File validation not working?

[transadelaide]

I've had a couple of DLC's in the last 2 or 3 days and no problems with downloading.
( that's actually 8 downloads as I have 4 PC's running TS 2012. )
I find the best time with the quickest download rate is around 6 am.
Usually with download speeds within the 700+ Kb/sec and the odd blip at over 1 Mb/sec.
Has anyone tried changing server location, it might help?

Chris.

Yes, I have tried the server thing, and it most certainly does help! As I have a new PC I've got to re-install Railworks, which at Christmas time is a bit of a nightmare, I left it running on London for a good couple of hours and kept getting my download paused/suspended and only had a mere 1,500mb downloaded. So having looked at time zones I went for somewhere that was in night as these times apear less busy, so I'm now running near my max download speed 200kbs (We have a not so brilliant download speed where I live, all the main cables are in the town a couple of miles away) on one of the Russian servers. I recomend searching around to everyone who is trying to download something, if you get it right you can save yourself a lot of time

I would suggest that the best selection for downloading would be a timezone where it is in the morning, not night. Be aware that some ISPs throttle the speed when you select servers outside your country, so you may end up no better off.

For the store, it's just a single central server so try to avoid the times when it is afternoon/evening in the USA and East Asia, as these are the largest markets for video games.

[railermad]

Good point there, I do know though that that is my best download speed so it made no difference for me. Regarding the issue, having just come across the problem myself whilst trying to fix an error where I have no sky and ground textures I have found that Steam gave me 100% within a couple of seconds of starting, so I exited Steam then restarted it and it is now carrying out the validation correctly. Hope this helps

[chrisiveson]

Just downloaded the 455 DLC from Steam at 09.18, download speed at 700+ Kb/s with a max. at 768 Kb/s ( very quick )
PC 2 will follow shortly, then I will do the other 2 PC's tonight when I expect the download speed will be much slower.

Chris.

// second PC downloaded in less than 2 minutes, same 700+ Kb/s speeds with a max. of 900 Kb/s.

[ihavenonamenoreallyidont]

I started this thread specifically about file validation rather than new DLC downloads which, while very slow, are fine in my experience.

File validation itself, however, just does not appear to be either not happening or working correctly with RW. Again, it's fine for a variety of other games I've tested.

[TElsmore]

Its the same for me, the '66' downloaded fine for me originally, but like a muppet i did not remove the RS version of the loco first, so i totally removed the class 66 from my install, having total and utter confidence that a game cache verify would notice that the '66' DLC was missing and redownload it. That just hasnt happened and i have tried all of the suggestions above. I agree that there seems to be a problem with the game cache validating tool and TS2012 at the minute.

Cheers
Terrone

[x5pgr]

One of the major frustrations of TS2012 is that you fix one problem then something else seems to appear! As far as file validation is concerned, although of no consolation to those affected it is with some relief to know that I am not either imagining there is a problem and that others are having similar difficulties.

Following suggestions from others I have tried again having first changed the Steam server to ‘Washington DC’ – on the basis that it is early in the morning there. The validation procedure took about half an hour but came up with the usual result – i.e. all files successfully validated. Whilst noting the comments about Steam servers being busy etc which no doubt they are my feeling is that this is unlikely to be the problem. In fact I have noticed that, judging by the lights on my router, there seems to be virtually no internet activity during the process so I am wondering whether Steam servers are even being properly accessed at all, although the last item of DLC I acquired was fine. If files were being checked against a server elsewhere surely the internet access would be more or less constant?

Could it be something to do with Firewall or other security settings or ports?

Peter

[TElsmore]

I thought about maybe being a firewall problem, but i have never experienced this problem with validating the game cache before, nor have i ever played with the firewall settings, so i have ruled that out. Deffinately a strange one this.

Cheers
Terrone.

[Squatch]

Its working again now, just re-validated 300+ files. As proposed earlier, must've been a capacity issue.....

[ihavenonamenoreallyidont]

It's not a firewall problem otherwise it'd be affecting every game.

[chrisiveson]

I started this thread specifically about file validation rather than new DLC downloads which, while very slow, are fine in my experience.

File validation itself, however, just does not appear to be either not happening or working correctly with RW. Again, it's fine for a variety of other games I've tested.

Well that's fair comment, and I apologize for going off topic, but it has to be asked, why do so many need to do a file verification?
I can't remember the last time I did one, and it must be well over six months ago.
Maybe I should try it? but I prefer to go by the old saying "if it aint broke, why fix it?
and as a side note, I've always had RailWorks in Program Files, be it XP, Vista, W7 or W8.

Chris.

[ihavenonamenoreallyidont]

I started this thread specifically about file validation rather than new DLC downloads which, while very slow, are fine in my experience.

File validation itself, however, just does not appear to be either not happening or working correctly with RW. Again, it's fine for a variety of other games I've tested.

Well that's fair comment, and I apologize for going off topic, but it has to be asked, why do so many need to do a file verification?
I can't remember the last time I did one, and it must be well over six months ago.
Maybe I should try it? but I prefer to go by the old saying "if it aint broke, why fix it?
and as a side note, I've always had RailWorks in Program Files, be it XP, Vista, W7 or W8.

Chris.

Sorry I came off as a little brusque, not my intention

The reason I wanted to complete a full verification was specifically to remove a couple of Armstrong Powerhouse's sound packs.

To expand on that, I keep a full basic installation of RW as a back-up which includes all the add-ons I've purchased from non-Steam sources, too. Unfortunately, that meant I had no true vanilla installation, eg one with the default RW sounds intact so the only way to retrieve them was a file verification (or a total deletion/reinstallation which is what I had to do in the end due to verification not functioning).

I like to housekeep every so often, too, removing the clutter that accumulates over time. The easiest and fastest way for me to do that is by deleting the installation and copying my basic installation back across rather than performing a file verification.

Anyway, this time I've learned my lesson: I now have my working copy of RW, a vanilla back-up and a vanilla back-up with the add-ons from non-Steam sources

As a final note, file verification does seem to be working at this point in time, as Squatch noted.

[TElsmore]

I had to fo a game cache veryfication due to my own incompetence, otherwise i wouldnt have touched it, i dont notmally need to. Only myself to blame.

[ihavenonamenoreallyidont]

Just coming back again... the verification I just completed out of curiosity took the length of time it ought to but claimed all the files were correct which is simply not the case.

[BVEClass395]

I'm having problems with the file verification too ...

I have some missing blueprints for Portsmouth Direct DLC and running the file verification 10 times hasn't fixed it.

I did it about 15 minutes ago, came back 100%, but now my Oxford-Paddington isn't in the route selection!

So I restarted Steam and am now re-verifying the files for the 11th time ...

Seems to be taking longer than it has done before, but still jumps to 100% after about 67% ...

Might try and change my server, think it's on London which might not be helping.

Thanks,
Ryan

[michbret]

There is definitively a problem, mostly caused by Steam server load and a wrongly programmed Steam client which let the user think that their files were validated when this is not the case.

I posted a way to try to circumvent this problem on the steam Railworks forum. Have a look at this thread.

Merry Christmas to all the Rail fans.
Cheers