[solved] TAR file corrupted from mIRC

[gokunaruto]

Hi! I've just downloaded a .Tar file from mIRC (700 Mb). I can't open it with any dedicated program (like winrar); every program said me that the file is corrupted.

I've found this on internet about downloading:

99% of "corrupted" gzip archives are caused by transferring the file via FTP in ASCII mode instead of binary mode. Please re-transfer the file in the correct mode first before attempting to recover from a file you believe is corrupted.

What can I do? I've to redownload the file in binary mode? How to switch it

I need help please

Thanks

[Kenichi4811]

a .tar file? Thats peculiar, generally those are created on Unix/Linux systems. Have you tried opening it up with other compression programs?

[gokunaruto]

Yes, I've tryed with zipgenius and alphazip but both don't work ! How can I open it?

Thanks

[eliddell]

Kenichi4811 is correct in saying that it's rather odd that someone would be putting a tar file up for download--doubly so because just-plain-tar isn't really a compression format, just a way of sticking a bunch of files together. Your file doesn't have a double extension (something like .tar.gz or .tar.bz2), does it?

The stuff about ASCII versus binary that you found in your search is pretty much obsolete even for FTP these days (most modern FTP clients will default to transferring a file as binary unless they're pretty sure it's ASCII) and is unlikely to have anything to do with a file obtained from IRC, so you can safely ignore it. The most common cause of compressed files that won't decompress these days is that the file itself is incomplete. If there's any possibility at all that you might not have the whole file, redownload it. You might also consider finding the person who was offering it for download and making sure that 1. their copy of the file is not corrupted and will decompress, and 2. it really is a tar file, and not some other type of file with a mangled extension. If none of that results in a solution, here's my strategy of last resort . . .

There's a Windows version of the actual tar utility at http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/gtar.htm . I've never needed to use it (I'm on a Linux system, so my tar utility is built in), but what you probably want to do is something like this:
-Install the tar program. Try to keep track of what directory (folder, to you) you put it in.
-Take that tar file you're trying to open and put it in the root directory of your C: drive (the first thing that opens up if you double-click that drive in My Computer).
-Find your system's command prompt--I think that on most versions of Windows you'll find it in the Accessories folder on the Start Menu, labelled something like "Command Prompt", and with an icon that looks like a black box with "C:\>" written on it. Open it.
-Now, don't panic--the prompt won't bite you. ;P Type "cd \" (without the quotes) and hit Enter.
-Type "tar -t [name of your file]" and hit Enter. That should give you a listing of what's in the tar file. If it doesn't . . . well, your file may really be corrupt, in which case, redownloading might be the best way to go. If it says "bad command or filename", though, you probably just need to tell it where to find the tar command, and "progra~1\tar\tar -t [file]" or something similar should work.
-If the listing worked, you can decompress the file by typing "tar -x [name of your file]". After that, you can probably uninstall the tar program, because you're unlikely to ever need it again.

[gokunaruto]

@eliddell: Thanks for reply ! I'd almost lost the hopes that someone would reply in this thread... No my file haven't got any plus extension. Only .tar. Anyway I'm trying your way ; those files that I need from mIRC are all in .tar unfortunately (DBZ italian version)

[gokunaruto]

Bad!! @eliddell: I've tryed but the console said me: "bad descriptor, can't open the file, exiting now". Well, I've tried writing other .tar name (of files that doesn't exist) and it said the same thing. Maybe the .tar is not in the right place? What should I do? Where I have to put it? "For open the tar utility on windows console I've to go (with cd) into gnuwin32/bin directory (or else it says me that tar command not exist". Thanks

[eliddell]

Part of the problem is that I'm messing around guessing how to use utilities of which I don't have quite the same version, on an operating system I no longer use. Sorry 'bout that.

It may just want the -f option--try "tar -tf [file]". Put the file in the same directory as the tar command if it makes things easier. (I'm sorry I missed that the first time--serves me right for not reading the documentation more carefully.)

If that doesn't work, the next step is to find out whether your problem is tar files in general, or that specific file. I've just uploaded a very small tar file that I created to http://meejit.envy.nu/thelibrary/pointless.html (click the last link on that page, the one that reads "linky")--go grab it and see if you can list/extract it (you should get a small text file called "pointless.txt"). If you can, then I'm afraid that your 700MB file really is corrupted.

(If it were a smaller file, I'd just have you upload it somewhere so that I could grab it myself to play with, but 700MB is just a tad unwieldy . . .)

[gokunaruto]

*going hiding myself*

Well, now I explain: I've tryed to open your tar file. It worked. So I tryed with mine and the panel said me: "It doesn't seem a tar file"... So... FLASH... I said to myself: "Try open it with VLC (Videolan)"... Yeah, it works!! It was an .avi file. Anyway this file was DBZ episodes; I haven't thought to open it like a video before.

Sorry sorry for all the troubles. Thank you for your disponibility and for your help.

[eliddell]

No problem. I'm glad you were able to make things work.