Re: Having trouble downloading ShrinkIt archives

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

sacredring@my-deja.com writes ...
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm having the hardest time trying to download and use ShrinkIt archives
> from the Internet. Netscape on UNIX treats ShrinkIt archives like text
> files, even if I configure the MIME types. The wget program treats
> ShrinkIt archives as text as well, and there is no way that I've
> discovered to change this configuration.
> 
> After I use nulib/nulib2 to extract the (corrupt) ShrinkIt archive, it
> silently extracts everything without reporting an error. But if I try to
> use the extracted disk images, the emulator I'm using does funny things
> and ultimately does not properly recognize the unextracted disk image.
> This happens even when I try to download and use ShrinkIt itself (from
> http://www.nulib.com), essentially causing a Catch-22.
> 
> Is there something I'm missing?
> 
 ....

     As you can tell from the replies, there are several variables. Missing
something is easy.

     If you are using a moderately recent version of Netscape (e.g. 4.x) on a
PC, then, you are likely to have problems downloading .shk, .sdk, .dsk, and
other exclusively Apple binary type files from most http sites.

     Apparently, the site server tells Netscape that it does not recognize
the file type and the Netscape default is to treat the file as Text. This
seems to mean that the file is downloaded with no changes (as binary) but
processed as Text when it is written to your hard disk. The Text processing
'fixes' line enders, which usually results in 0A and 0D characters being
added and you have a corrupted file.

     A fix which often works is to run a PC utility named "Uncook.exe" on the
file after downloading. Evidently, Uncook uses a good, unmessed-with copy of
the download retained in disk and/or memory cache. So, you should use Uncook
fairly soon after the download (before the cache is over-written).  I've used
Uncook many times to salvage corrupted downloads.

     To get Uncook and for info about how to use it, visit GS WorldView at
http://abandonwarering.com/tiktok/gswvindex.html and click on "Download
Help".



Rubywand