Problem downloading larger files

Jul 16 04 6:48 am

In our network, when a user downloads larger files (usually 10mb or more) via the Wingate proxy server, the files do not download completely. It appears that they do, but when a user attempts to open any of the files, they generate "corrupt file" error messages, or in the case of downloaded Compaq Softpaq files, an "empty Softpaq" message or "Softpaq File Is Corrupt" message appears. Automatic Norton Antivirus updates work OK, and if I download a Softpaq or any other type of file directly onto our Wingate server, the whole file will download and execute normally.

For example, one Compaq Softpaq in particular is specified as "24.0 mb file size" on Compaq's web page, but if a user downloads it to their PC via the Wingate server, the file size is only about 18 mb, and will not execute. A download of the same Softpaq file directly to the Wingate server results in the full 24.0mb file, and it will open normally.

We have a simple peer-to-peer network, and the Wingate server is connected to the internet via a T-1 connection. All of the network and internet functions work beautifully, and we've never had this file download problem until just recently. I've checked Wingate's settings through Gatekeeper and I can't find anything wrong. Please HELP!

Jul 16 04 8:36 am

Hi Pete!

What version of WinGate are you using?

Do you have any plug-ins (Anti-virus or PureSight) installed?

Larry

Jul 17 04 1:32 am

labull wrote:Hi Pete!

What version of WinGate are you using?

Do you have any plug-ins (Anti-virus or PureSight) installed?

Larry

We are running version 5.2.3 (the latest, I believe). We have no plug-ins running within Wingate (we use Norton Antivirus throughout our system).

I tried your suggestion this mornng...stopped the engine, deleted the history.cdx and .dbf files, restarted the engine; no luck. I tried downloading the 24.0mb file download again onto a client machine, but only 18.4mb out of the full 24.0mb downloaded. This is odd, because there are no error messages of any kind during the download (such as "connection to server lost" or anything like that). As I said, if I download the same 24.0mb file through Internet Explorer on the Wingate server, the whole file downloads OK and opens properly. This problem is relatively new, but I can't pinpoint exactly when it started.

Thanks for your help.

Jul 17 04 8:40 am

the same happened to me. i was trying to download a file from my school. it was an iso image file, ~650MB. it stopped succesively at : 200MB, 250 and finally 300MB. The download took place not on the gateway. I am running 5.2.3. It seems though , that for files transferred with Bit Torrent, it doesnt happen this.

Jul 17 04 4:46 pm

Are you using Wingate's HTTP proxy and Antivirus? If so, try turning off the AV plug-in for the HTTP proxy. I have found (and previously reported to this forum) similar problems with 5.2.3 when downloading large files. The bug in Wingate, for me, is that the AV plugin (kvass.exe) starts consuming all the CPU durning large downloads, which then starves the file transmission from the originating server, and eventually the file download times out. If you are using FTP to download the file and you are using Wingate's FTP proxy, then turn off Wingate's proxy. I have also experienced problems with the FTP proxy durning large uploads and download and have had to turn off the FTP proxy for them to succeed.

Jul 20 04 1:40 am

We have no plug-ins installed in Wingate at all. Here's a point, though...our client PCs have Internet Explorer configured to connect via a LAN connection, and to use port 80 on the Wingate server for everything, including HTTP, Secure, FTP and Gopher servers...they all use port 80 (the box for "Use the same proxy server for all protocols" is selected). Using port 80 for everything was never a problem until recently...is it possible that setting the FTP server port to match Wingate's FTP port would solve the problem?

Jul 20 04 10:23 am

Hi Pete,

We had a problem with FTP in 5.2.3 where the proxy was expecting the traffic to be scanned even though no plug-ins were installed, so after 75% of the file was downloaded the transmission would wait for scanning to start. The workaround for this is to install Kaspersky AV, (you can install free for 30 days to make sure it fixes the problem) or upgrade to the Release Candidate 2.

Regards,

Matt