Rei wrote:I'd like to upload those corrupted save data files in the hopes that the devs can help recover the content (or at least the download list) of all those save data.
This has happened a few times over the past decade or so, so it is a little concerning that FDM corrupted those save data for whatever reason.
My FDM version is 3.9.7 Build 1641, while my OS is 32-bit Windows 10.

If your download.sav file size is greater than 6 MB, the file is probably broken and can't be fixed. Other service files are usually smaller and should be OK.
In older FDM versions the problem might arise when file sizes were greater than 1 MB, so you can find old topics about this problem, see the search results:
search.php?keywords=service+sav&terms=all&author=Usher&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=-1&t=0&submit=Search

File download.sav contains download list: URLs (including magnet links), download locations, download status, group assignment, embedded *.torrent files, etc. Some of those data may be extracted with hex editors.

websterZ wrote:@Usher
I think you may have misunderstood my definition of the scale of the issue. When FDM 3.9.7 launches, it hangs immediately.

So it looks like another problem, probably with too large or broken FDM service files *.sav. Such behaviour has been reported many times in the past, see search results:
search.php?keywords=service+files+*.sav&terms=all&author=Usher&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=-1&t=0&submit=Search

If this is the case, you should create a new Windows user account, login to it and just run FDM to test it with default settings.

Well, I'd like to see FDM Classic (a.k.a. FDM 4) with classic FDM 3 interface and some changes added or ported from FDM 5: improved and enhanced bittorrent support, updated flash and youtube sniffers, updated file/video hosting support, sqlite database instead of *.sav service files, full unicode support for filenames in any language, using OpenSSL libs for https/ftps support, support for local copies of metalink files, full portability (xml file with download info kept in download folder), etc. etc.

No, you don't understand. The extension may stop working because:

* You have visited some ill-crafted sites (possibly with broken or overcomplicated javascript code). Old extension might silently refuse to work on broken sites but go on working on other sites, WebExtension may completely crash and must be restarted manually because Firefox developers haven't provided full-featured API yet and Firefox doesn't catch all faults. There may be crash when opening or leaving a webpage, opening or closing tab or even when a webpage is refreshed in background (broken ads, broken JS code, etc.), so it's difficult to determine which page crashes extensions.

* Because of incomplete API 32-bit Firefox may ignore all WebExtensions if you have opened many tabs and its size in virtual memory grows over 1 GiB. It may happen with any content and any number of tabs, but the most probable reason are sites playing video. Open task manager (press Alt+Shift+Esc), go to "Processes" tab, add proper columns if needed and watch VM consumption for Firefox. In this case restarting FDM extension won't help if you don't close any tab to decrease VM consumption.
Firefox may work OK with more memory, if you have more RAM installed and don't use any add-ons, but it's obviously not our case.

* The crash may happen to FDM WebExtension directly or may be caused by interaction with other extensions.

Note that classic FDM (3.x. and older) may have internal problems with its service files (*.sav, see reports in older topics), but you can't fix such problems by restarting FDM extension. So it's NOT that case now.

That was temporary link and it's already expired. Microsoft seems to block direct linking to exe files some time ago, so I've changed the link and its description in my previous message. Try once again.

Lone Browncoat wrote:Probably will have to export the list of downloads first, eh?

No, you won't. Uninstall should delete the program files and registry entries then ask if you want to keep your service files, but someone reported that it failed. So just do backup *.sav files from your FDM profile.

oroville wrote:I assume this is what you are referring to, C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Free Download Manager?

It's "C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Free Download Manager" subfolder in Windows Vista+, Roaming not Local.

I have no FDM 5.1 installed here so I can write only some general remarks.

1. FDM 5.1 keeps some settings in Windows registry like classic FDM does, but the key is "Free Download Manager 5" now.
2. Classic FDM keeps *.sav service files in "Free Download Manager" subfolder in Windows user profile. FDM 5.1 seems to use single SQlite database file kept in "Free Download Manager 5" subfolder.
3. FDM 5.1 seems to keep *.torrent files downloaded for magnet links as separate files on disk - unlike classic FDM 3.x that keeps them as parts of *.sav files only.

I assume you can easy find proper locations…

I guess that:
- You cannot use system backup now, so you should first do backup your Windows user profile on your own.
- You may have problems with exporting registry settings so you should have configure your FDM once again after reinstall (f.e. create a new skip list).

* FDM Download folders
FDM writes absolute paths for all download locations in its service files (*.sav) so you should NOT move downloads to new places when replacing broken HDD with a new one (or when changing partition organization) . For example - if your downloads have been saved to D:\Downloads and torrents to T:\torrents folders, you should assign previous letters to the newly created partitions and move folders without changing their names.

* FDM service files
If you haven't moved your *.sav files before reinstall (it's in FDM options General | Micellaneous | Advanced), you should NOT do it now. Just install FDM anew, run it to create new *.sav files, then close FDM and replace new *.sav files with files copied from your old profile. Windows user name in this case is irrelevant.

* Other remarks
- When you restart FDM with restored service files and download folders, it will may take several minutes to recalculate checksums for all torrents, so in the beginning you will see red arrow as FDM icon in the system notification area and 0% for progress of all torrents. Other downloads should be displayed with proper progress counter.
- Some active downloads may be broken and some stopped downloads may require restart from the very beginning or even providing a new download link.

Atester wrote:The version now crashes every time when starts on Windows 10 insider build 10525+ x64 edition.

There are probably problems with FDM service files (*.sav) conversion. It's been already reported in THIS topic: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16856&p=41360#p41360
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16856&p=41360#p41364

Guest wrote:

Usher wrote:What browser do you use? Provide full name and version.

= I do not use integration. Opera 32.0.1948.69 (and Vivaldi 1.0.291.18 (https://vivaldi.net/blogs/teamblog/)

Usher wrote:- copy and paste link to FDM

: classical link , and filehost as a premium user and generate a direct download link for you (service type linksnappy)

Many links (especially from file hosting services) DO NOT work with copy and paste, some don't work like that even for premium users. They may require to watch ads, solve captcha, pass User Agent, Referer, session ID, other cookies or metadata from the browser, etc.

Guest wrote:

Usher wrote:- Have you tried to completely uninstall the old FDM version before installing the new one?

= the old version was not installed. (3.x)

I mean ANY old version, including 5.x older builds.

Guest wrote:

Usher wrote:- Have you tried to test FDM with your browser on a new Windows user profile?

no, another computer under Windows 10 x32. Build 4726.1 was installed and works correctly. Build 5140 same problem : add a download link, the application closes immediately

It seems you did the same wrong thing once again - ignored suggestion to ALWAYS MAKE BACKUP of your FDM service files (*.sav) when dealing with alpha/preview builds.
The structure of *.sav files may be changed in alpha/preview builds without warning. Some changes may be incompatible so the service files may need conversion. In some cases FDM can't properly convert older files and may crash immediately after start or after adding a new download. See similar case for FDM 3.9.5: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17053&p=40412#p40412

BTW. Stop your strange way of answering and quoting, please. Use the forum editing tools (f.e. click (”) button to answer, cut unneeded quoting, use BBCode tags to properly format quoted text) and do not post your answers to random topics.

Guest wrote:I realize there are a lot of incompatible changes, and I am sorry I wasn't clear on the situation I am interested in getting FDM to work with Firefox 33 again.

I think you can upgrade your Firefox even to 38 ESR. Why do you insist on using Firefox 33? What is wrong with newer Firefox versions?

Guest wrote:What version of FDM doesn't matter to me.

You can install FDM 3.9.5 build 1537. It should work OK with Firefox 30 - 38, but there are some issues you must fix before.
1. Uninstall FDM, remove all installed FDM extensions and clean your Firefox install - as it's been described in the FAQ. There should be no FDM extension seen in Firefox after this step.
2. FDM 3.9.5 changed format of its service files (*.sav) so you cannot go back to earlier FDM version if you have no backup. Some installers may even break service files during conversion from/to older format, so you should follow steps describe here: viewtopic.php?p=40412#p40412 if you want to get back your FDM history (download list including torrent/magnet state, list of download groups and download folders, credentials kept in SIte Manager etc.). I can provide FDM 3.9.5 build 1537 and 1538, if needed.
3. You should should see properly installed FDM extension in Firefox after step 2, but it may not fix your broken sav files, see here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17283 - so your report is needed.

lastnikita wrote:I can't see any "enable bittorent" global option, nor any community options...

FDM FAQ by default describes options available in FDM 3.x, many of those settings are not implemented in FDM 5 preview (yet).

lastnikita wrote:those are outbound connections, so I didn't think they could come from other nodes..

With Bittorrent enabled FDM must respond to requests from other nodes. That way FDM creates outcoming traffic, though initiated by the other nodes. FDM may still initiate outbound connections if it still keeps data in btdht.sav file, so if you really don't want to use torrents any more, you can delete this file - change your folder options to show hidden folders and files, then go to "%APPDATA%\Free Download Manager 5" folder and you should see all FDM service files (from the command line you should use command dir /a).

It's not a bug, it's a well known missing feature.

FDM may recognize different types of downloads and use different settings for them (usually defined as a separate group). Some default settings are hardcoded in FDM.exe, some of them you can change and FDM will keep them in its service files (*.sav). F.e. you can:
- change settings for default download folder and for download folders of any default group;
- define your own download groups;
- assign some settings (including credentials and group) for a specific site.

Notes:
1. If you change default download folder, download folders for all groups may be reset and you should define them once again.
2. Not all FDM features are available for all types of downloads. FDM doesn't use full-featured "Add download" dialog window for all types of downloads. If any option is missing in a dialog window for some download type, then user-defined settings for that option may be ignored. In some cases you can provide your own settings manually, in some other cases hardcoded settings may be used.

FDM may create new service files (*.sav) after crash, f.e. when the old service files are broken or too big (keeping thousands of downloaded files or hundreds of torrents in sav files larger than 2 MB each). In this case you may lose some lists (downloads, history, schedule, groups, logins and passwords) but the registry settings (monitoring, networking etc.) should remain untouched.

FDM may remove both its service files and registry settings only when fully uninstalled, so I suspect there may be other issues - like unattended system restore after system crash or reset, abuse of misconfigured uninstaller or another "crap cleaner".

How big are service files *.sav in your FDM? Maybe it needs some maintenance?
Or maybe there is something wrong with your Windows user profile. In this case create a new Windows user account, login to it and test FDM again.

Q: How can I send message to FDM support?

You can use following options:
1. Post message to this forum. Read the reporting rules and FDM FAQ before posting.
2. Send a private message from this forum to a developer that asked you to do it.
3. Post feature request to http://freedownloadmanager.idea.informer.com providing detailed description and pictures if needed.
4. Use the web form http://freedownloadmanager.org/support.htm if you want to provide some confidential details.
5. Send email directly to support (at) freedownloadmanager.org if you want to attach some language files (newly translated or updated) or confidential files (*.sav service files or FDM logs).