What's with this update/download?

[pergolesi]

I've got this applet running called "Background Downloader"--seems to turn on and off periodically. The window shows a download: WoW 2.4.3 to 3.0.1 TBC USMX Update.

It is glacially slow. Now it's showing 595/821 MB downloaded. I left it running overnight and it downloaded about 40 MB in 10 hrs. That's about 400k per hour. (I have a good internet connection). The downloader turns off when I start up WoW and I"m not sure when it's supposed to start up if left on its own.

What is going on here? Why so slow? What is this update?
(I have a Mac Pro)

[clevins]

Content update for the 3.01 patch. They do this with every patch - download the content before patch day. Most content patches are 200-300m but this is a lot of stuff.

It's slow because it's bittorrent - it's a peer to peer system that becomes faster the more people download it.

[pergolesi]

Thanx, clevins, it would seem that it should be faster because doesn't Blizzard send this download to all customers? Or is bittorrent so busy uploading content from my file to other users it doesn't have time to download much to me? I don't know when it's supposed to be "on" either but maybe I'd better start it up just to be sure I get it all before the next century. And of course I noticed my mistake (I meant 4M per hour) but mi esposa was on the computer and I can't edit it now.

[Mazhulsage]

Yeah, my download was going fast when it first started, I went up to around 400 MB in less than 2 hours. So, I left it on while picking up my wife from work (1 hour drive total) and I was up to 500ish MB. I was like "Awesome, I'll just leave it on overnight." so I went to sleep. What happens? "606 MB" over around 9 hours.

I've dealt with these before, but, it was available for downloading for a full day already before I even got to it, then, it was over another full day before I got to the 606 MB. It really pisses me off that Blizzard seems to have like... Literally 1MB or less downloading per hour past 600 MB, cause I was getting around 100 KB per 5 minutes on that downloader after 600.

[clevins]

Thanx, clevins, it would seem that it should be faster because doesn't Blizzard send this download to all customers? Or is bittorrent so busy uploading content from my file to other users it doesn't have time to download much to me? I don't know when it's supposed to be "on" either but maybe I'd better start it up just to be sure I get it all before the next century. And of course I noticed my mistake (I meant 4M per hour) but mi esposa was on the computer and I can't edit it now.


There's no central server - you're literally downloading from other peoples' computers. It's why Mazhul and you saw slower speeds overnight... most people had gone to bed.

Another option is to hit Filefront etc and see if they have a regular download of the patch.

[Mazhulsage]

Even during peak hours it's EXTREMELY slow, almost as slow as night time.

[pergolesi]

Even during peak hours it's EXTREMELY slow, almost as slow as night time.

Now my download is up to 612 MB. I've never known bittorrent to be so slow. Even with much less popular software with many fewer users online. There must be a technical reason for the slowness. I'm not sure how the Blizzard updating system works; is there a day when everybody gets to install the update? Maybe they think that we can just download in dribbles until that date which is weeks in the future. I mean, if that's the case who cares how slow or fast it downloads? It is annoying however to see this thing creeping along at a snail's pace. And everytime it quits, when it reloads it has to read the already existing file and that takes about 15 minutes. Should I care? Seems horribly inefficient.

[Mazhulsage]

Ahh, it turns out I picked the wrong number, I was at 500 MB, not 600... So I went up about 10 MB yesterday in around 4 hours peak time.

[Wintrow]

:shocked: *Shocked at the blazing speed of 10MB per hour

Seriously, ... This reminds me of downloading on dial-up "back in the day"

And for when it activates: You can set this up in your launcher:
* while WoW is running
* after you exit WoW

Most people use the second option.

[Tunga]

It doesn't really matter since you don't need this patch yet. If you really desperately need the patch data weeks before it hits live then use an HTTP/FTP mirror.

[Mazhulsage]

Well, it's still dumb that in just under a week just about no one has fully downloaded it.

[Tunga]

Maybe that's the idea?

[pergolesi]

I checked the box that says "Don't throttle background downloader" and it's loading MUCH faster.

[Mazhulsage]

What does that even mean?

[pergolesi]

What does that even mean?

I assume there's a gremlin in the launcher that is busy strangling the downloader and causing those horribly slow downloads. You click on 'options'.

[Mazhulsage]

Lol. I know where it is, I just don't know what the "don't throttle" means.

[Tunga]

"Throttle" in this context means to deliberately hold back or slow down. The Background Downloader throttles its download speed because the patch isn't required immediately and because it is designed to not affect the usage of your internet connection for other things.

[Mazhulsage]

Ahh, all right. Got it. Thank you.

[Artad]

Guys, just pop over to WoWwiki and get it from the patch mirror over there, failing that look for the torrent file (in your Cache folder) on your drive and open it up on your favourite torrent program and download it using that instead.

[elwinga]

I have exactly the same problem - the downloader says that only 95% is downloaded (but connection info says that there's 2,4 GB downloaded - wtf?), and downloader is working more than 2 days... Should I restart it again?

[WatcherZero]

Apparantly Downloader (at least for EU) is pretty bugged ta the moment, If you have Vista theirs a high chance of runtime errors casuing unexpexted program termination, and even if you dont have that problem blizzard servers are seeding Mac info to the PC client meaning the chunk always fails CRC checks. Hopefully they will patch the launcher today or tommorow giving 24 hours to hopefully finish most of it before launch date of the patch.

[BabyBlink]

There's no central server - you're literally downloading from other peoples' computers. It's why Mazhul and you saw slower speeds overnight... most people had gone to bed.

Another option is to hit Filefront etc and see if they have a regular download of the patch.

You gotta be joking here, seriously.

Ive never experienced anything like this before EVER while playing the game.

It took quite a long time to install the game and TBC on my last computer, and then I sat through all the updates I had missed since I didnt start playing the game at release and it took nowhere near the amount of time its taking currently. I was able to install the game/TBC/and applicable patches and then start my WoW experience in one sitting.. Maybe an hour tops..
Ive never had to wait... About 6 hours.... About 4 hours..... for a patch update. Almost 2 years playing

I was using a cable modem and linksys router. Then I quit playing for several months, changed to a router/modem combo and now this is ridiculous. You can't seriously tell me the millions of ppl playing WoW are waiting overnight for a patch update. Im missing something here. I always updated on patch day before, I never took the DL in increments. So what happened in between?

I just changed computers, took the hour to install the original game and TBC and now Im treated to..... about 6 hours...... to get to 2.3.01(or whatever the first patch was after TBC was released.) Then Im going to have to wait another....about 6 hours for each subsequent patch... Does this sound a little nuts??? I think so..

I have forwarded all ports needed through my router.... Im missing something here. Im expected to sit at my comp for days in order to play?? Whats the deal?

[rvalarian]

the EU download for this pre-patch material was seriously messed up. what is worse is that blizzard made this content available on a friday before closing, and just seemed to "go home for the weekend" and left it to the customers to find a temporary solution until they trotted in on monday to fix it. the forums were flying with very unhappy customers.

[BabyBlink]

the EU download for this pre-patch material was seriously messed up. what is worse is that blizzard made this content available on a friday before closing, and just seemed to "go home for the weekend" and left it to the customers to find a temporary solution until they trotted in on monday to fix it. the forums were flying with very unhappy customers.

Alright, Im a westerner! LOL. Im from USA. Ive read through alot of this stuff. Im still not understanding alot of this.

For one, its several days after the patch.......

Secondly, on the downloader there is an option to check your connection info, basically the ppl who are uploading and the ppl you are downloading from. Its a list of approx. 25-30 ppl. Several days after the patch, Blizz is trying to tell me that there are only 25-30 ppl online right now for me to get this update from?

i did read the thread about just transferring to a USB stick, this was very useful information. Only problem.... I lost my USB stick!!! LOL, such is life.....

Anywho, I did have to download this patch on my previous computer a few days ago..... It didnt take this long then on the patch day....

I don't know anymore... Im starting to lose it.

I quit playing because I got hacked and too much of the time and work I put in was ruined. I stayed away from the game because I couldnt stand to look at my toons or use them after I had fallin so far behind my guild as far as raid progression and I didnt want to start from scratch. Now I get back, get over my other toons and roll 2 60's within 4 weeks. And now Im dealing with a crashed computer and a small lifetime waiting to download the game on a new computer bought solely for the purpose of playing....

This is some kind of sick punishment. Somewhere in this lifetime and the last I have wronged someone so bad that going straight to hell isnt punishment enough for me. And instead of figuring out a way to sleep, Im here glued to the comp waiting, watching, and itching like a pill popper who is going through withdrawal and rehab knowing damn well that as soon as group therapy is over Im going out to steal some prescriptions and eat some more vicodin! Id give up, but I cant, and apparently dieing isnt good enough