Troubleshooting downloads

When trying to download files with Ketarin instead with your browser, you may encounter difficulties, as Ketarin behaves a bit differently than a web browser and some websites may try to prevent download tools from downloading files.

Error: Timeouts when downloading

• Reasons:
  • Most likely due to aggressive connection settings.
  • Download server is offline/inaccessible.
• Solutions:
  • Adjust connection preferences for Ketarin from File → Settings → Connection. Increase Connection timeout and number of retries and reduce number of threads.
  • Try enabling the option Do not download this application simultaneously with other applications for this application.
  • If the download still gets timeout after few days and even with safe connection settings - contact website owner or host or ask for help in Forum.

Error: The downloaded file is not a binary file type

• Reasons:
  • In many cases, it may just indicate a "file not found" (404) error and the server response is invalid.
  • The website may redirect you back to the download entry page if it cannot validate that the download originated from the website.
  • The file you're downloading is, in fact, not binary (such as a PowerShell script or text file).
• Solutions:
  • Verify that the file you are trying to download still exists.
  • Referer: Try setting Advanced → Spoof HTTP referer to an URL of the website you are downloading from, possibly the page which lists the available downloads is required. If you can only download the file when clicking the download link on the website, and direct access is never possible, it is likely that referers are being checked.
  • User-agent: Try setting the application specific user agent (Advanced → User agent) to a commonly used user agent or to something completely random.
  • Cookies: If you need to add cookies, use the HTTPX protocol. You can be quite sure that cookies are being used if you can access the download URL directly in your web browser after having visited the website that contains the download link once.
  • If the file you're trying to download is actually a text file then you'll need to disable the warning at File → Settings → General → Avoid downloading non-binary files (potential error pages) in order to download the file anyway.

Error: The format of the URI could not be determined

• Reasons:
  • The website may have significantly changed it's structure.
  • The website may have changed the download pattern or path. If you use a variable such as {version} within the download URL then it may be parsing the {version} variable incorrectly and inserting invalid content in the download URL.
• Solutions:
  • Check and fix any spelling errors in application download URL.
  • Open Edit → Variables → {version} (or whatever variable you're using in the download URL) for the problematic application and correct the parsing behavior. Select the correct new start and end parameters or Regex pattern to extract the necessary text so it works again.
  • Please refer to Basics Example 3 to properly parse the {version} variable or other variables you might be using in the download URL.

Error: An exception occurred during a WebClient request

• Reasons:
  • The reason for this error is currently unknown. It could possibly happen if your download speed is slow or the connection is oversaturated.
• Solutions:
  • Try again later. The error should have resolved itself.

Error: 404 Not Found

• Reasons:
  • The requested file was not found on the server.
  • You may have a simple spelling error where some number/letter is incorrect in your download URL.
  • The file may have been deleted/renamed/moved on the server and your download link no longer corresponds to an actual file.
  • The website may have significantly changed its layout and if you use a variable such as {version} to insert a version number into the download URL then the wrong text is captured and inserted.
• Solutions:
  • Check and fix any spelling errors in application download URL.
  • Open Edit → Variables → {version} (or whatever variable you're using in the download URL) for the problematic application and correct the parsing behavior. Select the correct new start and end parameters or Regex pattern to extract the necessary text so it works again.
  • Please refer to Basics Example 3 to properly parse the {version} variable or other variables you might be using in the download URL.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• Reasons:
  • The server/website might be having problems.
  • The server/website might be blocking you or your IP address.
  • The server/website might be blocking your user-agent.
  • The server/website might be imposing technical measures to limit access: referer checks, cookie validation, url cache-busters, hurdles, or script-based limitations.
• Solutions:
  • Server/website issues: Wait a few days and see if the problem is resolved.
  • IP filters: If you are behind a proxy or VPN, change your node or disconnect and try again.
  • Protocol filters: If you are behind a proxy that prevents the protocol you are using (for example, ftp) then you will need to disconnect from that proxy.
  • Cookies: If you need to add cookies, use the HTTPX protocol. You can be quite sure that cookies are being used if you can access the download URL directly in your web browser after having visited the website that contains the download link once.
  • Referer: Try setting Spoof HTTP referer to a URL of the website you are downloading from, possibly the page which lists the available downloads is required.
  • User-agent: Try setting the application specific user agent (Advanced → User agent) to a commonly used user agent or to something completely random.
  • Other technical measures: Many sites today now use technical measures to prevent automation. Use Kuppet to get around most technical limitations.

Error: 503 Server Unavailable

• Reasons:
  • The server you are attempting to download the file from is likely offline or inaccessible.
• Solutions:
  • Wait for a reasonable amount of time and try again. Generally this error disappears when the server is up again.

Error: 550 File unavailable

• Reasons:
  • The requested file was not found on the server.
  • The file was deleted/renamed/moved on the server and your download link no longer corresponds to an actual file.
• Solutions:
  • Find the new download link and enter it into Ketarin.

No Error: Ketarin Appears Unresponsive When Processing an App

• Reasons:
  • Target website is broken or content isn't loading correctly.
  • Target website is using methods to prevent automation: blocking the user-agent, blocking your IP, very slow response, CAPTCHA or interstitial.
  • Defective app profile: parsing for a dependent variable is broken, target drive doesn't exist, target drive isn't writeable.
• Solutions:
  • Review the log! (View → Show log or CTRL+L) Sometimes the log can be quite useful to see at exactly what step of the download is failing: for example, the URL may be missing a slash / after the domain (like example.compath) or the protocol is invalid (htp:// or ://).
  • Test the target website in a normal browser and see if it responds the way you expect.
  • Try a different user-agent (Advanced → User agent) - start with either Mozilla/5.0 or a commonly used user agent or to something completely random.
  • Try adding a referrer URL (Advanced → Spoof HTTP referrer). Start with the exact page you are parsing the download from and if that doesn't work try the folder or homepage of the target website.
  • Try adding Kuppet to your process for this app.
  • Ask in the forum.

Other issues

• Ketarin does not reliably determine if there are updates for an application. This may happen if the webserver submits incorrect "last modified" information and also does not reveal the expected file size. In this case, use Use the following variable as indicator for changes to let a variable (for example, a version number) decide whether or not an update needs to be downloaded.
• If you cannot make sense of the error you get, or you need further details about the server response, you can use an HTTP Web Sniffer.
• When in doubt, ask in the forum.