Author Topic: Batch download woes (Read 13595 times)

jocoyn · « **on:** September 01, 2009, 06:25:52 AM »

I am having a dog of a time with this tool.

I seem to not be able to get the box drawn. I suceeded once out of about 20 attempts and saved it as a gpx file, thinking maybe I could use the same area to download again but it did not get me anything, although when the program goes to not responding, and it closes and I have to reload the box comes back up and laughs at me but I can't seem to load.

Are there any step by step directions. It really is just not working. I have Vista 64, Home Premium, logged on as admin if that makes any difference. 2.2 gig Intel premium core 2 duo and 4 G of RAM. Plenty of hard drive space.

ScottMorris · « **Reply #1 on:** September 01, 2009, 06:58:17 AM »

OK, what happens when you draw a box? Doesn't the 'batch download' dialog come up? The box is then drawn in black. You don't have to save the file to a gpx file. If you hit "Start Download" it should then start downloading for that box.

At what point does the software go to 'not responding' ?

I will update the instructions for batch downloading since a lot has changed, but it sounds like you've uncovered a bug.

jocoyn · « **Reply #2 on:** September 01, 2009, 08:50:37 AM »

I was starting at the dropdown box to do a batch upload instead of using the little curvy arrows. Now I figure out that when I draw the box I cannot see it until it is done and the area pops up and the box opens.

Where it seems to hang is that at some point in the download the communication is lost with the server and not re-established and I have to start all over. Hopefully I am not downloading maps I have already downloaded for a second time.

Not sure what a is realistic size area is to download. Right now I am trying to do about 1/4 of South Carolina - hanging up on color aerials; that is the only thing I am trying to do right now

ScottMorris · « **Reply #3 on:** September 01, 2009, 10:03:37 AM »

Right after you draw the box (by holding down the mouse button starting at the upper left corner and going to the lower right) it should show up in black. You can save it if you want, then you'll have a record of where you downloaded.

You are emphatically not redownloading the same tiles every time. Any tile downloaded is saved and will not be downloaded again.

Can you explain a little more about why you have to start over? The message says 'restarting in 60 seconds' -- does it keep giving that message, or just no messages at all?

1/4 of South Carolina is a pretty large area. Look at the disk space estimate. If it's several gigabytes of data it isn't realistic to expect the download to be quick.

jocoyn · « **Reply #4 on:** September 01, 2009, 10:21:16 AM »

It just hangs there and does not restart. I think that is where I am seeing the problem. Even waiting for it to reconnect after 15-20 minutes and nothing happens. Oh, BTW, I have turned off my screensaver so nothing is hanging it up there.

That seems to be where it just hangs because I can exist and restart it by going through the whole process again.

Yes I figure that will take awhile - it is the area our SAR team covers and downloading at a search - if you have phone coverage - is not only expensive but time consuming. I wanted to preload those maps for that area.

Fast ........ no I was not expecting that ........ even with 20mbps download speed verifed on speedtest........just do the math.

The other thing I am hoping is that since we have a 5 user license - is that when I upgrade the other computers [which are much slower] to the current version I can also replace the existing map data with the stuff I am downloding by deleting the data files on the other computers and just taking my downloaded files, copy to DVD, and pasting in the folder.

ScottMorris · « **Reply #5 on:** September 01, 2009, 11:54:08 AM »

Yep, you can pretty easily transfer the maps to a new computer. Just copy all the MapsX.dat files and the mapindex.dat file.

That's troubling that TF is not restarting the download. I will do some testing in South Carolina today.

jocoyn · « **Reply #6 on:** September 01, 2009, 12:15:50 PM »

I am also getting some issues with downloading across zone lines - topos. Had that happen yesterday - that was not batch downloading but just downloading an area.

Now that is not a big issue for me in the upstate of SC but there is a line in eastern NC/SC and in GA.

Right now I have been downloading solid for 3.5 hours without a glitch but this morning it was very screwy and was yesterday too.

Now lets say in 6 months I want to check for new aerials. If I download again will it only take the new maps or does it know?

That is very nice about being able to copy the maps over. Maptech is so darned proprietary. [and expensive] - their topos are nicer quality than terraserver but not enough to me to make a rats a of a difference

jocoyn · « **Reply #7 on:** September 01, 2009, 01:05:01 PM »

I sure can't figure it out.

I thought I downloaded 2Meter topos and wound up with 64 meter BW aerials - tried again to get 2 meter topos and it said there were no tiles to download but if I go on map and enable downloading they feed in like normal ..........

Looks like color aerials downloaded fine but those darned topos keep freezing up even though I stayed clear of zone lines. They download fine the normal way. Just takes forever to keep moving the cursor.

ScottMorris · « **Reply #8 on:** September 01, 2009, 02:10:06 PM »

I just downloaded almost a gig of color aerials in South Carolina in under an hour. Added a bunch of 2M topos and they show up fine. Aerial 64 will download quickly (there are not many of them) so it is unlikely it was from the batch download.

I recommend saving out the areas you download so you remember what you have.

You cannot do a batch download across zone boundaries in regular topo mode. There is a WMS server called TopoWMS that you may want to look at. It had topos that cross zone boundaries if it's really a problem. However, you still can only draw download boxes within a single zone.

Re: 6 months later. It will not overwrite with new maps unless there were no maps in an area before. You would need to start over if there is reason to believe the maps have been updated. Or, add the server as a custom WMS server and thereby start a new tileset.

jocoyn · « **Reply #9 on:** September 01, 2009, 03:04:44 PM »

Strange..even at current ISP afterschool lag 10mbps [just tested] should get me a gig in an hour and a half - but I am only at 144 megs after an hour of downloading - but in that hour, 8 error messages. Boy I sure don't get it. Maybe it is Vista, my computer, I don't know........The zone boundaries are not an issue I can stay inside of them.

ScottMorris · « **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2009, 04:28:38 PM »

Well, you are limited by the server's bandwidth and also intermediate steps. Perhaps I am closer (in 'hops') to the server than you are.

I am adjusting a few things with respect to the error messages in the current version. It may perform better for you.

jocoyn · « **Reply #11 on:** September 01, 2009, 05:53:52 PM »

It is amazing all you do with this and I am sure a lot of folks are grateful because I will tell you many of the other products come with a very high cost ....

jocoyn · « **Reply #12 on:** September 02, 2009, 04:06:32 AM »

Scott, I am not sure I can figure out what the heck went on, but maybe this is helpful info.

I settled for now on JUST 4 meter tiles - all I want is good enough for a walking field map and that is. NOW - download an area and I quit at 30% complete and, HONEST, 8 gigs and hours and hours of downloading and that was the ONLY checkbox checked [4 meter topos].

Decided to sit there and do it manually instead. About three fourths of same area [manually had some more control] and I downloaded the same area within about an hour [but was multitasking on another computer at the same time........Total space was about 1 gig so I have no idea what was going on.

-------------

Not sure of how to go back and snag the aerials but coming up with a strategy. Sure don't need ALL color aerials, just the 0.015 level

ScottMorris · « **Reply #13 on:** September 02, 2009, 07:17:46 AM »

Hmm. The estimate was 8 gigs, or the resulting map files were 8 gig?

Then when you panned through the rest of the area the map file only grew by 1 gig?

Did you go back and verify that all tiles had been downloaded in the area you manually scanned through?

jocoyn · « **Reply #14 on:** September 02, 2009, 07:36:31 AM »

The resulting files was 8 gig at about 30% complete. I am finding the occassional missing file in the ,manually scanned area [even though they all loaded before I moved to the next area] but not much. -

I think it said it the expected file size for the batch download should have been about 2 gigs - which sounds about right because the download all box had to be bigger than the area I wanted.

Sounds odd - don't know if the start/stop/server disconnect issue is to blame? Maybe each time it reconnected it redownloaded the same tiles? I really cannot make sense out of it.

ScottMorris · « **Reply #15 on:** September 02, 2009, 08:24:37 AM »

I can't account for it. I just downloaded 200mb of topo 4meters and the file was smaller than the estimate.

Are you sure one of the other tilesets wasn't toggled?

There is a beta version out already that should result in less error messages when downloading. Speaking of which, were you getting download errors when you were manually panning around?

jocoyn · « **Reply #16 on:** September 02, 2009, 08:43:01 AM »

Yes I was. No other tilesets were toggled. I don't get it either.

I am on 3.85 -

jocoyn · « **Reply #17 on:** September 03, 2009, 05:29:12 AM »

VISTA. I think VISTA 64 is the culprit. I did batch download on a home computer with the demo version and it was fast and accurate and I could even see the area selection box while I was using it and the download was fast.

So I may blow everything away, do it on the XP computer, and copy the files to the Vista computer. I did, however, remember just how smoothly everything worked. It was so different on the XP computer than on the Vista computer!

It would be nice to select WHICH color aerials to download though to save space.

ScottMorris · « **Reply #18 on:** September 03, 2009, 07:39:09 AM »

Hmmm... I have not tested much with Vista64 myself, however I do know of a small handful of users, two of which are big time users of the software, and have tested the batch download function. So, I'm not sure. You said on a 'home computer', is the Vista64 computer somewhere else with a different connection?

I do wonder about the box not showing up -- a graphics glitch like that suggests a video card issue. Updating drivers is the usual prescription.

The next beta (out very soon hopefully!) has the color (and WMS server tilesets) split out by resolution so you can do 0.015 only, or avoid 0.003 or whatever. You may want to wait a bit and use that.

jocoyn · « **Reply #19 on:** September 03, 2009, 07:53:19 AM »

THAT sounds like a plan - next beta.

They are both home computers - the 64 is a laptop while the "home computer" is just an XP clunker.

I will have to check the graphics card sw - it is a dedicated NIVIDEA Geoforce card with DirectX 10...........I am new to having a dedicated graphics card

jocoyn · « **Reply #20 on:** September 03, 2009, 11:12:37 AM »

It appears you pegged this issue with the graphics driver. Went to NVDIA website, found driver from August 27th [upgrade] installed and now maps are downloading properly [still server communication issues], the box is visible when I draw it, and the file size is coming in at a bit less than projected.

I will definitely look forward to the upgrade beta though. Really for printed maps for individual areas no larger than about 5 x 10 kilometers, you really don't need the bigger color aerials - - - the issue in the field is, of course, downloading maps on an air card with a 5 gig per month limit it can add up not to mention the time issues when you need to hit the ground fast.

ScottMorris · « **Reply #21 on:** September 05, 2009, 06:10:00 PM »

Hi,

There is a new beta out. I revamped the batch download tool. Hopefully it will behave a lot better, and the option for different tilesets (e.g. color) is there.

Let me know if you have a chance to try it.

Also, send an email if you need info on how to get the beta.

Larry · « **Reply #22 on:** September 09, 2009, 06:28:27 AM »

Hi guys,

For what it's worth, fiddling with the internet connections settings has helped batch downloading on my machine. It seemed to me that if they were cranked up too much, a server would stop responding. Especially the color tile server. (Scott may have fixed this internally by now.)

By the way, I've used Vista 64 bit for some time now, no issues, but keeping my video driver updated has solved a number of other minor problems. (Vista uses a new video driver model, and I'm not sure if the video card makers have every last bit of it figured out yet.)

Larry