| KNHaw |
| 8 people marked this as a favorite. |
TL;DR: There is a simple workaround that can greatly improve your chances of getting your files, but you will will have to download the free Firefox browser if you are using Chrome or IE.
If you're past the personalization problems but facing timeout issues (i.e. you can get to the "Your download should begin..." page but not get your file), I've found a workaround for the Firefox browser. Specifically, in Firefox open the URL "about:config" You will be asked if you want to proceed ("This might void your warranty!"). Don't let the warning scare you, as we won't be messing around with anything dangerous. Click "I'll be careful, I promise!"
You will now reach a configuration page for Firefox . Type "network.http.connection-timeout" into the "Search" box. This is the period of time that your browser will wait for a new webpage or (as is the case here) a download. By default, it will be "90" for 90 seconds. Right click on it and select "modify." I chose a full hour (3600 seconds) but feel free to play with the value.
You will now have that long to download a file that has already been personalized, so if the server's slow you won't get a hangup. Open up a new tab and log in and attempt a normal download of your PDF. When you get to the "Your download should begin..." page, just click on the "If it doesn't, please click here" link (because, let's face it, this isn't going to happen in the promised five seconds). Now go off and do something constructive. Within a few minutes (i.e. longer than the normal 90 second timeout) your download should begin.
By default, Firefox will ask you if you want to open or save the file - I suggest saving it just to keep things simple and open it later. Do this as soon as you can, though, as the download doesn't begin until you make the choice (another good reason not to wander too far away). At any time during the download, click on the downward green arrow in the right upper corner to see the status of ongoing downloads.
Finally, I would suggest you change network.http.connection-timeout back to the default value when done, as leaving it on this setting will make your browser wait a very long time before letting you know if you try to connect to some other website with connectivity problems.
If you don't have Firefox, you can download it for free at https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/.
Note that in my researches, it appears that Chrome does *not* support changing a connection timeout, even though users have been requesting it for over 6 years. This is a downer to me, as I usually use Chrome.
There appears to be a way to do this in Internet Explorer (see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/813827) but since it involves modifying Windows registry values, I do not recommend it unless you are an experienced user and have some sort of love affair with Internet Explorer.
Good luck!
UPDATE: I just started a download of Ultimate Combat and it took 2 minutes before the Firefox save menu came up. If I'd been using the default 90 second value or Chrome, it would have been a failure. Instead, it is merrily downloading (5 minutes remaining!) as I type this sentence.
UPDATE2; I have downloaded 5 files in the past hour using this technique. Previously, I had only gotten 2 files over the course of 4 days.