When syncing, do Plex clients resume partial syncs (downloaded part of converted file, lost connectivity, start downloading again where it left off after reestablishing connectivity) or does it throw away what it previously downloaded, and start again from the top?
My experience seems to show it does the latter, start again from the top, at least on iOS, but I’d like confirmation.
This seems like a pretty straightforward question. Anyone from Plex reading this thread? Anyone else able to confirm this behavior?
If sync is unable to resume partial downloads, then it’s a pretty serious design flaw. Mobile networks are notoriously inconsistent. Having to re-download a sync every time your connection is interrupted is ridiculous. Also, if you’re paying per MB, it can add up to some serious data charges as Plex continuously downloads yet never completes.
I’m using the android client on my ZenPad, and my “normal” procedure is to sync the first episode of all the series I follow.
The I start to sync and when the media is full, the syncing stops. When a few episodes are watched, I remove them from the sync list, start sync again and the rest of the episodes (that still fits on the memory card) will continue to sync.
No need to start over again.
@jkiel said:
When syncing, do Plex clients resume partial syncs (downloaded part of converted file, lost connectivity, start downloading again where it left off after reestablishing connectivity) or does it throw away what it previously downloaded, and start again from the top?My experience seems to show it does the latter, start again from the top, at least on iOS, but I’d like confirmation.
Plex sync doesn’t resume partial download.
I’d like an actual Plex employee to respond to this.
If it’s true that Plex doesn’t resume partial downloads, then it’s an issue that needs to be acknowledged, and fixed. Syncing remotely is not uncommon. Having to start over from the top when trying to sync an episode over a mobile network is a ridiculous proposition.
For clarification: This is in regards to a single item. If you queue up an entire season, and the Plex client is able to download some of that season before an interruption, it won’t re-download all the successfully synced episodes. However, while downloading a single item (episode, movie, what-have-you), if that download is interrupted for what ever reason (weak signal, congestion, etc.), the Plex client appears to abort the download, and start re-downloading the entire item from the start.
It should be obvious that throwing away what’s already been downloaded, and starting over, makes it impossible to sync content on less than perfect connections. When traveling, less than perfect connections are then norm, not the exception.
Is starting a single item over from the top when a sync fails expected behavior for any/all Plex clients?
