Can pausing a torrent corrupt the video ?

[venomx]

Say i start a video download, download a few percent, pause it, then the next day resume and finish, can it corrupt or mess the file up at all ?

[contrail]

No, but this can happen if you play it through a video player (while the torrent is paused) that changes the metadata. If the torrent is well seeded you can re-download the proper parts, otherwise you got the video but can't seed back to the torrent because the data is different. This sometimes happens to uploaders and you will see the torrent will never finish, though they might relase an updated proper torrent.

[politux]

I don't think he meant playing the video while downloading. And the answer is no. Torrents can't be corrupted by pausing and starting them. That's why hash values exist. Same data will always check out at 100%.

[xHOBBiTx]

the next day resume and finish

if the next day resume and finish, then i do not think so. because any changes in the file during this pausing will not resume the download due to the changes in the file hash

[dueda]

What I've seen here with my client and settings:

First, I suppose by "pause" you mean normally hitting the O.S. Menu and shutting down the computer, or just leaving it unnattended/disconnected for some time.
In that case nothing will change with your torrents, except in case of power interruption or hardware failure.

Second, in case of abnormal interruption or data corruption (bad sector, etc) you'll have to re-check the affected torrents.
Data is there but torrent says 0% - It doesn't means you lost your data, just need to start checking from the 0 up to 100%.

Most torrent clients will raise the "abnormal interruption" flag only if the client wasn't shut down properly or it was activated without the needed files in place.
This is common with guys using external disks or NAS who forget to connect cables and check power before starting the client, like me.

Third, paused or running, it is possible to change data (the movie or the torrent file) thus becomming odd with the hash value.
It is possible to tamper with the file at any moment but hardly it will happen during a download as you know it's not ready yet.

Answer is "maybe". Part depends on how well your O.S. and hardware can take it. Has UPS or battery (if notebook)? Wich files were ative at the time?

The flag can be disabled on some clients so you don't need to waste time, but should be done only with files you know had little chance of being damaged.
After that you can do a manual recheck (force re-check) on the files wich were active at the time of abnormal stop.

[Q91]

In case if its get corrupted, the BitTorrent client usually detects that and forces a re-check of all the pieces. If you, per se, have a application crash or the computer, only the most active pieces (data being written), should get corrupted.

But when it comes to pausing, no, nothing should get corrupted, not even the pieces that aren't completed, but they might go through a re-check before starting downloading again.

[venomx]

Thanks for the info men

[plhbg.sprby]

I think there is a possibility of file corruption during the whole process of downloading (from 0%-100%).
Most users won't notice it as they only deal with the output file.
Clients deal with the chunks and they're the ones checking and repairing each chunk.
Bad peers sending bad chunks and users intentionally or unintentionally modifying the file can be sources of corruption.

But it won't be a problem as long as there is at least one seed in the swarm.

[dueda]

Yes, I saw it happening so it is possible, and the client usually detects and fixes it - By downloading that chunk again.
As far as the download ends 100% with all good chunks, no problem. If the only active seed is corrupted, your torrent will not finish. Wait for another source/peer.

[Sid]

Thanks for the info men

i.e. we're done here.

/closed