Is it just me? [yes!] or is Myth II Updater 1.6.0 corrupt?

[adrianrf]

many thanks for the answer to my previous question.

New Problem:
re: http://tain.totalcodex.net/items/show/m ... -6-windows

have tried d/l'd the Updater on both my Macs (transferring to the PC via USB stick) and directly on my daughter's Win XP SP2 box, with 4 different browsers [Firefox/IE7/Safari/Camino], without third-party download managers -- the downloaded file size is always 12,734,754 bytes -- and all copies generate this error dialog on launch:

NSIS Error
The installer you are trying to use is corrupted or incomplete.
This could be the result of a damaged disk, a failed download or a virus.
You may want to contact the author of this installer to obtain a new copy.
It may be possible to skip this check using the /NCRC command line switch (NOT RECOMMENDED).

I experimented with skipping the CRC, and after renaming the existing Myth app, extracting a PDF Read Me, it then bails as it starts extracting the new Myth app, again asserting the contents are corrupted.

the XP machine has a current version of AVG Free Edition 7, with a current virus database. if I disable AVG's live scanning function before installation, the error still appears. (a direct scan with AVG reports the download is virus-free, btw.)

I've been able to download and extract various other installer apps without error, so I didn't think there's a general problem with the machine.

Googling "Win NSIS Error" eventually brought me to the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System main site. I followed Nullsoft's troubleshooting steps, which include running scandisk, doing an anti-virus check, disabling firewalls, transferring the file from a different machine, downloading & launching the Updater while running under Windows Safe Mode, etc. -- all without resolving the problem. the user account I'm logged in on has Admin privileges.

oh, and I also tried the download/execute cycle under Virtual PC 7/Win XP, s-l-o-w-l-y, on my PPC Mac, yielding the same error.

what have I missed?

[Myrd]

Does the one at:

http://hl.udogs.net/files/Myth%20II%201 ... h2_160.exe

Exhibit the same problem?

[adrianrf]

same symptoms exactly.

what else can I check on my end?

[Eddaweaver]

Maybe try to install the update into a folder on another computer and manually copy the files across.

[adrianrf]

Maybe try to install the update into a folder on another computer and manually copy the files across.

I only have access to 2 Win environments, and both complain about corruption.

can you guys confirm the file size, in bytes?
and give me an MD5 hash value for it?
(maybe not a bad policy to add hashes to posted files in general.)


I just compared MD5 hashes for 5 different download attempts I've made on this puppy from http://tain.totalcodex.net/items/downlo ... h2_160.exe
and http://hl.udogs.net/files/Myth%20II%201 ... h2_160.exe
-- and they're ALL different!

however, I do get the same MD5 values on any given file, repeatably, from both a free Win MD5 utility I grabbed, and the built-in OS X MD5 command-line tool.

somehow the .exe is getting mangled in transit, perhaps by my router? or my ISP's anti-virus filter or something?

any chance of uploading an archived file [Zip file] rather than a directly-executable binary?

appreciate any possible help, and sorry for the hassle...

[Myrd]

Ok, I've put a ZIP of it here:

http://hl.udogs.net/files/Myth%20II%201 ... 60.exe.zip

[Eddaweaver]

Most ISPs have transparent http / ftp proxies which silently store files on their computers to speed things up. Sometimes this causes problems for downloads when a stored file is corrupted.

[adrianrf]

please could someone give me an MD5 hash result for the known good .exe file? (Google shows many free MD5 utilities available for download, if you don't have a tool to do that with already.)

I don't know what the heck is going on. Myrd's Zip archive expands without error, suggesting I'm receiving it without it being corrupted along the way. but the extracted .exe Updater complains again that it is corrupt.

Myrd, may I assume you checked it was working for you before you Zipped it?

no-one else seems to have reported problems pulling things off the Myth servers -- not to mention I've had no problem with Mac Updaters and Installers from the same site and pulled through the same ISP pathway -- so this seems much more like a runtime problem in my local machine environment(s) -- but I'm clueless on what else to check. I'll take any suggestions...

all through this, I've been able to download other installers of various kinds, most or all of which I'm certain must also have internal checksummed integrity checks. none have complained they've been corrupted.

to recap: I already tried eliminating ZoneAlarm and WinXP firewalls for the download and expansion; disabling AVG anti-virus; running scandisk; downloading and expanding under Windows Safe Mode. I get a) different MD5 hashes on every binary .exe file I've downloaded [they do stay consistent for any given file when retested, thank goodness! -- and I get a consistent result for each one across multiple hashing tools I've compared], and b) they all report NSIS Errors when they expand.

there is no evidence of other weird behavior on the target WinXP laptop, nor for that matter on the Virtual PC XP environment running on my PPC Mac laptop.

any one care to share their insights, suggestions or outright wild guess speculation?

[Myrd]

I've just tested the one from The Tain, and it installed correctly.

The MD5 of the .exe is: 8318589bcd82955b0a7757111aef11b0
The MD5 of the .zip is: fb72f0065a6e09bc02c4f7564c8bf59f

Also, if you suspect your ISP is altering the file using a virus scanner or something, then it's quite as likely that their system supports looking into zip files and altering them also.

EDIT: In which case, here's a .sit of it (use stuffit to expand). Since stuffit's format's proprietary, the ISP most likely wouldn't be able to alter it.

http://projectmagma.net/~myrd/Myth2_160.exe.sit

The MD5 of the .sit is: da874d80688ae6c3aca2ed1ed17d8edb

[adrianrf]

thanks, Myrd.

so, the .sit file came through with a changed MD5, as had the .exe inside it. Stuffit Expander did not complain about the archive being damaged. but the Myth2_160.exe then again complained its contents were corrupt.

however, my sincere thanks also go to voiceofra who very kindly put up a .rar-based self-expanding executable -- of a complete 1.6.0 installation -- inside a Zip file, on his own web site. I was able to download that, and have installed it successfully. thanks also to Eddaweaver for the constructive suggestions.

so the target XP machine is up and running with Myth II 1.6.0 at last, after quite some hours of screwing around.

it's a Sony PCG-V505DX laptop with an ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 video card -- unfortunately, even after refreshing DirectX and making sure I had the absolute latest-greatest video card driver (checked both Sony and ATI's resources) looks like it'll have to run in software rendering mode. in Direct3D mode, it doesn't draw the figure bitmaps. but the sw renderer still pulls 35fps or better with all the high res options, at 1024x680. phew!

in case anyone cares, my ISP is Comcast. so far, this is the only item I've ever had a corruption problem with, out of thousands of downloaded installers and updaters over several years. [sure hope it's the last, too.] otherwise, I'm plenty happy about their service: took just 6 mins to pull down ~290MB of WinRAR'd archive.

[voiceofra]

thanks, Myrd.

so, the .sit file came through with a changed MD5, as had the .exe inside it. Stuffit Expander did not complain about the archive being damaged. but the Myth2_160.exe then again complained its contents were corrupt.

however, my sincere thanks also go to voiceofra who very kindly put up a .rar-based self-expanding executable -- of a complete 1.6.0 installation -- inside a Zip file, on his own web site. I was able to download that, and have installed it successfully. thanks also to Eddaweaver for the constructive suggestions.

so the target XP machine is up and running with Myth II 1.6.0 at last, after quite some hours of screwing around.

it's a Sony PCG-V505DX laptop with an ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 video card -- unfortunately, even after refreshing DirectX and making sure I had the absolute latest-greatest video card driver (checked both Sony and ATI's resources) looks like it'll have to run in software rendering mode. in Direct3D mode, it doesn't draw the figure bitmaps. but the sw renderer still pulls 35fps or better with all the high res options, at 1024x680. phew!

in case anyone cares, my ISP is Comcast. so far, this is the only item I've ever had a corruption problem with, out of thousands of downloaded installers and updaters over several years. [sure hope it's the last, too.] otherwise, I'm plenty happy about their service: took just 6 mins to pull down ~290MB of WinRAR'd archive.

My ISP is comcast, as well.
I usually haven't had problems with them munging up downloads in the past, but I have noticed it on a few as of late.
They must have changed something on their end very recently.

[Eddaweaver]

Putting the installer in a 7zip archive should defeat any commercial virus-scanning software.
http://www.7-zip.org/

[Myrd]

The NSIS installer engine we use already uses 7z compression internally (that's why the .exe is so small, and doesn't get smaller if you try to compress it w/ something else).

Also, I don't see how 7z zip would defeat anything, since 7z is open source, and thus could be implemented by any virus scanner. (The LGPL license means it can be legally linked to by non-GPL software).

[Eddaweaver]

Legally yes, but it has been a fairly obscure format.