{Edit: Itch team seems to have already spotted this issue since many others are experiencing it, based on the team post at:
https://itch.io/t/3306553/download-file-corruption-reports Keeping this post up just in case the data helps.}
Greetings! I've been having difficulty downloading .zip files from this website if they are larger than a certain size. I have successfully downloaded games far larger from other sources without the same issues, so this is why I think either Itch.io, my network, or my PC might be taking issue with each other for some reason.
The simple version of this is this:
- Downloading a small game less than about 100 mb works fine
- Downloading games larger than that risk the download stopping early while saying "download complete"
- Files larger than about 200-300 mb almost always stop early
- Using "Extract all" or 7zip on these .zip files causes errors, and the games aren't playable
- Clearing browser caches, cookies, and history helps with most files up to 300 mb
- Restarting the PC helps, but it does not fix everything
- I have a 500 gb (475 gb hard drive) with 79 gb of space remaining
- The downloads and games I have been trying have all been confirmed to work for other people
- This issue is not replicable on other websites or download sources thus far
Now to get into the nitty gritty!
- I am using a Windows 10 laptop capable of running most AAA games at a decent level. Firefox is my preferred browser, while Edge is the backup if that one doesn't work.
- The point where the download stops early has been consistent whenever there is no outside input (For example, always stopping at exactly 74.0 mb for a 200 mb download). The number does not change when trying the download again on the same browser. HOWEVER, this number differs depending on which browser is being used. Clearing caches on these browsers will change the number to a new unpredictable value that may or may not be enough to finish the download properly. It tends to not allow anything much bigger than 350 mb.
- My internet is a wireless WiFi connection that typically gets 1 mb/s download speed. Occasionally, it will plummet to 100 kb/s when downloading from itch.io. This is NOT typical. All other downloads will rarely dip below 500 kb/s but never all the way to 150 or less.
- Extracting a .zip file using Windows 10's built in "Extract All" gives me the exact message quoted word-for-word: "The compressed (zipped) folder is empty. Before you can extract files, you must copy files to this compressed (zipped)
Things I have NOT done so far:
- Identified if the early halt always coincides with download speed plummeting to 100 kb/s
- Attempted the download with a wired connection
- Found an answer that doesn't end at "clear cache, restart, then try again"
- (If they exist)Tried downloading a file from Itch.io that isn't a .zip format
- Used the desktop app. This is what I'm trying next! I'll laugh if downloading the app stops early too.