Help...for the love of GOD, please

[mfudge]

Hi,

I'm fairly new to using alt.binz and I'm really frustrated that I cant access the files that I'm downloading.  I'm kinda ready to give up....please help!
Heres my signal path...
I use NZBmatrix (www.nzbmatrix.com) to search and download files (movies, TV Shows etc)....I open them with Alt binz and download.   
Heres my problem.....I can rarely actually unzip the files after they are downloaded.  Sometimes it works with winrar...but rarely.  Its really frustrating having a bunch of movies downloaded and I cant access them...plus its taking up a lot of space. 
can someone help me with a step by step process?  I'll love you forever!

Cheers

[DM8Mydog]

Thats where par2 come in, to repair any damaged files
(due to missing parts or botched posting, or whatever, this is usenet after all.)

http://www.slyck.com/Newsgroups_Guide_PAR_PAR2_Files <--- for some theory

in a few words, either have altbinz autorepair
-or-
google quickpar,
grab it ,
install it,
....before you remove the paused entry from altbinz (the paused entry has the .par2 recovery volumes that weren't downloaded)
check everything you download by opening the small .par2 file (or just any .par2 file that you downloaded).
if it sais it's complete, you're done.

if it sais it needs x volumes to repair then:
unpause x or more volumes from the queue,
wait for them to d/l,
run the .par2 again and it'll repair it.
(on an extra note, be careful not to have two quickpar instances running on the same parset)

[Hecks]

Also, your Log is a treasure-trove of information (set it to Detailed).  It will tell you exactly what it's downloading, any files that are incomplete and (usually) why, any server errors, any actions performed by the PAR2 check & autorepair, etc.  The PAR2 tab shows what the PAR2 checker & autounrar is doing (use QuickPar as a manual fallback only).

More information is in the Wiki, and in the Quick Start guides, linked in my sig ...

[mfudge]

Thanks for the replies guys.

With the information you gave me, I wasnt able to retrieve all the files.  I was able to retrieve most of it (5 blocks left on 1 file). ...I do understand the system a little better now.  It seems pretty unreliable to use sites like this.  Using up bandwidth and not being able to get the files is a huge waste. 
Any more tips?  I mean,  why wouldnt I be able to retrieve all of the missing pieces?  I followed the instructions you gave and got most....but there were still some missing.

Thanks very much

[DM8Mydog]

I was able to retrieve most of it (5 blocks left on 1 file)

yes yes but did you download repair volumes at all?
are 5 blocks required after all available repair volumes have already been downloaded
or, you haven't downloaded any repair volumes, and ... well, just download them in this case.

[mfudge]

Ya, I did....it solved most of it...but not those 5.  I think it was just bad luck?  I've tried 2 more downloads since and I can extract everything fine. 
Let me know if you have ideas about that....if not...we'll chalk it to bad luck.
Thank you so much for the help.
Cheers

[Jesus]

I never chalked one up to bad luck because I never gave up downloading a Usenet post until I knew exactly what the problem was.  The MB's of recovery data that is posted (and usually not needed) is a legacy from past years when there were more issues than there are now.

[DM8Mydog]

Ya, I did....it solved most of it...but not those 5.  I think it was just bad luck?  I've tried 2 more downloads since and I can extract everything fine. 
Let me know if you have ideas about that....if not...we'll chalk it to bad luck.
Thank you so much for the help.
Cheers

you keep confusing me
there is no such thing as 'most of it'
it either fixes it or not
why do you keep saying 'most of it' (twice already)? is this a single release, single parset, or something else?

in any case, if your service is one of the smaller/crappier ones it might be due to the service, if it's one of the bigger ones, it might be due ot the poster messing up too much (look for an extended parset just in case they posted one) , or in the case of Giga, and this being a movie some giga posts get nubbed if the copyright holder reports the specific post to giga (it's usually movies...), in which case the first part of each rar gets deleted which might or might not make the release un-repairable...

[Hecks]

Thanks for the replies guys.

With the information you gave me, I wasnt able to retrieve all the files.  I was able to retrieve most of it (5 blocks left on 1 file). ...I do understand the system a little better now.  It seems pretty unreliable to use sites like this.  Using up bandwidth and not being able to get the files is a huge waste. 
Any more tips?  I mean,  why wouldnt I be able to retrieve all of the missing pieces?  I followed the instructions you gave and got most....but there were still some missing.

Thanks very much

It's true as Jesus wrote that needing to repair files is relatively rare these days (except for the Giganews issues pointed out by DM8Mydog, which can be easily solved by having a second backup server).  Start with the assumption that only about 1% of downloads actually need repairing, and try to work out your problem from there.  Note also that PAR2 repair blocks can typically only repair up to 10% or so of missing/corrupt files in a set - so anything roughly under 90% complete most likely can't be repaired.  Don't even try to download those.

Check your Log for exactly what is missing and why.  If you're seeing lots of 'Article not found' messages, then it's a server problem - most likely that the files are older than your server's retention period.  If it's messages about corrupt files, then it's probably either a network problem, or an issue with your PC hardware (memory, hard drive, etc).   Also check that the NZB you're using actually includes all the article parts - they should be numbered consecutively.