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Downloading Large Files

I'm a movie composer working remotely in a studio with 4G hotspot internet that has the occasional hiccup ... whilst spending the past few weeks in contact with the editor who has a full DP account and lays up 5 - 30 gig movie files on his account for me to download ... I have a free account as don't usually use DP (My experience here reminds me WHY I don't have DP!) ... files fail around 80% with "network error". So this occasionally does work (but 20% is not good). Boy it's wasting my time as I'm working with 15 meg download speed which takes some time watching to see if a file is successful.

Sometimes the file fails after a couple of gig and often when it's supposedly fully formed. (as far as one can see) Shouldn't there be a way to resume a failure?

I'm using a MacBook Pro to download movie files ... I've tried Chrome / Safari / Firefox ... also tried as suggested Incognito and of course my download managers won't work with DP because it's perfect and should resume any breaks in download itself ... irritatingly like many whose comments I've read ... watching the file download, it might get to 28.8 gig of a 28.8 gig download ... then says "network error"

I've spent days trawling here, and trying many suggestions that I found in this community... many with this same problem are marked as SOLVED but most definitely are NOT SOLVED ... indeed I've spotted folk saying "why is this marked as SOLVED when there it clearly has NOT SOLVED my problem?"!!!!

Something so simple that I've done for years, should not be wasting so much of my time ... I even remember using good old Apple iDisk 20 years ago (why did Apple drop that?) ... easy peasy lemon squeezie ... never have I encountered this.

What I'd really appreciate after reading so many so called solutions ... is THE solution.

Sorry if I'm a little grumpy but the stress this has been causing me for weeks ... is off the Richter scale ... does anyone have a definitive solution that will help me and others here?

Best regards to you all

Richard

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Chris_J

Hey Richard

it would be even better if you suggest sharing folders. If Editor and you have Dropbox Client installed and running, Editor can drop files in a folder on his machine and it automatically will appear on your Machine. Easy Peasy.

More ways to learn about Dropbox

Here is what you are seeking

How do I request stuff from others

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Walter

Hey @RicardoMorricone, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Can you clarify how large are the files you're trying to download and the troubleshooting steps you've attempted so far?

Note that you can only download a folder if it’s less than 20 GB and has fewer than 10,000 total files.

Keep me posted!

RicardoMorricone

Hey there Walter ... thanks so much for popping by and looking at this.

I'm mainly downloading individual Quicktime movie files of around 5 - 10 gig but then also Zipped files around 3 or 4 gig, generally containing 3 or 4 smaller files of say a gig each ... those never total no more than say 15 gig. The larger files up to 30 gig are only ever one long movie file.

Do you think it should be possible to "resume" a download? I've wondered if this is something that Dropbox should do in the same way that many download manager extensions would normally do?

Once the files stopped downloading the only thing possible is a "reload".

Working remotely here on 4G ... it's possible to watch the download speed change as I'm bring stuff in via say Firefox ... it goes anything from 5 meg a second down to 1 meg a second ... but I never see it drop down to a lower level than that or drop out.

When the network errors occur and the file stops loading, the download speed freezes and the "time left to download" clock simply ticks by ... up and up second by second. Eventually it says "network error" (or variation of that) and you have to reload.

However ... as I mentioned probably around 20% of files are landing ok. So if this is caused by network dropouts of some sort ... doesn't Dropbox manage this and go "hey - hold the bus for a second there's a dropout - ok signals back - let's carry on down"?

Thanks Walter ... your thoughts much appreciated.

Best regards Richard

Chris_J

Hello Ricardo

there are a lot of users having issues with downloading/uploading via browser (web interface) it would be a lot simple if you are able to use the Desktop Client that runs in the background. It works much better and requires less stress. Is it possible to use the Desktop Client? I use Dropbox in my line of work, and we receive a lot of big files too and receiving them via Dropbox Client works well

RicardoMorricone

Morning Chris @Chris_J

Thanks for suggesting this notion ... I wonder if I've been wrong footed? I downloaded the Dropbox App for Mac but couldn't find a way to access it when given a download link in an email from someone sending the file to me via DP ... clicking on the link in the email of course just opens a web browser.

Is "Dropbox Client" that you refer to simply the DP App? Sorry if I'm being a nincompoop, as I suspect I'm missing something vital here!

Many thanks Chris

Warmest regards

Richard

Chris_J

Thanks, Richard

the Dropbox Client is just an app that runs in the background, one would have an icon on their Menu Bar to access preferences, folders, etc. It automatically watches the folders and syncs any files that is placed inside the Dropbox folder

However, since you received links, well you would be limited to using the browser, or web interface. there is no way to incorporate the links to the Client app. Well, I hope you get a solution. I've been a long-time user of Dropbox, since the early years. But the real problem DB has is a lot of files via the web interface. I don't want to discourage you.

It would be best if you can get shared folder access. That means sharing a folder and then the Dropbox Client can do the rest.

There is another feature of Dropbox, and that is to request files. This is a link you can give out to clients or others and they can drop files to upload to your Mac. In setting up request links, you can set it to download the uploaded content to a specific folder in your Dropbox folder. This feature needs the Dropbox Client App. The customer or whoever uploads the files uses the browser to upload but it will download automatically via DP CLient

RicardoMorricone

Hey Chris @Chris_J

Thank you again ... this is really great info re: DP Client not setting up access when an email link has been sent.

I thought I was going nuts when the only access I could get to download files from emails, was via a browser ... it would be so cool to simply be able to open the DP App and paste a link into it ... as you suggest, basic browser software without some sort of download management capability is a bit flaky .... so sad as it discourages many from using it.

This is especially distressing for folk like me working remotely on 4G ... I learnt this week that after bad storms, the local 4G network has known issues here with a very glitchy service operating at the mo.

Your help is so appreciated ... I'm going to suggest the editor I'm work with sends me emails that I can "request" downloads from within the DP app.

Many thanks sir

May the wind be ever at your back.

Warmest regards

Richard

Chris_J

Hey Richard

More ways to learn about Dropbox

Here is what you are seeking

How do I request stuff from others

RicardoMorricone

Even better Chris .... thanks again ... I've just had a chat with the editor and we're setting up "Shared Folders".

I guess I should mark this "solved"! (though do realise that for folk simply using browsers to download from DP email links, there is no solution if broadband access is intermittent)

Have a good day Chris and thanks again. Bestest Richard

Chris_J

Good Luck to you Richard

I want to emphasize that when you set up a shared folder, only one of you shares a folder and that one needs to make sure they use the correct email address used for the Dropbox Account. I have seen so many users wonder why the share doesn't go thru. Also whoever receives the shared folder needs to 'accept' the invitation to share. usually, there is an email sent out for an invitation to be accepted. It also should show up on Dropbox.com

Thanks for being nice and Professional

MattBlank41

I am also having a similar issue. I've tried downloading an mp4 file ~25gbs several times and over both Safari and Fire Fox and get the same failure everytime. Then when trying to "resume download" it doesn't work. Any ideas or solutions? This is a personal performance video and is important for promotion, etc.

Chris_J

Hello Matt

Have you read my previous posts? Are you able to download and install the Dropbox client|? if so, that is the best and sure way to get large files to download.

are you clicking on a link?

and how big is the file?

MattBlank41

Thank you Chris, i am downloading the app now. Originally, I had a link from a friend and the file was around 25gb.

MattBlank41

No luck via the Dropbox app it seems. Any help is appreciated!

Walter

Hey @MattBlank41, sorry to jump in here, but may I ask if this is a single file?

Also, when you say that you had no luck via the Dropbox app, are you referring to the desktop app or the mobile app?

With a file that large, you won't be able to download it from the website as it would need to be below 20 GB for you to download it normally via our website.

If trying to download from a shared link to a folder, you can click on the "Save to my Dropbox" option to add a copy of the files to your Dropbox account. The files in the link will be added to your Dropbox account and will immediately begin syncing down to your linked computer(s), assuming that you're running the desktop app that is.

I hope this helps a tad.

Michael M.66

I have been a Dropbox user for decades. Now that I am retired I have to downsize. I made sure all my files were on the hard drive (I thought I did) then closed the account. Apparently something happened and many files report 0.00 on the disc (didn't download completely?) My files are still available in the cloud, but I can't download them again in bulk and synching has stopped of course. The zipped download reports "too many files for the smallest folder". I am concerned about losing my life's accumulation of data. I don't know what to do. Help

Hannah

Hey @Michael M.66, thanks for posting to the Dropbox Community.

You mentioned that your files are still available on the cloud, so you didn't really close the account, right? Just downgraded, if I understand correctly.

So, if you're downgraded and syncing has stopped, you won't be able to sync the files through the app.

Your alternative now is downloading the files from the website in batches, since they can't be downloaded at once.

I hope this helps!