As I try to download files using Mozilla, I keep finding that it won't fully download. My first try for a 14 MB file may only get 1.6MB, and the second try may get 2.1 MB. Everytime, my download window disappears as if it's done, and when I check the file, it isn't the proper size, often resulting in a bad .deb or tarbal. What is going on here that I'm not getting the whole thing?

Have you tried downloading from another machine?

You may want to check:
- Network settings (duplex, etc.) (ifconfig)
- Bad cable?

T

I was having this same problem with my Windows machine too. Since I use a dial-up connection, should I suspect my ISP?

I would suspect the ISP. Mine does that all the time.

One thing to try would be using a P2P client and seeing if it is on Gnutella or other such networks.

I have never tried P2P. Can I use it with FTP or HTTP? IE: will Sourceforge support it?

No, P2P (peer to peer) is a file *sharing* system, so it relies on files other people have downloaded already, and the downloads can be interrupted and resumed at a later date and won't just crap out on you like in Mozilla. Also, since you can download the same file from several people simultaneously, files have the possibility of being much faster than downloading them straight off the web.

So, if everyone with a fast internet connection and a P2P client who read this thread would download that file and share it on Gnutella, you could get that file in no time with a P2P client. I suggest Limewire, but if your not into commercial sofware, here's a site with a list of Linux Gnutella P2P clients: http://www.gnutelliums.com/

But if that ^ idea is going to work, we would need to know the file to download.

Never mind, you're talking about something like KaAzA, which has brought death to my system multiple times and gotten me flooded with spam. I'm not playing that anymore!

no, nothing like kazaa. try bittorrent for a mostly clean system, and a completely clean client. most of the p2p apps on linux are pretty good that way.

try gift or mldonkey if you don't mind compiling a few different packages, limewire is a little nicer if you do.

Same basic concept isn't it?

Also, hopefully before long, I can get a better web connection.

Also use a download manager. It can resume and pause your downloads if you are using a slow net connection.

I've found that if the I pause the download and then lose my connection, and then resume the download after restoring the connection, the download managers I've tried do not continue. I have also found that my problem persists with d/l managers, it will download so far and then say "done". Strangely, it seems as if I immediately download it over upon "completion", it will download further. Any ideas here?

If you use
wget will try 30 times default to get the file I think. It will resume on broken downloads also. Sorry I'm on a windows box. I don't recall the switch. Look at the man page for wget.
If wget does not dload it then it is a corrupt file or something. I've seen wget try for 6 hours to get a CD size .iso until it got it.

I read your post, that is a weird problem if a dload mgr won't pick up a stalled file. You can also use a switch to make wget try as many times to resume as you want.

Well durn. That sounds like it may help if I just had wget, but my Linspire box doesn't have it. Think I can hit debian up for it?

Debian should have it, yes.

I tell you what, I know it's installed on my Debian box, think I can find wget on my Deb CD's? ...now if only I could take care of a funky dependency issue that's in another thread. Any ideas on why a .deb package, under Sarge-Debian, would ask for a package that's already correctly installed? I don't know how I keep finding these unusual problems, but I keep somehow coming up with them.