I just downloaded the Mandrake 10.1 Official from a mirror site and just for the hell of it decided to check the posted md5 sums against the ISOs, I used md5summer.

I found that for ISOs 1 & 3 the md5 sum did not agree but for ISO 2 it did?

Has any one else tried this and did you get the same answer?

For the record, the download and checking was done on a XP2 service pack 2 PC using Firefox 1.0

Rgrds Peter

If it didn't match, you either didn't get all the bits, or you got some extra.

It's a gamble, it may still work. But if one of the packages you need is less, your system maynot complete the install or it might crash once you have it all installed.

download again, I say. and/or try a different mirror.

Glenn,

Hence the reason for my query.

Is it the MD5 sums that are wrong ?
Or did I get a bad download or two.

I don't want to go and download again if its a typo in MD5 file

So I repeat my question , have you or anyone else checked the posted MD5 sum against the downloaded iso? If you get the MD5s to agree then which checker did you use, maybe my copy of md5summer is not working properly.

Rgrds Peter

The published md5sums are correct for the images according to the information I have:

7833f17c3fbe95581c48cf3848792d21 Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD1.i586.iso
5850545e8fa3f63323a90b1403ec5064 Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD2.i586.iso
029f660c78e29427f775a54284fb7085 Mandrakelinux-10.1-Official-Download-CD3.i586.iso

It should make no difference which md5 program you use unless it is one that cannot compute md5sums....

That's right...

Assume the download is bad if the file itself doesn't produce the same sums.

Note: Don't go by MD5'ing the resulting burned disk.

Some programs append lead-out blocks which the MD5 summer can see when you are using it against a disk.

Instead run it against the downloaded image, and verify your disks against the correct image.

Follow opjose advice.

If the iso's don't add up, then re-download.

Cheers

Thanks Guys,

Guess I'm still hanging out for someone to say "YES, I have checked the images in question and the MD5s match those posted".
Its the Project Manager in me, from experience I have found that if you don't nail the supplier with easy one word answer type questions then the buggers can get slippery and you don't end up with what you want.

So,opjose and GlennsPref , My MD5 checks were against the downloaded image, but thanks for the reminder. marksouth2000, almost the answer I was after , see rant above, but not quite.


Looks like I'll have to download CD1 and CD3 again,but I might wait till this thunderstorm activity we've had all week goes away, just in case.

Rgrds Peter

I wrote a couple posts above yours the words "The published md5sums are correct for the images according to the information I have". Nobody else had issues understanding what that meant, especially since I presented that information for you to compare with yours.

It was up to you at that stage to confirm that those were the md5 hashes that you were checking against. Were they?

BTW (and I'm trying to help you out here) don't try pulling rank ("Hey, look at me, I'm a Project Manager, I know how to express myself with greater precision than you do!"). First, it just makes people wish they hadn't bothered to try to help you. Second, they may well be people who hire and fire project managers. (I've had 12 PMs simultaneously working for me in the past.) Third, I doubt anybody here is on your payroll and owes you an answer. Fourth...but if you don't get it after the first three you are never going to work it out.

If you aren't happy that an answer has solved your problem, try asking the question in a different form instead.

Good luck with downloading CD1 and CD3.

Mark,

Your taking this far to seriously.
I appreciated all the replies and I did use your quoted MD5 hashes as a backup test.
I wasn't trying to pull rank, if you feel this to be the case my apologies , I was simply stating why I was being so pendantic about the reply I was after .

Any way as it turns out the two ISOs in question don't work because they are ~200MB smaller then they should be - D'oh. I didn't see this till after I sent my last message and its something I should have looked at first up **walks away with egg set firmly on face **

Rgrds

If the md5 sum doesn't match, either the published numbers are wrong or you iso is dud. If the published numbers are wrong, there will be a VERY large number of pissed off people - which results in lots of posts, and tends to be very public.

In other words, you can usually trust the MD5 sums published. And it isn't that uncommon to get an incomplete download - I got one for 10.1O as well, and then publicly complained, without checking the MD5. Dickhead!

Oh well, live and learn,

Jim

Yes, the md5's do match. I downloaded the 10.1 Official iso cd's and used md5summer to verify matching files were bit copies. (I also used an XPPro service pack 2 PC).

As an aside, if you're burning the iso's with Nero, tick the Verify Written Data box - I found lots of read errors on my first CD2 burn which showed up with this box ticked.

Cheers Alastair

Dom, no offence caused or taken, no apologies needed. Let's just work on a friendly basis and make sure not to get into a pedantry competition.

The "ISOs smaller than expected" is a common problem when one leaves a download running. Mine often seem to hang at about 670 Mb with 5 Mb or so to go. This also seems to happen more often when I'm not watching. Of course, they are also normally non-resumable. Murphy likes ISO images.

As an addendum to the advice given by the excellent Opjose above, the greatest happiness is when you: download ISO and MD5; check MD5 of ISO and it's correct; burn CD; check MD5 of burned image (see the Coasterless CD Burning webpages at http://www.troubleshooters.com/linux/coasterless.htm for how) and it comes out the same. However, as Opjose says, it can happen that a burned image does not hash correctly. I had that happen with the November 2004 ISO of BeatrIX, so I assumed the disc was a coaster, burned another, and that had the same new MD5 hash. Both discs work fine. Did I point out that Murphy likes ISO images?

BTW, when you readers out there are done with your new installs or when you get a new version of some liveCD, archive the ISOs and give your used CDs to friends/colleagues. It's a form of recycling, and it helps to spread Linux systems further.

Happy burning!

Thanks guys for all your input. The web sites mentioned have been bookmarked for further info.

I'll wait for the local thunderstorm activity to pass then go download again.

I have stapled to my forhead a note to remind me to look at the ISO size first then worry about MD5 *sigh*

Rgrds to you all