Setting downloads to 7 day expiration with unlimited downloads

[DrByte]

My files are instant download .pdf patterns and every time I try to download the .pdf it comes across as being corrupt and cannot be opened.

*every* time?
You're contradicting yourself:

The really odd part is that if I clear my internet properties then retry the zip download, it downloads fine and even unzips without a problem

and also:

I have tried a number of fixes but the problem still periodically happens. I can attempt it once and find the pdf corrupt, but turn around and try again only to have it be perfectly fine

So, you're saying it's *not* EVERY time, right?

You even started another discussion in another thread saying:

The issue is that 90% of the pdf downloads I test will come through as corrupt

I have read several forum posts in regards to corrupt files and have tried several resolutions to solve this problem. I have renamed my files to eliminate any characters that may be bad and I have also zipped my pdfs then tried to download.

Those can be helpful steps to take.

When I download the zip then try to unpack it, they say that they are empty and will fail to unzip.

ARE the files empty? How many bytes is the zip file after downloading?
How many bytes was it *before* downloading? ie: on the server

I have download by redirect off and the permissions on my Pub folder set to 777 as per a previous thread and still have the corrupt pdf/empty zip problem

777 permissions won't necessarily fix a corruption problem. It may help if files won't download at all, but usually is unrelated to corrupt content.

Question though, the servers I am hosted on are linux/unix therefor, should'nt the download by redirect work?

Your question suggests that the download-by-redirect doesn't work. What exactly do you mean by that? Is there a particular symptom?
How do you know it doesn't work? Maybe it does. If it didn't, it would be telling you the download couldn't be offered.
A corrupt file doesn't mean the symlink required for the redirect can't be created.
A corrupt file merely means that what you received on your PC wasn't what you were expecting to receive vs the original file.

Another question, could this be a shared server problem that may be fixed by moving to a dedicated server?

Maybe. Maybe not.

[DrByte]

I have tried streaming, and changing redirect AND streaming to false and still have corrupt pdfs.

There are 3 possible methods:
- redirect (requires symlink capability, then handled directly by apache)
- streaming (requires sufficient PHP memory limit and execution time)
- direct (handled strictly by apache)

If "direct" (streaming off and redirect off) doesn't work, then your problem is either with your server/apache configuration or with your pc/browser.

There's no point trying the other approaches if the direct method doesn't work, as the others are merely alternatives which offer greater security to prevent theft and sometimes improve performance. But the alternatives are pointless if the basic direct download won't work.

[Chestnut Junction]

Firstly, thank you to both Ajeh and Dr. Byte for your replies! I will try to sum up the problems I have encountered, and forgive the late responses, my work schedule is both abnormal and all-consuming

1. The pdf patterns I sell are between 600-800kb in size, zipped they are between 400-500kb (using the default zip program in Win Vista).

2. The download options:

~Direct Download (false on both stream and redirect): The pdf will "Open" and "Save", but they will show as "corrupted" 50% of the time. I have had luck with cleaning out my temp. internet files then retrying the download and having the download not be corrupt, but if I try the download a second time (without cleaning the internet files) it will be corrupt again on both "open" and "save". Zip files will download as 0mb even though they are fine on the server as if the pdf in them is no longer there.

~Download by Stream (false on redirect, true on stream, Pub set to 777): The same issues as above, random corruption. I have re-uploaded several pdfs (in binary form) and tried again, but still receive corrupt files and empty zips and random times.

~Download by Redirect (the method I would like to use): I recieve the following error

"Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /pub/.tgrfixodbnlpbievhxk/ on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache/2.2.11 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.11 OpenSSL/0.9.8i DAV/2 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at epatternjunction.com Port 80"

I consulted my host service (Hostgator) via live chat and they informed me that Symlink by default is active...here is a link to the specifics of my server:

http://secure2.hostgator.com/phpinfo.php

Now, as a test, I downloaded a file from my pc at work running Win XP, i.e. 7 and the download worked every time on stream. The PCs I have tested at home are all running Vista with internet explorer 8. I had read in an earlier post that finding the source of the corruption is important when dealing with pdf files, but I am not sure how to determine the source of the corruption and at this point, I am inclined to believe that this is a browser/OS issue, and also, my work PC is directly wired to our network via ethernet cable, whereas all of my home PCs run wirelessly from a router, but still DSL. I am trying to find a way to insure a 100 or at least 95% success rate on downloads, so my questions would be (a) is the download by redirect option the most reliable download system and (b) I am currently on a shared server, would moving my site to a dedicated server effect my download problems, as in, without sharing server draw, would my streaming be less likely to be degraded by server performance? In looking through my cpanel I have found a link to the php.ini config system, but several of the options are "grayed out"....

max_execution_time 30
max_input_time 60
memory_limit 64m

are all gray and cannot be changed as well as...

enable_dl
upload_max_filesize 64m

Would a dedicated server give me access to the configs of these areas and in general improve the performance of my site?

Please forgive the wall of text, I am somewhat knowledgable in regards to websites and the construction of such, but server configs are another story. If there is any other information that would be helpful, I will gladly supply it and after work, I plan on making a "dummy" download so that others may test on different operating systems.

THANK YOU so much for your continued help
~Chris
www.epatternjunction.com

[Chestnut Junction]

Minor update...I tried a file at work again and it failed with the message "There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired." I then deleted that download and tried the exact same download (streaming) and it was fine! I viewed the history through adobe and noticed this...my files are named such #e101PatternName, now, the corrupt pdf was listed as _e101PatternName, but the successful download was listed as %23e101PatternName...now I have renamed several files by eliminating the "#" but I still encountered corruption therefor, I wrote it off as not a naming convention error.

Thanks again!
~Chris
www.epatternjunction.com

[DrByte]

I have had luck with cleaning out my temp. internet files then retrying the download and having the download not be corrupt, but if I try the download a second time (without cleaning the internet files) it will be corrupt again on both "open" and "save".

Keep in mind that your customers will not have any cache to clear (related to your site anyway, and that's the issue there), so that should not be a problem for them. Using the redirect method gives a different filename for the actual download each time anyway (until after the download is completed), so getting that working will minimize the cache problem.

Zip files will download as 0mb even though they are fine on the server as if the pdf in them is no longer there.

That sounds very odd, but I'm inclined to think zipping is not necessary, and, as you stated earlier, undesirable anyway.

~Download by Redirect (the method I would like to use): I recieve the following error

"Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /pub/.tgrfixodbnlpbievhxk/ on this server.

What's in your /.htaccess and /pub/.htaccess files?
What's the server's apache errorlog saying when you get those "forbidden" errors?

so my questions would be (a) is the download by redirect option the most reliable download system

Yes, redirect is the most desirable for performance and security reasons

(b) I am currently on a shared server, would moving my site to a dedicated server effect my download problems, as in, without sharing server draw, would my streaming be less likely to be degraded by server performance?

Yes and no. Unless you're making a ton of sales with thousands of visitors and buyers each day, with a huge profit margin, you shouldn't need to go dedicated.

In looking through my cpanel I have found a link to the php.ini config system, but several of the options are "grayed out"....

max_execution_time 30
max_input_time 60
memory_limit 64m

are all gray and cannot be changed as well as...

enable_dl
upload_max_filesize 64m

Fine.

Would a dedicated server give me access to the configs of these areas and in general improve the performance of my site?

Yes and no.

[Chestnut Junction]

Thank you sooo much Dr. Byte! I am currently accessing my cpanel and have opened the "Error Logs" page but it is empty...do I have to enable error tracking?

~Chris
www.epatternjunction.com

[Chestnut Junction]

Also, I have found an option entitled "Apache Handlers" which allows me to input a "Handler" and an "Extension(s)", but again, please forgive my ignorance in this area

Thanks you again!
~Chris

[Chestnut Junction]

I'm so sorry for all of these replies, I'm free form posting at this point lol! Within my Pub folder I do not have an .htaccess file only an Index.html file, is the .htaccess file perhaps hidden or non-viewable?

a thousand times THANKS!
~Chris

[DrByte]

I am currently accessing my cpanel and have opened the "Error Logs" page but it is empty...do I have to enable error tracking?

I wouldn't expect so. Ask your host.

Also, I have found an option entitled "Apache Handlers" which allows me to input a "Handler" and an "Extension(s)", but again, please forgive my ignorance in this area

I don't see this as related.