verify .iso images?

[fasttech]

Just think of it as an easter egg.

[johnsonx42]

All this angst could be easily avoided if they'd explain this in a paragraph on the download page. It's like they're trying to hide it for.... why??? Here, I'll take a shot at it. Untangle people, feel free to copy/paste. Copyright waived!

"Note: There is no checksum available for these downloads because of serialization bytes they contain. The only download verification available is file size which is listed with each file. Files downloaded from Sourceforge do not contain serialization and can be verified with the checksum posted on their download page."

There ya go. Easy Peasy. End of ridiculous mystery and endless repeated postings of the same question in the forums.

Such a message might simply steer most users towards the sourceforge download, or discourage downloading it altogether, which would then defeat whatever use they're getting out of the serialization information.

[CADman_ks]

...

I prefer to check the MD5 for any important iso download, particularly one that's going to install a customer's server, not because I think TCP packets magically get corrupted over the internet, but because weird things happen sometimes. I've seen bad ISO's get uploaded by the company itself, I've run into more than one corrupted sourceforge mirror, I've had a computer with flaky RAM corrupt a download (yet the computer ran fine), etc.

I agree whole heartedly with the flaky thing. I've downloaded it from Untangle three times, and none of them have worked. BUT all of the ISO's have successfully burned to CD, and then when I try to install them, they magically hang somewhere in the install. And, of course, I don't find all of this out until I'm well into the install, and wasted the time of not only installing, but downloading and burning.

Because of this, I've vowed to always download from SF, just so that I can verify the MD5. I've also had other large ISO's that I've downloaded from SF and other company sites that don't install properly, and I've learned to check MD5's religiously.

Even if the ISO is dynamic, would it also not be possible to provide me with the MD5 that it SHOULD be when I download it? Then, I could at least check it.

CADman

[sky-knight]

Sourceforge download + hashtab = very happy me.

I usually pull from sourceforge because it's faster.

[GeneralEclectic]

I had that same experience the first time - THREE .iso downloads were corrupted. All burned okay, and all failed midway through setup. There was no way to tell where the problem was because setup aborted at different spots. It was long enough ago that I no longer recall how I finally figured out that it was the CD, but I do recall finally getting a good one from Sourceforge and checking the download.

While Untangle Inc. is free to do whatever they want with their serials, IMO they're doing their customers and themselves a HUGE disservice by insisting on this bit of silliness in the face of so many complaints of .iso problems.

Frankly, they deserve the loss of ID'd downloads to Sourceforge. It's a problem of their own creation. Who else does this? No one I know of. Apparently every other software company on the face of the earth can get along without these serials.

If it's so freaking important to them, have customers apply for a free license key to install the product. Have them fill out a form and deliver it by email. That's a trivial price to pay for the huge value you're getting at no charge.

Alternatively, since each .iso is unique anyway, why can't they compute and hold the checksum for the static part of the .iso and at the same time they concatenate the serial, compute the last few cycles of checksum and deliver that to the downloader? The additional compute load for this is negligible.

Another approach would involve the use of a Download Manager sort of like Adobe has or Microsoft does with its Technet .iso files. I sort of like MS's because it's fully automatic and self-correcting if there's a problem.

Really, people, this is a bona-fide problem. You need to fix it, one way or another. I just gave you several viable approaches. Take your pick. What you're doing now isn't working.

[dmorris]

we're working on a different flow that won't involve branded ISOs.

In the meantime, if you care, download it from sourceforge.

[GeneralEclectic]

we're working on a different flow that won't involve branded ISOs.

In the meantime, if you care, download it from sourceforge.

Well, that's nice, but how is a new user supposed to know that downloading from Sourceforge is [an option | better alternative]?

*I* know that now. A few hundred other users here know that now. That's fine, but if you're trying to build your user base, why in the name of all that's holy, are you throwing pointless obstacles in their way?

[sky-knight]

I've never gotten a corrupted ISO from Untangle.com. If you're corrupting ISO images, you need to take a hard look at your ISP and figure out why.

[dmorris]

Well, that's nice, but how is a new user supposed to know that downloading from Sourceforge is [an option | better alternative]?

*I* know that now. A few hundred other users here know that now. That's fine, but if you're trying to build your user base, why in the name of all that's holy, are you throwing pointless obstacles in their way?

From the download page: "If you experience problems with the download try another mirror."

Also
"Many users have reported problems when using download accelerators or managers with this download. Therefore we recommend against their use."

[CADman_ks]

I've never gotten a corrupted ISO from Untangle.com. If you're corrupting ISO images, you need to take a hard look at your ISP and figure out why.

I have to agree with GeneralEclectic, it's NOT an ISP problem. I too, have YET to get a successful download from Untangle.

Something not only doesn't go right in the download, there's NO way to verify whether I've got a snowballs chance of burning a successful CD, let alone a successful installation from a CD once I've burned it. I've had some that say that they are successful as far as the download goes, and then won't burn an ISO successfully. I've also tried two different ISP's, and had the same result from both, successful downloads, and either failed CD's or failed installs.

But, here's the real problem that I have with it. There's a link on the download page that says this: "If you experience problems with the download try another mirror." That's fine, and that's how I finally figured out that SF was the way to go. Here's my beef. The sentence says "If you experience problems with the DOWNLOAD...." I have ALWAYS HAD A SUCCESSFUL DOWNLOAD, or so the download says. THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM... The problem is successfully BURNING the download. That's where the MD5 (or other mechanism) comes into play.

I LOVE Untangle, but I'm with GeneralEclectic. Sometimes, you just have to call a spade, a spade, and in this case, I think he's done just that. His solutions were also spot on. A SUCCESSFUL DOWNLOAD is one that burns to a CD SUCCESSFULLY AND THEN INSTALLS SUCCESSFULLY. That's success.

Oh well. I guess it really doesn't matter to me now, since I shouldn't need to download it again for a long time, if ever. That's what we have auto update for...

CADman_ks