277275 - "Save Link As..." option hangs D/L Mgr for .ppt and .doc files (possibly others)

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 263698

(Toolkit :: Downloads API, defect)

Description

[fourdegrees]

Using the "Save Link As..." context menu option brings up the dialogue to save
the file properly, but .ppt and .doc files are showing up as "unknown file size"
and the d/l hangs after varying times showing something like "1.3 MB at XXX
MB/sec; unknown file size". I did the new build test and the Mozilla new build
test and it was present in FF, but not Mozilla. 

Info: XP Pro 5.1.2600, SP1 Build 2600

Comment 1

[Phil Ringnalda (:philor)]

WFM with Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8a6)
Gecko/20050106 Firefox/1.0+ and semi-random .ppt and .doc (from googling "bash
filetype:ppt"), so it's either specific to your setup, or to the server you are
saving from. Is it (or if it's more than one, any random one) public, so you can
post a URL and other people can see if they see the same thing? Have you changed
anything interesting in the way of networking/download prefs, or installed any
download related extensions? Do you still see the same thing when you start
Firefox in Safe Mode, or with a fresh profile? Do you have a firewall,
antivirus, or a proxy that would take an interest in incoming .ppt and .doc, and
does it work right if you disable any or all of them?

Comment 2

[fourdegrees]

Sorry, I don't think I clarified the issue completely. 
1.) The files I'm trying to save are not public so I can't post a url. This
indicates a possible conflict with proxy/security etc.; however, a fresh
install/clean profile using the latest build of FireFox showed the exact same
behavior. A fresh install/clean profile with Mozilla had no problems with the
"Save Link As..." feature. I have made no changes to proxy or other connection
settings. One note is that I'm only two hops from the server the files are on
(via tracert) since I'm using a .edu connection and connecting to a resource on
the same .edu network. I'm not saying the number of hops is a factor, that's
just fyi. 
2.) I was not able to duplicate the "bug" with pub files (via a google search).
3.) No software firewall enabled. Anti-virus cannot be disabled b/c I don't have
the password to change settings on it, but I don't think it has any bearing
since I was able to use the "Save Link As..." on pub files with no problem. 
4.) This is the most significant finding: Under the exact same circumstances
(settings, install, etc.) using the "Save Link As..." option from the context
menu results in the file hang as described; however, left-clicking the link to
the file brings up the "You have chosen to open..." dialogue. From that
dialogue, using the "Save to Disk" option allows for the normal and expected
behavior of the download manager and download process. This was replicated on my
machine and on another and was what led me to research, then report, this issue
as a bug. 

If I had to guess, I would say there was some difference between the context
menu "Save Link As..." code and the left-click route. I have to admit, though,
I'm no kind of programmer and this is only a guess based on the observed
behavioral difference between the two methods of downloading files.

Comment 3

[Phil Ringnalda (:philor)]

The difference between Save as and left click is that Save as in Firefox still
sends a HEAD request to get the filename and type, while left click in both and
Save as in Seamonkey just goes straight to the GET request. If it was a public
server where we could verify later whether or not bug 263698 fixes it, I'd mark
it depends, but since we can't we'll just have to assume that's it.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 263698 ***