Prof.Wizard said:
Yep: IE6.
And in the past it has happened with IE5 as well.
I think it's an EOF issue as Mercutio said. The thing is, if you don't know the exact size of the file you might think that you have downloaded it all and then when it's not working believe it was all a joke and NOT try again.
The message Windows give is "Download Complete", like if it was downloaded for good.
I think Mercutio's explanation is correct, but perhaps missing some details.
What's likely happening is one of two things:
1) The FTP server
is reporting the problem back to you
-or-
2) The FTP server doesn't say a thing, but instead
it simply closes the connection (as opposed to you or your browser closing the connection).
In either case, your browser isn't capable of passing that information on to you. Remember for a moment: your web-browser is, fundamentally, just a web-browser. It's not a dedicated, high-class FTP client application. All it can do is tell you whether you're receiving data or not. It can't tell the difference between a halt in the flow of data due to the file having been fully downloaded, or the data flow halting because the FTP server adminstrator just manually kicked your session.
The FTP code used in some applications, including all the web-browsers I've ever used, is very basic. It sees the connection has closed, or the transfer has stopped, and all it can do to let the user know that the data has stopped arriving is to say, "It's done". It's a web browser first and foremost after all - not a dedicated FTP client. It's
not designed to show the user the gory details flying back and forth between client and server during each session.
That's my guess. Your connection to the server is dying, and your web-browser isn't capable of showing you the real reason why it happened. It just says that the transfer's finished.
If you're having consistent problems downloading a file from a specific FTP server, switch to a full-fledged FTP application that will let you see the messages from the server (and the client) as they occur. Heck, even the command-line FTP application that's included with DOS/Windows is better than what's found in your typically web-browser in that respect.
My guess is, you'll either see a message like "Cannot build binary data connection" or "Connection closed by remote host". Either one could indicate the FTP server is overloaded.
Next time you need to download a file, and you think there's
any chance you'll be frustrated by a broken download, copy the link, and then USE A REAL FTP CLIENT. :wink:
Heck, I'm sure some StorageForum readers can offer some advice for those really cool FTP client apps that will even allow you to pick up aborted downloads from where they left off.
Personally, I use WS-FTP on Windows, and gFTP on Linux. Both provide nice, GUI, drag-and-drop environments, but both still managed to provide an area on the screen that reports
all the primary connection and transfer messages during an FTP session.
