Can I pause/resume downloads using built-in OS X tools?
Basically, I don't want to pay YazSoft's price of $20 for their download manager which they'll probably update to version 3 and charge for again. I don't need all the features anyway. I was reading the reviews on MacUpdate and one person mentioned some UNIX command you could use, built into OS X, that will accomplish the same task of allowing you to pause and resume downloads. That would be ideal, especially since it would be free. Also it would be nice to be able to schedule my downloads, because I don't want my computer to be hogging my home's relatively slow connection once people start waking up.
Alternately, if it's not possible to schedule using something other than Speed Download, is it at least possible to restrict the maximum download speed my computer can go at? Usually the most anyone can get is about 16 kb/s, so if I could have my computer download at half of that then it won't slow other people down nearly as much as it does now.
Anyway, hopefully someone has some tips for me. Thanks guys.
Alternately, if it's not possible to schedule using something other than Speed Download, is it at least possible to restrict the maximum download speed my computer can go at? Usually the most anyone can get is about 16 kb/s, so if I could have my computer download at half of that then it won't slow other people down nearly as much as it does now.
Anyway, hopefully someone has some tips for me. Thanks guys.
Comments
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
Anyway, hopefully someone has some tips for me. Thanks guys.
You can use 'curl' at the command line, or download and compile 'wget' from www.gnu.org (which I prefer). Scheduling can be done with cron.
...but if you don't like getting your hands dirty, get hold of iGetter - it's shareware, but I've been using it for ages and it's not restricted in any way. Excellent app - it really maximises your network connection. I think it does scheduling too, but I don't need that feature.
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
Alternately, if it's not possible to schedule using something other than Speed Download, is it at least possible to restrict the maximum download speed my computer can go at? Usually the most anyone can get is about 16 kb/s, so if I could have my computer download at half of that then it won't slow other people down nearly as much as it does now.
Lookout for an app called Carrafix. It'll allow you to cap download/upload speeds. You'll have to fill out the ports you want capped though. Like 80 for HTTP (am I right? my knowledge of the specific numbers is, to say the least, a bit dusty...). Anyway, look at the app and see if it works for you.
Speedier downloads, resume broken/dropped connection, schedule downloads, auto reconnect/disconnect or shut down etc...
Evaluate for as long as you like.
Originally posted by MiMac
Another recommendation for iGetter .
Speedier downloads, resume broken/dropped connection, schedule downloads, auto reconnect/disconnect or shut down etc...
Evaluate for as long as you like.
Speedier as in nine times out of ten, or is it more like 5 times out of 10?
Seriously?!
It's got lots of cool features:
-Limit bandwidth usage (Just for Luca
-Reconnect if disconnected
-Hang up when done
-Sleep/shutdown when done
Other stuff, like pause/resume downloads and such.
Maybe you'll dig it, I dunno. I like the interface better than SD1.95 (haven't tried 2 yet), although it does have it's problems. But overall it's a nice little app that makes up for the deficiencies in the download managers of all the internet browsers for the Mac (except the antichrist IE. Why does M$ have the best download manager in a browser? Somethings not right about that).
Everything else about Safari is good, though!
Camino has a way to download files and ask where each will be saved. It used to be default behavior to ask, but thankfully they made it default to use app preferences. I don't remember how to do it now, but you could check it out. Of course the download manager sucks ass otherwise, but if you really need the feature...
Originally posted by Junkyard Dawg
Well, iGetter doesn't ask where to save files for each download, but you can set a download location in preferences that applies to all files. Is that what you mean? Probably not.
Camino has a way to download files and ask where each will be saved. It used to be default behavior to ask, but thankfully they made it default to use app preferences. I don't remember how to do it now, but you could check it out. Of course the download manager sucks ass otherwise, but if you really need the feature...
I use mozilla most of the time, which is about the only browser that will ask you where you want that file to go, but as i do a lot of downloads IE: pictures, movies, demos, webpages, documents etc, i prefer to have a seperate manager which i can schedule to download when im out or asleep so im not using all me bandwidth when i need it. needless to say having to sort out these downloads manually is a right pain in the arse, so if you hear or know of any managers that ask(manors never hurt
I use mozilla most of the time, which is about the only browser that will ask you where you want that file to go, but as i do a lot of downloads IE: pictures, movies, demos, webpages, documents etc, i prefer to have a seperate manager which i can schedule to download when im out or asleep so im not using all me bandwidth when i need it. needless to say having to sort out these downloads manually is a right pain in the arse, so if you hear or know of any managers that ask(manors never hurt ) pls do let me know.
It sounds to me like you haven't discovered bash scripts yet. Here's one I wrote for my linux setup, it 'sorts' my home folder, where all my downloads wind up.
cd ~/ #make sure we are in our home directory!
mv *.TAR.* Documents/archives/ &
mv *.tar.* Documents/archives/ &
mv *.TAR Documents/archives/ &
mv *.tar Documents/archives/ &
mv *.TGZ Documents/archives/ &
mv *.tgz Documents/archives/ &
mv *.ZIP Documents/archives/ &
mv *.zip Documents/archives/ &
mv *.BZ2 Documents/archives/ &
mv *.bz2 Documents/archives/ &
mv *.rpm Documents/archives/ &
rm -f [1-9]*.[1-9]*.[1-9]*.[1-9]*.mp3
mv *.MP3 MP3s/incoming/ &
mv *.mp3 MP3s/incoming/ &
mv *.pls MP3s/playlists/ &
mv *.png Documents/images/ &
mv *.gif Documents/images/ &
mv *.jpeg Documents/images/ &
mv *.JPEG Documents/images/ &
mv *.jpg Documents/images/ &
mv *.JPG Documents/images/ &
mv *.PNG Documents/images/ &
mv *.GIF Documents/images/ &
mv *.txt Documents/texts/ &
mv *.TXT Documents/texts/ &
mv *.html Documents/texts/ &
mv *.HTML Documents/texts/ &
mv *.htm Documents/texts/ &
mv *.HTM Documents/texts/ &
mv *.pdf Documents/texts/ &
mv *.PDF Documents/texts/ &
Take this and edit it to your liking. Become familiar w/ terminals and navigating (ie: ~/Music, /Music and ../Music are three different locations).
set up a simple script to move files with extension X to folder X.
Basically, you type a bunch of commands into a PLAIN TEXT(!!!) editor, save it, 'chmod +x myscript.sh', then execute it from a terminal: './myscript.sh' or 'sh myscript.sh'
I love getting me hands dirty with this sort of stuff
cd ~/Desktop/
mv *.mp3 ~/Music/
mv *.sit ~/Documents/
etc etc
would do the trick.