Trainz Store Download Troubles

[JonMyrlennBailey]

I just purchased TS12 yesterday and downloaded it using Free Download Manaager. It took almost 20 hours to get the thing downloaded. I updated the FDM and I am trying the downloads again. How many times should I try downloading and installing the thing cleanly before contacting the Store as a customer for support? Not only is Trainz a crappy product even when it occasionally does actually install cleanly, the delivery methods to the customer suck too. Can I expect to get shipped a disk set in a box, at no additional charge, should the download attempts don't work out? I have also had not ONE but TWO experiences since 2016 with two separate Trainz disk products failing to install error-free as well. N3V Games doesn't appear committed to quality control. Was Auran a better company in the old days?

 

[pware]

These complaints pop up in these forums from time to time. It is always the fault of N3V that users have a slow internet connection, that their firewall and/or virus checker is/are configured incorrectly, that their browser is lousy at downloading long files, that their ISP imposes download limits, that their connection keeps dropping out, etc.

I, and many others, have never had any problems downloading long files from N3V/Auran. My connection is slow, I am lucky if I get 3 Mbps, but it works.

I suggest that you rephrase your original post to one that asks other users for their advice on how to overcome the problems that YOU (not N3V) are having.

My opinion only.
Have a nice day.

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

I did not have trouble downloading and installing TANE from Trainz Store back in January of this year.

back then I used the same:

-ISP
-Windows operating system
-computer (except for a new motherboard and higher-wattage PSU last month, went from 380 to 450 watts): the memory and CPU remain the same: all new motherboard drivers were installed correctly
-ISP-provided router

NOTE: I did NOT reinstall Windows 7 after the motherboard swap at all. Windows 7 still remained active with the product key showing in the System properties window!

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

Back when I complained about N3V downloads a couple years back, everybody suggested that I use a download manager which I have been using lately. Is the download manager not checking the integrity of the data as it is coming in? It's hard to tell where the source of the corrupt data really is. My download manger seemed to have done OK with TANE back in January. That iinstalled without a hiccup.

Just because the ISP is slow doesn't mean the data should get corrupted once it finally does get downloaded after a blue moon or two. It is very disheartening to wait a day for Trainz to download then only to have the install attempt fail right off the bat. A lot of time and effort down the drain.

Oh, one more thing, I performed the DLM update right in the middle of the TS12 download. Could that be an issue?

How about resetting the router right in the middle of a download or pausing and starting the downloads with them manager?

I figure a download manager worth its salt is still not supposed to corrupt downloading files in progress whenever the connection is interrupted and that is the main reason for a DM to begin with.

Oh, my Windows Firewall is now turned on.

 

[shaneturner12]

I know with T:ANE but not sure with other downloads that the page includes an MD5 hash. Some download tools have a facility to check these but I can't remember off-hand whether FDM has it or not. Failing that have a look on N3V's knowledgebase as one of the articles on there covers checking MD5 hashes for Trainz downloads.

Shane

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

If this second download attempt doesn't go well, I will try it once more with the firewall turned off...then I will got to Knowledge Base and maybe put in a trouble ticket. Trainz Store may send me the whole thing in a new disk set if push comes to shove.

Hopefully, I won't get sent bad disks and that said disks would last a little longer sitting in my software cabinet than a year and half. Maybe the DVD material used in printing Trainz software for distribution has improved. It does take high-quality disk construction for software. Cheap DVD/CD blanks are OK for movies and music but not sophisticated software data where there is little or no room for error.

Why can't software be distributed to customers on USB flash drives?

I did not see any hash numbers on the My Downloads page where legacy Trainz (TS12 and others) are downloaded from the Store.

Shouldn't my Download Manager be doing all that MD5 hash-checking anyway?

 

[Vern]

OP could have bought the Steam version which would neatly circumvent N3V's wonky e-commerce system.

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

How much was the Steam version? Is Steam reliable and customer-friendly?

 

[ecco]

I don't think there is much difference in size between TS10, TS12 and TANE. Due to a problem with WIN 10, I recently had to re-download TANE and Trainz 2010. I clicked the links on the N3V site to initiate the downloads. Each took less than 20 minutes - no data corruption. If anyone's downloads are taking more than a couple of hours, the source of the problem is probably not N3V.

I just went to the Trainz Store. Trainz 2012 is available as "Digital or "Physical" for $14.99.

RE: Steam. Steam is a good source for games. But if there are problems with downloads, the problems will probably exist with all vendors.

 

[Xenithar]

Get rid of the download manager. Seriously, why do people use these. Enlighten me. They only screw things up. Did I mention that I do IT for a living? That I am the guy right under the owner of the company and have been doing this crap my entire life? Lose the download managers! Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, and IE all have their own download managers capable of pausing and resuming downloads. You don't need one to sit on top of those. Windows can actually be quite a good system if you just use it and stop adding crap to fix perceived problems.

 

[CeeBee]

The weekend generally does not seem like a good time to download. I get cable overload at busy times and I'm sure the TRainz servers get hit much harder on the weekend as well. Just my opinion for what it's worth.

 

[Tony_Hilliam]

The files are hosted on one of the best suppliers in the business - Amazon. For the vast majority oif users, there are no problems. Unfortunately we have no control over the Internet (we make computer games) and there is simplynothing we can do to assist in getting files onto your computer.

Your options are to retry or find another computer to download onto and transfer the files to your computer.

 

[pware]

Get rid of the download manager. ... Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, and IE all have their own download managers capable of pausing and resuming downloads. You don't need one to sit on top of those.

I will second that. My one and only experience at using one of those things ended in it being dumped very quickly. It caused more problems than it solved and made no speed or reliability improvement over the existing built in download manager that came with Firefox.

Jon, the download manager by itself may not be the sole cause of your problems. You mentioned upgrading your motherboard and that all the drivers installed correctly but what about their settings? Did you check that they all had been correctly reset to their pre-upgrade status?

 

[SailorDan]

I just purchased TS12 yesterday and downloaded it using Free Download Manaager.

Think about why you bought another copy of TS12 Did you consider that perhaps the PC has hardware issues, such as bad memory, bad disk or marginal power supply? It's worth considering, because it would explain the original errors with TS12 (and the reason for buying a new copy), the problem reading the original CD, and now a problem with getting a fault-free download. There are two parts of your setup that are common to all those problems, and that's hardware or Windows install. N3V servers or the Internet come well down the list of likely suspects.

 

[Christopher824]

Think about why you bought another copy of TS12 Did you consider that perhaps the PC has hardware issues, such as bad memory, bad disk or marginal power supply? It's worth considering, because it would explain the original errors with TS12 (and the reason for buying a new copy), the problem reading the original CD, and now a problem with getting a fault-free download. There are two parts of your setup that are common to all those problems, and that's hardware or Windows install. N3V servers or the Internet come well down the list of likely suspects.

Are you sure the OP bought a second copy? How did you assume that? When did you buy TS12? How can you comment on something you don't have?

Do you realize that the picture in this post is from 2014... The OP has dupped you all.... LOL LOL LOL

 

[grazlash]

Are you sure the OP bought a second copy? How did you assume that? When did you buy TS12? How can you comment on something you don't have?

Do you realize that the picture in this post is from 2014... The OP has dupped you all.... LOL LOL LOL

No mate, only you. There is no correlation between a file date stamp and the date the screenshot was taken.
cheers :hehe:

 

[SailorDan]

Are you sure the OP bought a second copy? How did you assume that?

OP has documented the history of this problem with numerous posts. The sequence is obvious.
https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...duct-key-for-TS12-already-so-may-I-get-a-free
https://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?144562-The-Source-File-is-Corrupted

How can you comment on something you don't have?

The problem is not associated with TS12. It is entirely a hardware issue.

Do you realize that the picture in the post is from 2014.

The incorrect date is part of the problem.​

 

[JCitron]

I'm not so sure about the date of the application. Mine is dated 7/7/2014, which is the date I downloaded my TS12 because my disk was hosed.

 

[ecco]

Why would you use a download manager? I've downloaded games from N3V and Steam and other sites; I've downloaded TaxCut and AntiVirus software and Apache Open Office and a lot of other stuff from many different sites. All the sites have a button that says <Download>. I click the button and the stuff comes into my Downloads Folder. KISS.

 

[JCitron]

Why would you use a download manager? I've downloaded games from N3V and Steam and other sites; I've downloaded TaxCut and AntiVirus software and Apache Open Office and a lot of other stuff from many different sites. All the sites have a button that says <Download>. I click the button and the stuff comes into my Downloads Folder. KISS.

They are helpful if the internet connection is unstable since they provide multiple ports and a way to resume a broken connection. The current browsers have the ability to pause and resume as well, but that's not always successful, and once a connection is disrupted, the data is lost due to not having the ability to recover from a lost connection.