Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!sfalken@apple.com
From: sfalken@apple.com (Steven Falkenburg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: mysterious XferIt problems (Was: Re: Downloading files in one-go?)
Message-ID: <13570@goofy.Apple.COM>
Date: 20 May 91 22:34:25 GMT
References: <1991May17.012220.8243@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu> <6816@husc6.harvard.edu>
Sender: usenet@Apple.COM
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
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> Me again.  I guess I started this discussion.  I too got a couple of e-mails
> from people who had problems similar to those in my original posting.  So, in
> addition to the several postings we have seen here about XferIt problems, and
> Eric's additional mail, and my additional mail, I am tempted to condemn XferIt.
> Apparently it simply does not work in some (many?) setups.
> 
> It is frustrating that it seems to work so well for so many people.  And not
> the rest of us!  I feel left out!  Oh, well....
> 
> I _really_ doubt that the problems will be solved by any of the simple methods
> that some of the people who have it working have suggested.  Too many of us who
> know what we're doing have too many other TCP/IP applications running smoothly
> and have tried too many reasonable things ourselves....
> 
> At this point I am content to write this program off until it gets fixed or 
> someone comes up with a _real_ suggestion as to what our problem might be (and
> a reasonable explanation to back it up)....  With a perfectly adequate program
> like HyperFTP to use in the meantime, I am not going to waste any more of my
> time wondering why XferIt doesn't work or trying to fix it.  And from the looks
> of the other reports, I would recommend that any of you out there who are hav-
> ing troubles with it yourselves do likewise....

Well, could you at least let me defend my program...

I've just graduated, moved to California, and been at the Apple World Wide
Developer's Conference for the past three weeks.  I haven't had much time
to look bugs in XferIt.

If you look back at the history of these messages, you'll probably notice that
all or most of these problems are occuring on Mac Plus systems.  I don't
program on a Mac Plus, and when I made a few changes, I forgot to do a full
set of tests using a plus.

I have reproduced all of the problems above using a Plus/SE class machine,
but haven't had time to look into them further.  I'm fairly sure the problems
all started cropping up when I converted to Think C 4.0.4.  All of the
crashes are occuring in the Segment Loader, so this would seem to corroborate
a compiler weirdness.  I'm going to take a serious look at the code tonight,
and if I can't get it working in Think C, I'm going to convert it to MPW.

Aside from this crashing problem, I have also discovered a speed problem
which was introduced sometime around version 1.3.  I think I have fixed this
problem now, and a newer version will be available soon.

Sorry about the problems with XferIt on Pluses...  I'm working on it.
If you have any other problems with XferIt, please mail me, I can't always
find the time to read Netnews.

-steve falkenburg
 Apple MacDTS
 sfalken@apple.com