Filetrip Cleanup, lost files & no notification

[CannonFoddr]

Firstly, a bit of a Disclaimer
I must say that I fully understand the reason for Filetrip having a clear up and that I have no complaints about the need for it.....

I can also understand that.....

• IF a file on Filetrip has only been download a few times over a long period of time, then it's just cluttering up the server and should be deleted
• IF there's been a LOT of updates to a program, then getting rid of the older version(s) is a good idea
• IF there's duplicate programs (of same version) contributed by different people, then there should be only one of them

I also know that the clear up is being done by Volunteers & that they are doing it for free, in their own spare time.
And I guess that they have been given a 'set of rules' to decide on what should - & should not - be deleted....

What I CAN'T UNDERSTAND is.......

• Deleting files without letting the poster of those files being told beforehand
• Deleting files without letting the poster of said file(s) having the chance of Downloading it first (it might be the only copy that they had)
• Deleting files that are the ONLY VERSION of it on Filetrip
• Deleting files that HAVE NOT BEEN DUPLICATED elsewhere on Filetrip (maybe within a 'multi-pack' or whatever)
• Deleting files that are Linked to either a 'Sticky' post &/OR has a GBATemp WiKi page, without giving the poster of said Thread/Wiki a chance to 'relocate' said files elswhere first

WHY AM I SO ANNOYED !!!!

... well originally I found that 3 files I had recently uploaded to Filetrip had disappeared for 'apparently no reason'
(FYI these files were 'Plugins' for the DSTwo, consisting of a small BMP file and a INI file of 4 lines)

In a post I had asked WHY they were deleted... the reply

your "plugins" are merely repacked binaries. If every piece of homebrew was repacked as a SCDS2 plugin, it would get messy very quickly.To which I replied that

A 'plugin' for the DSTwo should only contain a BMP and a INI file....
.....No DSTwo plugin should contain any NDS files UNLESS the file has been specially modified/altered for use on the DSTwo only
So thinking I was 'in-the-clear' (My plugins consisted of only an original made BMP file and a small INI text file, and NO NDS file/binaries or Homebrew) I re-uploaded them
I also thought that when I get home I'd better download all the files I've submitted to Filetrip since they are THE ONLY ONES I HAD
(I couldn't access Filetrip in work - they consider Filetrip as a 'Malware' site for some perculiar reason)

Shortly near end of my shift - I had a chance to look onto GBATemp again & I find another post, this said...

I skimmed the section for similar plug-ins and removed them as well.

To which I quickly replied
QUOTE

If you go ahead now - I've lose all my copies of those files

... So when I get home I immediately started to attempt to download my files, hoping that they were not deleted and I find that 75 of my submitted Plugins have been deleted...
- I also found that some of my 'DSTwo Plugin SKINS' (NOTE: these are SKINS for DSTwo plugin menu and NOT Plugins) had also been deleted
Now remember these are/were the ONLY COPIES I HAD - so now they are totally lost to the world


Not only does that p*** me off, but because of this it also screws up the GBATemps DSTwo Plugin 'Sticky' thread, the DSTwo plugin Wiki page & some of the links in the DSTwo Skins 'sticky'

Now all I asked was some time to download those files...
I had also suggested that BEFORE deleting files, let the person who posted them know first... give them time to grab them (I didn't say a time limit, but I would've thought a week may be enough)

....but NOooo

Just go ahead & delete files that have been 'analyzed for rule compliance' (I'd like to see how my plugins failed on those 'rules')
... Don't give a reason
..... Don't let the poster know beforehand
........ Don't give them time to back 'em up

I'm sure many Filetrip posters will be very happy at your decisions

 

[RoMee]

nice rant

Although I don't have many files on filetrip, I have to agree with these

-Deleting files without letting the poster of those files being told beforehand
-Deleting files without letting the poster of said file(s) having the chance of Downloading it first (it might be the only copy that they had)
-Deleting files that are the ONLY VERSION of it on Filetrip
-Deleting files that HAVE NOT BEEN DUPLICATED elsewhere on Filetrip (maybe within a 'multi-pack' or whatever)
-Deleting files that are Linked to either a 'Sticky' post &/OR has a GBATemp WiKi page, without giving the poster of said Thread/Wiki a chance to 'relocate' said files elswhere first

 

[monkat]

Ouch....I feel for ya, man.

 

[Ryukouki]

Damn! Seriously? I loved the skin topic!

 

[r3gR3t]

I think you're right... Deleting a file w/o knowing if it's the only copy the uploader had sucks...
They SHOULD give a warnig...

 

[lostmongoose]

lesson learned: the internet is not your backup server. When you upload something, you don't lose that copy unless *you* delete it locally. The only person to blame for the copy on Filetrip being the *only copy* is yourself.

 

[mameks]

Yeah, that's pretty fucking stupid.

Advance warning should be given.

 

[Nathan Drake]

I will agree with the fact that the way the Filetrip clean-up is being undertaken is poor and messy at best. Many files are being lost to the people that apparently aren't very good at using the search function to discover that the exact file does not exist elsewhere. imo, if you're gonna play clean up, download EVERY FILE YOU ARE GOING TO DELETE to check the contents of what it actually is. Otherwise give that damn notification that your shit's gonna get deleted.

I also understand that some people have hard drives and such that are too cluttered already. It's kind of like the case of people putting all of their music on their MP3 player (not an iPod due to the iTunes thing) then deleting it from their computer. They later find that their MP3 player corrupted and they need to format, all of their music is now gone.

The blame is hard to place in cases like this about the actual existence of the file being terminated, but it is easy to place the blame on the delete happy clean-up crew that is not being careful in the least.

 

[tj_cool]

By the looks of it, most files (at least the ones in the Wiki) didn't get deleted, just disabled, meaning Moderators are still able to view and download them.

Not very sure what exactly happened, but we'll find out

 

[CannonFoddr]

Well - I've been trying to 'save' as many of the DSTwo plugins (not just my own) & of the 128 links on the first post (plus those ones I did recently which were not on the #1 post) only 49 of them still exist (I'm not including those 'disabled' ones yet as those may still disappear)

Even the 'Plugin pack' has been deleted - so there's no way I can get them from that either.

So by my reckoning - thanks to some creative clearance by certain volunteer(s) we've lost (or losing) over 60% of all unofficial plugins for the DSTwo UNLESS 'alidsl' (The OP of the Plugin thread) can upload his pack somewhere else or those 'disabled' ones are returned

EDIT: Seems like all the ds2skins packs still exist on the Wiki (so Far)
EDIT #2: Mulit-skin packs / 'Loading screen / NDS_GBA - All Seems OK
EDIT #3: Seems like all 'plugin' screens are OK EXCEPT my 'Blue Lights 'Colourized versions' - those are currently 'disabled' (Let's hope they come back)

 

[chyyran]

Lucky for you , I have the plugin pack backed up on sourceforge's servers. These are all the individual plugins each rar'd up, so you may want to use DownThemAll. I was gonna use if for a Visual Basic project, but I eventually gave up on it. BTW, these are from Nov 14th 2010 and these are just the ones in the plugin pack, so it isn't every single last plugin.

http://scarabaeusscds2.sourceforge.net/plugindb/_dstwoplug/

Hope this helps.

What do those filetrip cleaners have against the SCDS2?

 

[CannonFoddr]

Lucky for you , I have the plugin pack backed up on sourceforge's servers. .....these are from Nov 14th 2010 and these are just the ones in the plugin pack, so it isn't every single last plugin.

http://scarabaeusscds2.sourceforge.net/plugindb/_dstwoplug/

What do those filetrip cleaners have against the SCDS2?

Many thanks for that - It DOES help a lot

A quick look shows you have more there than I managed to 'salvage' from the thread...
& (if you don't mind) I may use your links on the Wiki page so at least THAT isn't completely messed up
(I may leave it until the weekend see if those on the thread return though)

Oh hang on - I've started downloading them & I see you've ALSO included the nds file as well (I mis-understood what you meant by 'individual plugins'

) still since they are NOT hosted on filetrip I guess I could still use them
(One of the 'rules' of plugins was NOT to include the nds file in with the plugin BMP/INI)

 

[Urza]

1. If you care about a file, don't upload the only copy to a third-party file host. This is common sense.

2. The reason users aren't notified is because Filetrip's notification service is A) blacklisted by Gmail and B) has been completely broken in the past. I used to consistently use it, but have since given up due to very few emails actually getting through.

3. I may have poorly worded my post in the other thread. There is no reason every single NDS binary on Filetrip should have a doppelganger in the form of a single bitmap in an archive. It is a colossal amount of clutter that's completely unnecessary.

4. The files were not actually deleted, I merely removed them from the public view. I can easily comply with your request for copies, you just made the last post after I had already logged out, so I haven't seen it until now.

5. If you care about a file, don't upload the only copy to a third-party file host. This is common sense.

 

[CannonFoddr]

Sorry about you not seeing my last post.....
I wasn't going to mention any names or point any fingers at any particular person - but now that you've replied....

OK - I agree that having multiple files all consisting of a small graphic & ini may be considered 'clutter' but then why was the 'plugin PACK' deleted/disabled as well ??
- surely if my files were 'disabled' you could've kept the plugin pack in place (for now anyway) so people still had some form of access ??

As for 'not deleted/removed from public view' - sorry, I assumed they were deleted.
- when I went to my filetrip 'submitted files' panel - when clicking on my files I saw a red X.
On opening the first few 'pages' & seeing 'file does not exist' I assumed ALL red 'X' meant all files WERE deleted so I didn't bother checking the other pages to see the message - sorry

As for 'Filetrip notification' being blocked/blacklisted - did that also affect GBATemp PM ??

 

[Urza]

OK - I agree that having multiple files all consisting of a small graphic & ini may be considered 'clutter' but then why was the 'plugin PACK' deleted/disabled as well ??
- surely if my files were 'disabled' you could've kept the plugin pack in place (for now anyway) so people still had some form of access ??

"Packs" are discouraged as generally they are mirrors over existing files.

In this case however, since the contents of the pack won't be allowed as separate archives, I think an exception can be made. If the pack is reuploaded it will remain.

QUOTEAs for 'Filetrip notification' being blocked/blacklisted - did that also affect GBATemp PM ??

As far as I know there is no way to check if there's an affiliated GBAtemp account to any given Filetrip account. Google is an option, but since 99% of deleted/disabled files belong to accounts with completely random names, its not time effective to search for each one.

The ones you uploaded yesterday are permanently deleted. I have temporarily enabled the rest. Give me a PM when you've backed them up and updated your threads (within a couple days), at which time they will be deleted as well.

 

[ProtoKun7]

Skimmed through while trying to still read in-depth, but obvious question:


Why did you delete them from your computer?

 

[CannonFoddr]

Skimmed through while trying to still read in-depth, but obvious question:
Why did you delete them from your computer?

Main reason...... I didn't
I DID have the files originally on an external HDD (which originally was an old 400Mb IDE drive inside an external enclosure - I just love recycle old 'bits') - but something went 'bang !!' & the drive was totally Kaput (the enclosure still works though)... the HDD wouldn't even be read when connect internally inside the PC - so all files were lost.

Luckily (!!) since most files were only Music I'd ripped from existing CD's (which can always be redone), some video's I'd downloaded (which I hardly ever watch nowadays), a few (non-essential) documents (Like guides to how to do stuff - easily available from the net) and files of stuff I'd made (like graphics used for skins & those plugins etc) I wasn't too concerned

Never thought of re-downloading the files after I replaced the HDD - stupid I know - as I thought that they were pretty 'safe' for a while.... then this happens

 

[Issac]

If I'm allowed to contribute a little to the discussion, I think that those plugins shouldn't be on filetrip, however, as Urza said, the pack of plugins should be allowed as an exception since the stand alone files aren't accepted.

Also, Even if the notifications go to spam or something, it's better to use it than not at all... and at registration, maybe have a text saying "put email@filetrip (or something) in the accepted list of your spam filter" or anything like that...

It's unfortunate that things happened the way they did, but i like how you solved this urza

(re-allowing the files temporarily, making it possible for cannonfoddr to download them, and also allowing the pack)

 

[chyyran]

1. If you care about a file, don't upload the only copy to a third-party file host. This is common sense.

2. The reason users aren't notified is because Filetrip's notification service is A) blacklisted by Gmail and B) has been completely broken in the past. I used to consistently use it, but have since given up due to very few emails actually getting through.

3. I may have poorly worded my post in the other thread. There is no reason every single NDS binary on Filetrip should have a doppelganger in the form of a single bitmap in an archive. It is a colossal amount of clutter that's completely unnecessary.

4. The files were not actually deleted, I merely removed them from the public view. I can easily comply with your request for copies, you just made the last post after I had already logged out, so I haven't seen it until now.

5. If you care about a file, don't upload the only copy to a third-party file host. This is common sense.

I was going to use my copy of the plugins to make a plugin downloader for the scds2, it would unzip the plugin and everything. But eventually I just gave up on it