Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting upload problems

Although our online unloader has been very thoroughly tested, occasionally people do run into difficulties.

This page is based on the reported issues and may provide some options to try if you run into problems.

1. Make sure the file is not corrupted.

   Make sure that you can open and view the file you are trying to upload. If you cannot, the file may be corrupted.

2. Close any applications reading/editing the file.
   Make sure the file is not open in an application, if the file changes during upload (e.g. auto save) this will cause the upload to fail.
    
3. Copy the file to your home/desktop folder and upload from there.

   If the file is on a shared/network drive, your browser may not be able to read it from its current location. Even if the file is on your local machine, there may be file or directory permissions that are preventing the browser reading the file from its current location.

   Copying the file (note: making a copy of the file - not just moving it) to your home or desktop folder should resolve any permission/location issues.

4. Don't upload folders containing more than 200 files.
   Uploading any folder that contains more than 200 files (including any files in sub-directories, hidden directories, etc.) will fail. Additionally, if you select a folder with a very large number of files (e.g. 1000's of files) your browser will become unresponsive whilst it tries to read and evaluate all the files before starting the upload attempt, this may even result in your computer running out of memory.
   
   In order to avoid problems, our system will not allow more than 200 files on the upload queue at any one time, but unfortunately we cannot prevent problems in the browser itself if you select folders larger than your browser can reliably handle.
   
   If you have more than 200 file to upload, please read our instruction on how to convert your folders to ZIP archives or TAR/Gzip archives first and then upload the archive file instead.
    
5. Rename the file.

   Try renaming the file, being careful to only include alpha-numeric characters (no accents/symbols, etc.) in the filename, and ensure there are no leading/training spaces in the filename.

6. Update or use a different web browser.

   Occasionally an update to a web browser can introduce a bug that causes problems, such issues are normally fixed in the next release once the bug is discovered.

   Firstly, it is worth seeing if there is an update available for your browser.

   If that does not help, try uploading using a different web-browser.

7. Disable browser add-ons.

   Disable any browser plugins/add-ons that may be installed (e.g. JavaScript blockers, ad-blockers, etc.) on your browser, then completely close and restart the browser.

   Some misbehaving plugins may interfere with, or intercept, outgoing connections and that can cause problems when you are uploading over a secure connection.

8. If using WiFi, check signal strength or switch to a wired connection.

   If you are uploading over WiFi your signal strength may be low causing poor connectivity and dropped data packets.

   Try moving to a place with better WiFi signal, or (ideally) use a wired connection.

9. Disable anti-virus software.

   A number of people have reported their problems were solved when they either temporarily disabled their anti-virus software, or switched to a computer that did not have that anti-virus software installed.

   Although we would generally not advise disabling anti-virus software for prolonged periods, we are aware that some anti-virus packages include browser plugins or network inspection features; if these have bugs or are poorly written they can interfere when uploading data.

   If your upload stops at 100%  (and does not change after several minutes) then a badly behaving anti-virus program is a likely candidate.

10. Restart your equipment

    Occasionally, a fault on your connection can cause selective/intermittent transmission problems, and caching can cause transmissions to continue to fail even after the issue has passed.

    If you completely turn off any Internet connected equipment: the computer, your modem/router, any intermediary switches or routers, etc., and then restart them that should allow the connection to properly re-established and clear any cached bad data.

11. Use a different computer on a different network.

    If you have eliminated all the above, then it may be worth trying to upload using a different computer at a different location. e.g. a friend's computer, or a computer at work (or a computer at home if the problem happened at work).

    Corporate networks in particular may have firewalls in place that, either deliberately or as a side effect of other settings, stop file uploads.

12. Postal is still an option

    If all else fails, we do accept copyright registration applications by post.