I tried to watch one of the video files. It wouldn't load, which was strange since I could previously preview it. I tried a file I knew was complete and it wouldn't load either. So I ran a manual hashcheck. All the files seemed to be back at about 1% each. I was upset but figured these things happen some times.

Here's the really bad part: for the last 24 hours I have been trying to re-download those files. I previewed one this morning (when it was at about 15%) and it previewed as you would expect. Just now, I saw that it was nearly complete. When I went to preview this 80% complete file it said it couldn't read the file. I did another manual hashcheck and found that everything was back to 1%. On top of that, a third huge file that was fine last night and this morning has also become unreadable. It seems it re-corrupted and corrupted more...

I've checked many older files on that HDD and everything except the things I've tried to download with BitComet in the last 36 hours work fine.

As for that list of questions (to get a sample from various people):

1- Windows Vista 32bit

with BitComet v1.25

2- no changes for a couple weeks

3- AVG free

4- tried the files from BitComet, from within the folder, and with three different media players; all failed to load

5- same directory, on an internal hard drive that I have used for about a year (and passes a SMART test, today)

6- the extension did not change back, still has the same extension as the completed file (though you can no longer see the generated preview image).

Edited February 16, 2011 by merlin97501 (see edit history)

[crfc11]

helo i have been using Bitcomet for several years i have the lastest version and except a few minor bumps has been reliable and easy to use however 2 days ago i encountered a problem the files that i had partially downloaded and in most cases previewed would no longer open i use MPCStar as my media player and has bever failed me in case it had i downloaded 2 other similair media players all of which failed to open the completed files however i can still watch files that i have downloaded before 2 days ago and i also am having trouble with files reverting back to 0%

but i may have a clue normally when i complete a task the icon next to the task that indicates if its downloading (green arrown pointing down) uploading (orange arrow pointing up) turns into a yellow circle and the progress percentage recents and pregresses to 100% some form of completion check i presume well this is now happening every time i restart a task (booting up bitcmet and selecting a task and clicking start) please let me know how to resolve this problem as i dont want it spreading to other tasks on other computers

P.S.

dont try the whole wel have u read these 300000 pages of correct procedure lol just please let me know if u can fix it and if not then what to do :)

if u require further information please feel free to ask

Many thanks CRFC11

Vista

Nochanges

AVG free

no change at all in anything to do with files or bitcomet in at least 1 month

Edited February 16, 2011 by crfc11 (see edit history)

[dollguy]

Hi,

Since yesterday I am also facing similar problem.

I will try to explain as clearly as possible.

I was downloading a TV torrent which had 18 different files. I usually enable one file at a time episode wise and once it completes I download the next one.

So I get to watch episodes in the order.

Typically Bitcomet, which I have been using for over 3 years creates a .bc file only for the file that I have enabled i e which i have set priority to normal. but since yesterday I noticed that all the files within the torrent have a .bc extension with a 0kb file.

as others have tried to explain, files which were downloaded completely in the past and which I have already viewed using vlc media player in the past are now failing. hash check takes me back to 5.1% on a few files downloaded in the past.

Bitcomet crashed and did a hash check yesterday and since then some of the files which where seeding have got this problem as well. I have submitted a bug report.

I am wondering if this is some kind of attack by the media groups to destabilize our p2p network or just a BC bug.

really appreciate help in resolving this issue.

I am on xp

using MS security Essentials

no major changes in hardware/software in recent past

I hope I have been clear enough . if not let me know and I will do my best to answer any support questions.

BTW, When I downloaded one of files affected by this issue, using a different torrent, it worked well so I know its not the files that are corrupted

Edited February 16, 2011 by dollguy (see edit history)

[Lucy26]

Dear all, the development team is aware of this problem and working on it right now, but we have not found the solution yet. We will try to fix this problem ASAP. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. It is much appreciated if you can provide more detailed information of this issue.

[Pianomuso]

Hi,

I have exactly the same problem. Even some large files (over 6 Gig) that finished downloading weeks ago, and worked fine, have now reset to zero. Also, If I run a manual hash check on a completed file it reverts back to zero; so it seems there could be a fault with the hash check. Similar to other posts; I have not moved or altered any files. My drives are fine and I always download into the same folder. Have tried re-downloading some of the files using Tixati into the same folder and all worked fine. I have been using bit comet since it's first release, so do have experience of using torrent clients. This is very annoying as I have lost over 30 gig of downloads. I will start using a different client until this problem is resolved.

BitComet V1.25

Windows 7 64 Bit

Avast Anti Virus (I have tried disabling this - made no difference)

Cable Modem

[hardik_860]

i have been having above mentioned problems from 2 days ..unfinished torrents falls back to 0 % automatically and files won't be played ..

pls do something on it.....

[greywizard]

Since this seems to be an already verified bug that's being worked on by the development team, any fix that will come, I guess it will be in the form of a new beta.

Until such time there isn't much that can be done. If I were any of you guys experiencing this issue, I'd just put any big torrent I had in stopped state to protect the files that are completed, but that's just my two cents' worth.

Also, setting the following advanced options to FALSE may help reduce the number of hash check operations, which seem to be somehow related to this issue and thus avoid the problem (or at least reduce its frequency):

bittorrent.hash_check_if_file_changed

bittorrent.hash_check_on_finished

task.detect_file_missing

[kluelos]

If you can, it's probably a good idea to back up the incomplete download, so you can experiment on it without danger of losing your progress. If you don't have the disk space you can burn it to optical disk, as they've become very inexpensive.

[diablo60]

I´m having the exact same problem here. I´m downloading a 13 season series, one season at a time, and 2 days ago the download of the tree last episodes of season 2 ended. When i tried to watch them i realized the files where corrupted (i didn´t use the preview, went straight to the files). When i checked the other episodes (whitch were working fine one day before)they where corrupted too. The thing is i didn´t realize if an auto hash check had happened, but i used a manual hash check to see if the files would work again. After i did this the progress of the files i had already downloaded appeared as 1.8%, even though they are complete (but now they don´t work, as i mentioned). I use windows 7 64 bits. The files are kept in my HD (not external). I would really apreciate if someone could resolve this, because i have other big downloads and i don´t want to lose everything. THANK YOU!

[kluelos]

As far as we know, this issue affects only Win7 and Vista. Wiz and I are still on XP and haven't seen it happen. IF anyone has information to the contrary, we need to know that.

If, and only if, you have backed up your download, you may wish to try downgrading to version 1.22, and have it perform a manual hash check on your data. Then see how much BC says you've downloaded, and how much of it you can access. This may or may not work, it's an experiment. It might make things worse, so don't try it if you haven't backed up first. Either way, if you do this, please let us know what happened.

If you have backed up data, please hang on to it for now. The development team might want to see the corrupted files. They haven't asked, but please don't dispose of it quite yet.

[dollguy]

I am running on Xp sp3 and I have faced this issue, Thought u may want to know...

[dollguy]

I am running on Xp sp3 and I have faced this issue, Thought u may want to know...

[zupi2]

I also use Xp SP3 as mentioned in my first post.

Unfortunately, I don't have a corrupted version of the downloaded file (.avi) since it was "repaired" after first hash check, but set from 100% to 1% downloaded. The file is still 350 MB but not with .bc extension but .avi - if this helps a bit.

[merlin97501]

I've been trying to test a few things. I downloaded BitComet v1.26 and tried to download again. After I hashchecked I lost everything again. I'm downloading again and haven't lost anything for a day or so, however I have avoided the hashcheck.

One interesting thing I have noticed, though it may be coincidence, is that I only lost data on downloads in which I had disabled files near so the download would work at the beginning. I had one large file that I was downloading that didn't corrupt and the only thing different with it was that I let the whole thing download without disabling some files then downloading them later. And the file that I've been downloading or a day or has no disabled files.

Edited February 20, 2011 by merlin97501 (see edit history)

[greywizard]

Can any of you guys who posted before, confirm what merlin97501 noticed (i.e. that the issue seems to occur only when some of the files for the task are disabled)?

[dybre]

In my situation, I didn't disable any completed files or any in-progress files.

I was dealing with a 100gb torrent, so I downloaded the first 30gb, then I added/enabled another 30gb. Continued downloading with no changes for weeks.

Since I lost all my downloads, I've been using a different torrent file with no corruption to report as of yet.

I find that auto hash often runs when I go to resume progress everyday.