[TriLUG] Download corruption

[Glenn Starling]

Warren Myers wrote:
> dumb question: but had the file actually finished downloading?

Yes, that was my first thought, too.  I had wondered if the file system
was caching before writing the final block or something.  So I waited
about 10 minutes after the download supposedly ended and double checked
for inactivity of the router data light flashing.

As a test, I downloaded a shorter file 3 times, and did 3 comparisons
among the files.  It seems that the bytes that differ are in some
multiple (like 1024 bytes from the start of the file).  But not every
multiple of that number had an error.  I need to recheck my observations
to be absolutely sure.

Bryan Daniels wrote:

> If you're getting different results from consecutive runs of MD5sum on
> the same file, then you've got memory or HD errors.  The file should
> not be changing (you're sure it's not still downloading?), and MD5sum
> should give the same results every time.

I ran overnight the mem check program on an old Ubuntu CD, and it found
no errors.  There has never been any "flaky" behavior on the file system
that I'm aware of on this machine.  (It is Reiser.)  Are there any tests
you would recommend?

I had also wondered if the router might be corrupting some bits?  Is it
worth a test to bypass my router?  (This is my home system, so there are
not any mission critical 24/7 apps running.)

Thanks for your thoughts!

-- Glenn