Saturday, September 22, 2007

Do you want your Mediamax account rolled on to make up for the down time?

In response to my question about rolling on billing dates, John Hood of Mediamax responded on this blog with a comment that he would do so, if I send my account name.

That is very welcome.

But it raises another question. Are there any Mediamax users who do not deserve to have their accounts rolled on (or a refund if they prefer it)?

My experience is that this service has not been performing since June. I used to have regular meetings in Second Life using hosted mediastreams. I haven't had any since June because streams I wanted to use had disappeared. Now momentum has been lost and I don't know when there will be any point trying again. I also lost podcasts until I found another server to host them.

My view is that if Mediamax wants to make amends to customers, it should roll on billing dates by the number of months lost from June. The clock is still ticking, of course, as the service is still not properly usable. Indeed, new problems arise. The official Mediamax blog reported a 401 page timeout problem 4 days ago and still no update to say it is fixed.

It seems to me, the simplest thing is for Mediamax to freeze its billing process and when they do have things working, add on the lost months already deducted before they start the billing process again. I appreciate that creates cashflow problems, but, hey, isn't that a good reason to get things fixed and to ensure outages of 3 months or more do not occur again?

I would like to suggest anyone who wants their account rolled on in this way add their user name in a comment here. If you do not want to make this public, contact Mediamax at support@mediamax.com

I'll post a quick link to this page in the side bar so we can find it again. If you think you deserve more than the months lost since June, please say so.

By the same token, if there are any Mediamax customers out there who have been unaffected by the problems of the past months and want to publicly acknowledge receiving good service as advertised, then please also leave a comment. It would be interesting to know if there are any.

30 comments:

Mike Brady said...

I'd like billing extended by the months lost since June.

User name: mikebrady

Anonymous said...

Oh well, a couple of months extension would be a nice gesture. As it happens though I'm one of the persons that MM calls large account holders which have problems in our file managers rendering them almost completely impossible to use as far as maintaining an archive goes. This problems reared it's ugly head since octobre 2006 and persists until today so if we're talking about compensation I could bring this to the table. Personally, I don't care to much about compensation I just want.it.to.work.as.it.should! As a gesture from MediaMax in way of somewhat repairing the ill consumer relations it would be the smart thing to do. I would suggest to MM though to hand out compensation until AFTER the problems have been fixed.

Anonymous said...

I'd like billing extended by the months lost since June.

User name: kcq71

Martin said...

Martin's Wishlist of MediaMax features:

Here are my suggestions. What do others think?

1. Files able to be uploaded quickly and reliably. My own preference is for FTP as I can throttle upload rates and restart interrupted uploads, however if these options were included in a MediaMax product more like the much missed slick and efficient Streamload uploader, I'd happily use that instead. MediaMax XL is worthless in its current incarnation (and also the new version by preliminary reports). It is huge, slow and manages to set new benchmark highs for unreliability. The browser upload option still fails 20%-30% of my uploads and I don't dare upload multiple files because no files get uploaded unless they all complete. There is no resume option. If an upload fails at 95% you just start again from scratch.

2. 100% file availability and retention guaranteed. It is just not acceptable that large numbers of files vanish and the only option is to reload them.

3. Easy 'rehabilitation' of lost files. For the huge number of files that have already been lost, these files should be able to be 'rehabilitated' by uploading them again. Surely it cannot be so hard for MediaMax to work out that a file being uploaded with the same MD5 checksum as an existing directory entry corresponds to a dead link and actually store the file. If I can identify dead links from here then MediaMax certainly can too. It is ludicrous that the only way to rehabilitate a dead link file is to modify its checksum and upload it again as a completely different file. Streamload did not have this limitation and neither should MediaMax.

4. Fix the 'random directory relocation' bug that seems to plague users with large collections. This bug has destroyed the last two sets of files I have sent out.

5. Davcin's MediaMaxExplorer be made the preferred interface to access MediaMax. Offer Davcin sensible money for his product, get the few remaining limitations sorted out and forget about the browser interface which is frustratingly slow, a waste of time and never shows enough of a filename to be useful.

6. Restore sensible reporting of usage. Streamload had primitive but useful reporting of file downloads. MediaMax only tells you the total amount downloaded and expects you to believe the number.

7. Respond to support emails. I know you are receiving an uncommonly large number of support emails at present, but there are few things that irritate an already irate customer more than being ignored. Regular customer communication through official and unofficial blogs and even individual emails containing honest status reports rather than spin, even if the news is bad, goes a long way towards keeping customers on side. I would much prefer to know 'There has been a server failure hence 25% of recently uploaded files have been lost. Please reload them.' rather than just finding that 25% of my recent uploads have vanished and not knowing why.

That's my wishlist. Any additions?

Anonymous said...

Additions you ask? How much time do you have? A long time ago (checks date on thread, yep september 29, 2006) I made the last addition to a thread about this subject on my homeboard and after that I didn't bother really with it as finally getting rid of bugs was AND STILL IS more important then introducing new features / re-introducing features we had in V4. Since you asked however I'll add my short (yeah right) wish list ... first however some small comments on a couple your own list (some stuff I get to in my own list).

1) Files able to be uploaded quickly and reliably.

I'd like to add that it shouldn't matter the method of uploading one chooses as I've learned from experience that experience per method differs from person to person. One should be able to upload a file without any problems and it should show up nearly immediately after the upload is completed. So no more errors and no more none-processing.

4) Fix the 'random directory relocation' bug that seems to plague users with large collections. This bug has destroyed the last two sets of files I have sent out.

Troubles with sending? That's a new one. Anyway, I want to work in my file manager again dammit ... I've been waiting for a fix for this since octobre 2006! It's also not just relocation ... if only that were true. I can personally attest this bug makes stuff dissapear totally ... and I mean totally ... you won't even find it back in your trash can.

5) Davcin's MediaMaxExplorer be made the preferred interface to access MediaMax.

While Davcin's product is worth of every bit of praise it gets and I would like MediaMax to start at least sponsoring it I wouldn't want it to be the preferred interface.

Davcin's Explorer, at least at this moment, is to dependent on MediaMaxs internal workings which in my eyes only increases the risk of the system not working. Also Davcin's explorer is, atm at least, a standalone application that has to be installed and especially for people that want access to their MM account outside their home it's not a given that they can install an application on the PC they happen to sit behind.

7. Respond to support emails.

or if you can't respond to everyone (with the same problem) individually then post on the Blog that you have been made aware of a
certain problem ... and don't wait with posting until a week after the problem has surfaced.


Now for my own list:

1) Recognition of identical files and grouping them together.

The only thing MediaMax reckognises atm is if files have the exact same name. Especially if you have to rename files like we often have to with files being written in different titles depending on the uploaders preference the current system is completly worthless. At the moment, in principle we could have a folder with 10 files with the only difference being the added -1 behind it while in reality none of the files would be a duplicate. On the other hand we could have 10 files with 10 different names which in reality could be 10 duplicate files. Like I said, utterly useless. This was a V4 feature btw and we want it back.

2) More file information (especially MD5 AND CRC values)

Especially for older files in our archives the MD5 / CRC value was the only thing we had to rely on checking them against a 3thd party
database. Also it's vital, especially in light of the upload problems, to be able to check these values against their original counterparts on our HDs. The MD5 value WAS a part of V4, the CRC value was not.

For video files and pictures it should be almost be a given to see Height and Width being mentioned as a standard in the file manager.
This was also a V4 feature.

3) Visibility file/folder names

Some of the names I'm forced to use (as it's no more then the official title of things) are so long that you can't read the full name (including extension) of a file/folder as MediaMax auto cuts them off. I'd like to opportunity back to decided for myself if I want file/folder names to be cut off or not. Again, a missing feature from V4.

4) Abilitiy to resize navigation panel

An other aspect of long folder names is that at times in order to see where we are going in the File Manager we have now have to scroll horizontically which is way to awkward. In V4 we could resize the
navigation panel to our own desired width and we would very much getting this feature back. Yup, another V4 feature.

5) File count (number and total MB)

There used to be in V4 al line at the bottom of the screen stating how many files where were in the folder you were looking at and what the total amount of MB these files was. A small thing, but especially if you work in a group a very quick way of checking folders against eachother (not totally error proof, but still very handy).

6) Creating a folder when moving/copying

In V4 you could select files, browse around in your file manger to the desired location and if need be, make a new folder where you could put in what you had selected. Now you first have to browse to that place in the file manager, make the folder, go back and select what you want moved / copied and then place in the newly created folder. The V4 way makes a lot more sense.

7) Be able to tell what is moved/copied

In V4 when you moved / copied something there was a small screen that would tell you what you were moving /copying (if you didn't select to much at once). Nothing big really, but it's just that little bit of extra security that what we are moving / copying is actually what we intend to move / copy.

8) See the last 5 folders that you moved/copied to

Another small V4 thing, but appreciated especially by large archive holders like me as it acted as a shortcut to folders and acted as a little extra feed back to verify that your previous action went to the intended destination.

9) Going to target folder after move/copy

We'd like to see the option back that you could select that made you 'follow' your move / copy action to the target folder.

10) No auto expanding of folders

When you move / copy stuff and click on a target folder and that folder happens to have subfolders MediaMax allways reads the target folder and expands it to show the subfolders. Meaningless and extra strain on the system, if we wanted to go deeper in the folder structure we'd use the + sign, that's what it's there for.

11) After sending put us back in the file manager in stead of Mail.

When you have send (or tried to send) something MediaMax puts you into the Mail area of your account. For people that send to more then 1 person in succession this is highly annoying, because we now loose time loading the mail area and then the file manger .... granted, you can click on the file manager button as soon as the Mail area starts loading, but it will still re-load the file manager again which is an excercise in futility as nothing changed in there.

So basically, after a send put us back in the file manager without reloading it ... basically putting us back in the folder we last accessed. The same sort of applies if you, after a send, choose for "Send another mail", choosing that option we also want to be put back in the file manager in the last accessed folder without a reload.

12) Inbox view to files only

People are missing the ability to set the view of the inbox to files only. If you have 10 emails in MediaMax you have to enter each of those 10 individually and save them to Saved Attachements folder and then delete the emails. Some people found it much easier to just see the files in the inbox and be able to copy all of them in one go to the file manager .... no matter how many emails had been used to deliver them. After that they could switch back to viewing emails and delete them all in one go.

13) Go back button ... doesn't go back in Mail area

Some kind of bug makes it that if you use the go back button of your browser you'll find yourself either in the file manager of in the composer screen of a new emails instead of one step back from where your previously were. That is eh ... wrong.

14) A working Search Function

An actual working Search function would be novelty and while we're at it some extra features like the search to include the Mail Area and the ability to limit the search to part(s) of your file manager would be greatly appreciated as well.

15) Hosted files not so user friendly

Since MediaMax it seems that if you host files people that want to download them can no longer select files and thus making a bulk download, but have to click every file to receive a download. Not very user friendly if you have a couple of dozen of files to download from a host.

Also the window for hosted stuff is WAY to small. You can only see 3 items for goodness sake.

16) Missing "Copy URL to Clipboard"

MediaMax only supports either GetRight or MediaMax XL for bulk
downloads. A lot of people however have their own preferred download manager. While you can use the generic URL that's being produced (at least in Flash Get you can) we're missing the option "Copy URL to clipboard" that V4 had.

17) Download Information is seriously lacking

The Download info that is currently provided is woefully inadequate. We want our detailed reports back so we can see on a day by day, byte by byte basis exactly what was downloaded and by whom (Ip logging) and also again being able to see how much bandwith was used from Hosting files just like we had in V4.

18) Mass deleting

We have mass editing (my heartfelt thanks for that), but we could use a mass deleting funtion for the Mail Area and especially Trash can as well.

My Trashcan currently boosts a rather impressive (even if I do say so myself) 13489 files and folders in there. If I were to lighten my account by kicking that off I would need to go through 135 screens to be able to delete that ... not to mention the time it would take for MediaMax to actually to delete these 100 entries page by page. My Trash in the mail in comparison 'only' has 2044 items in it. Mass delete button PLEASE!

19) Results per page up to 1000

At the moment the current maximum is 100 entries per page. We'd like it back to 500 and if possible 1000 as some of our folders are so big that 100 entries just don't cut it.

20) Uploads go in 1 place

Ah, back in the V4 days. When you uploaded a file, no matter if you ventured into the abyss of web-uploading, were lucky to have an FTP account or used the good old SL uploader ... your files would appear in your inbox. Since MediaMax your choice of upload app determines where your files are going to end up and can up in My Uploads, Uploaded files or just the root of the File Manager. Could we get our upload please in one place?

21) Global file recognition

I'm pretty sure MediaMax still lists the MD5 values of files somewhere like they used to and I'd like to see them use this again to re-enable global file recognition. For the people not being familair with this term .... in the old days (even before the end of V4 if memory serves) if someone completed uploading File A (MD5 value 00101) and another person started uploading the EXACT same file after that then that person would have the file uploaded in about 5 seconds. In essence, nothing was uploaded, but Streamload would recognise from the MD5 value that the file being uploaded was already on Streamload and would create a link to the original file and put that in the inbox of the 2nd uploader. It was THE way to get files back that were on Streamload, but where the database link leading to it was messed up. Also it prevented people wasting their (and MMs) bandwith uploading thing twice.

22) Webinterface speed improvements

Imho, the speed by with actions are executed ... wether it be moving, deleting or renaming ... leaves still to be desired. It's not uncommon to see MediaMax busy for 30 seconds or more to perform such actions and the more files/folders selected the more time it takes. It could be me, but the copy function seems the only one up to speed.

23) Build-in link validator

While in essence we're paying MM to keep our file safe and intact, a 100% guarantee I think can't be expected. I would be nice though if there was a way that we could make a report about (part of) our file manger that shows what file links are dead. I'd like to restate that in principle the list that would be generated is supposed to be SHORT and should have close to nill entries.

Sorry for the length this took, but Martin asked and I like to be thorough ... besides, there is an off chance John or even Steven sees this and realise that even if they finally manage to get the bugs exterminated there is still much work to be done.

If you guys want to excuse me, I need to cool of my fingers.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an impressive list. I reckognize almost all of the points so my support you have.
About this rolling forward of billing dates. John Hood alread applied this my account until the end of october.
I appeciate this but I wonder with the speed of progress made whether the service will be at an acceptable level by then. So count me in also for maybe an extension because I guess it will be/I hope by the end of this year before everything is maybe back to "normal"
I still a balance left I noticed in my accntnfo. I can't remember what this meant, help is not updated so can anybody explain this amount (to pay or due to pay)?
About testing I mentioned in the previous post my dl's were charged. No dl history to look into so I will double check the totals when I run another test later this week
It is again quiet from mm side. I wonder what does it take to let them believe they can win from communicating instead of staying into the dark?

Anonymous said...

Balance means neither to pay or due to pay, it's the credit you still have left at MM. Suppose your balance is 20 and your "Current amount due" is 40. Then at your next renewal date you have to fork out 20 to completly settle the fee of 40.

Anonymous said...

You only want a roll on since June!

Mediamax hasn't worked since August 06.

I think you should be chasing a year's worth of credit at least.

Martin said...

An Open Letter to MediaMax
(accompanying the graph for MediaMax Files Audit #4 2007.09.23)

MediaMax File recovery progress graph http://tinyurl.com/2tuyxx


MediaMax,

I first posted this graph 5 weeks ago to show that you WERE recovering he missing files. It was my intention that it would provide encouragement to those who doubted that the recovery was happening and would support your assertions that things were getting better. Regrettably the end result seems far removed from my hopeful optimism of 5 weeks ago.

Even the most casual look at the graph will show that it contains very disappointing news. By your own predictions, your file restoration process should be pretty much complete by now. Certainly no spectacular changes to the number of restored files would be expected at this late stage.

There was a temporary reversal in the week leading up to 16 September, when the number of missing files from those uploaded between April and July 2007 jumped from close to zero up to 30% - 40% missing. John Hood indirectly explained this in one of his blog postings by mentioning that some servers had been taken off line as part of the recovery process during this week. That also probably explained why about one third of recent uploads became inaccessible during that week. Most (but not all) of these files are now accessible again.

In the past 7 days a few minor gains have been made. The slivers of orange on the graph are the only improvements apart from the large area of orange between May and July 2007 which is just clawing back gains that were undone by the offline servers during the previous week.

Regrettably the broad summary result is very gloomy indeed.

Upload time period lost /total = %lost
2007 Jan - June 418 /3503 = 12%
2006 Jul - Dec 1009/4856 = 23%
2006 Jan - Jun 1592/4195 = 38%
2005 Jan - Dec 2242/7753 = 29%
Pre 2005 5012/7872 = 64%

Fortunately the restoration process has done a better job for more recently uploaded files with some months almost completely restored, although 12% average loss rate can hardly be called 'a complete recovery' by even the most liberal interpretation of the term.

Unfortunately the loss rate gets progressively worse the further back we go with some spectacular peaks. What did happen at Streamload in November 2005 that has caused the loss rate to remain at a whopping 91%?

Anyone who has files uploaded prior to 2005 is looking at a devastating 40% - 75% (average 64%) loss rate for these files. This is completely unforgivable for a file storage 'service' that still claims 'Store your files SECURELY on the web'. Anything above a 0% loss rate is NOT secure. 75% loss rate is patently INSECURE.

I CAN get over losing 9656 out of 27472 files (35%) that were stored on MediaMax given that local copies still exist, but I certainly cannot even consider uploading them all again. Some people who trusted you when you said their uploaded files were 'secure' have learnt a very hard lesson when they did not keep local copies.

Time and time again during the botched migration from Streamload to MediaMax in August 2006 your spin was 'Your files are safe and secure'. I know this because I kept a copy of the free-for-all Streamload blog from 22 August to 2 October 2006 and indeed the old blog pages are still on-line at http://blog.mediamax.com (archives). I cannot confirm that the files were in fact 'safe and secure' 12 months ago immediately after the migration from Streamload to MediaMax, but they certainly are not 'safe and secure' now.

You have been much less forthcoming with comments during this latest debacle and unsurprisingly, neither of the words 'safe' or 'secure' has been used anywhere in the recent MediaMax blog.



On behalf of all MediaMax users I ask the following questions:

1. Will you yet recover a substantial portion of the files that still show as missing (or indeed any of them) or are they lost irrecoverably?

2. Will you work with your user community to develop an efficient mechanism to identify lost files and provide a way of rehabilitating these files without having to upload modified copies?

3. What assurance can you give that files uploaded in the future will in fact be 'safe and secure' given that your track record to date has been woeful?

Martin Hood

Anonymous said...

Ugh, I can't even begin to guess how many files I will have lost if Martins figures proves to be accurate ... and unfortunetaly I trust Martin more then MediaMax in this regard. A lot of these files will prove to be unrecoverable ... we store 4TB of stuff at MM so WE don't have to.

And for the files that we do happen to have lying around the thought of having to upload that given their track record of keeping files safe and secure is not exactly an appealing prospekt ... even more so considering how crappy the upload system is working.

Today was yet another fun day for uploading ... a couple of files never showed up, the progress bar for webuploading wasn't working and didn't even show what was being uploaded so there was no way to tell when what was finished and on top of that I'm getting that login popup again.

Anonymous said...

Well, great thread going on here, will be interested to see what feedback we get from MediaMax. Before I begin.....my MediaMax ID is mcronin.

Regarding MM making amends to those of us customers who have remained loyal, either paying their monthly fees, or not demanding a refund for the annual payments, over the last year, I am fully expecting some sort of gesture from MediaMax. Personally, I don't think I would benefit from a larger download allowance since I don't tend to download much anyway. I have only reached the 25Gb monthly limit a handful of times, so perhaps some free months access would suffice.

Ultimately, for me, a fully working, reliable and trustworthy service would be the best possible recompense, and I would happily write off the last year if that was forth-coming.

Since the migration to MediaMax, I have kept a list of various functionalities that have been lost since the days of Streamload, and brilliantly, Willtriker has saved me quite a lot of typing, since his list contains everything that is on my list! Willtriker's entire list is spot on, but my personal wish list are numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 19, 20 and 23 (is this a Chinese takeaway!?)

Since the majority of my use of MediaMax is by way of a backup (I am almost constantly uploading) I would like to add my voice to the calls for the re-instatement of FTP, or at the very least a faster running MediaMax XL (I am still hoping to receive a link to the trial version from John). That is my personal number one priority. I used to be able to leave the uploads running for days on end without having to continually check the source PC, except to add more files, and long for this to return!

I'd be keen for an update on the progress, not only of the file restoration, but also on things like the upload speeds and getting back the FTP server etc.....

We're getting so close, I can almost taste it.....

Anonymous said...

I wish I could say close but I am getting more and more sceptical again. Now I had the unpleasant suprise of finding a new feature in the webupload. I have to enter a username password in order to upload which clearly doesn't match my account?
What is happening there mm, hello anyone out there, again an operator mistake ??
What was that famous phrase from the x-files again? There're out there !! (or something like that)
Life should be getting easier and not more difficult

Anonymous said...

Alas you're right. Having had some relative success with uploads, it seems to have gone a bit flakey over the last couple of days.

Perhaps I spoke too soon! :-(

Anonymous said...

I'm getting that 401 error again...good to know they fixed that problem. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

Just go another fine piece of answer to a call made on september 7th
A few lines to let you laugh or cry, up to you
Thank you for your mail. Due to recent elevated mail volumes we have had no option but to prioritise queries from paid subscription holders
..................
If you have been experiencing ongoing issues with some files being inaccessible please be aware that our Engineering staf are continuing the retrieval of these files with a success rate in excess of 99.9%.An external specialist company has been contracted to assist in speeding up this process but it will still take a number of weeks to complete.

There have recently been delays in files processing onto accounts once uploading has completed. The average processing time is now approximately 11 minutes and we are continuing to work successfully towards reaching the previous, almost instantaneous, processing time. If a file repeatedly fails to upload you will need to change some internal aspect of the file ( e.g. for a photo the size - not just the file name.)
...............
If your issue has not been addressed above please check our blog at http://mediamaxblog.blogspot.com/ where we have been posting regular service updates and news.

This is really to cry about

Anonymous said...

That authorization screen from yesterday has mysteriously disappeared. An upload goes through but again no files in the filemanager
I really try to keep calm and positive. Even after 20 minutes i rechecked it is still not there
Making new support calls doesn't make sense as i am temporarily working from a freeloader account. Why am I trying to keep the forums a little bit alive at all if mediamax is not improving at all????

Jeff Massie said...

I'd like billing extended by the months lost since June.

User name: maxzook

Anonymous said...

Roll back my ass.Today tried to upload..get a error.Still no ftp...where is the new xl app.Ive been a member since 2003.Im holding till end of the year.After that Im cancelling this garbage.Going on 2 years of this shit.Im sick of it.

EegahInc said...

Username: EegahInc

Since it doesn't look like I'll get anything else useful from the service, I may as take a rollback if it's offered. At this point, I'd really just like to know how many files (aka hours of my life collecting and uploading) are permanently lost.

Anonymous said...

This is just sad.Folks actually believing a word of these clowns.Mediamax continues to piss on folks and you all believe this shit.Cancel your service and move on.The Mediamax software will NEVER work.The XL app is the work of a bunch of dumbasses.Quit listening to John Hood .He is full of hot air.No FTP. Uploads not showing up.How much longer are you folks gonna continue to listen to their dribble.The FUCKED up this service.Its dead.Its a wrap.Move on and quit wasting your money.Now talking bout rolling back?Fuck outta here with that bullshit.Mediamax is the Enron of online storage.

Anonymous said...

I'd like billing extended by the months lost since June.

User name : kenfree

rui said...

I also would like my billing extended by the months lost since June.

User name : joker100

Anonymous said...

mikebrady- A credit has been posted to your account.
willtriker-your covered through November by way of an earlier credit.
kcq71-Tracy has given you several credits that cover you through the end of the year.
martin/willtriker- Steve and I went over your detailed and thoughtful comments. All features requested have been included in our next release which is scheduled for late this fall. We'll be contacting you directly about giving it a test drive before it's released.
jd- wtr is absolutely right about your balance. You're good throught the end of the year.
martin-
1. There's eight more days of data recovery left.
2. I'll check with our ENGR staff to see if that's possible, but I doubt it.
3. We're working around the clock to make sure that happens. We've purchased new hardware and expanded our ENGR staff.
icy purplepants- a credit has been posted to your account. I'll send you the new version of MMXL by COB today.
maxzook- A credit has been posted to your account.
kenfree- A credit has been posted to your account.
joker100- A credit has been posted to your account.

Martin said...

John Hood,

Thanks for your comments. The feedback you provide is always most welcome despite the justifiable negativity from some posters that tends to follow your visits. Don't let that put you off visiting.

I particularly welcomed the warning about down time that was posted to your official blog. Keep up the information flow. It really is important to us.

File Recovery
In the past 7 days a further 20 files have been restored to my account. Out of 27,463 files 9,656 are still missing. By extrapolation, perhaps I can expect to see another 20 files restored during the final 8 days of file recovey. Whatever the end result, it will be in the vicinity of 9000 files lost (around one third) at the end of the recovery process. This is not just me but all long term Streamload/Mediamax users.

If you want to keep faith with your existing users whose data has been so comprehensively damaged by these losses, you must provide mechanisms to simplify rehabilitation of lost files. It is not a matter of asking the engineers 'Can it be done?', it is a matter of telling them 'It has to be done!'.

I raised this issue of file rehabilitation after the August 2006 migration from Streamload to MediaMax and the issue is even more pressing now.

At the very least two features are required:

1. Directory entries that no longer have no data file associated with them need to be identified.
I have done this with a clumsy, time consuming process that possibly places substantial unexpected load on your download servers. It would make far more sense for this funtion to be made available internally to MediaMax. Surely your software engineers can write an option that will, on user request, check and identify orphaned directory entries? This check would not want to happen automatically as this would slow down normal operations enormously.

2. It MUST be possible to rehabilitate the data files behind orphaned directory entries without having to upload a modified version of the file.
It used to be possible to do this in Streamload by uploading a file using FTP. This system was clever enough to recognise that a newly uploaded file had the same MD5 checksum as an existing directory entry AND ALSO detected if the data file was missing and 'rehabilitated' the missing data file in the process.

Given that file uploading is a relatively slow process, with transaction rates of minutes per transaction, it would add minuscule overhead to add back in this checking as to whether the file being uploaded really does exist (as oposed to just having an orphaned directory entry with the same MD5 checksum) and, if the data file does not exist, then fix up the missing file data.

The current sytem where an uploaded file is discarded if an orphaned directory entry already exists, is just plain silly and a design flaw of such fundamental magnitude that you cannot possibly let it remain.

This used to work properly in Streamload. All we are asking is that you make it work again.


I look forward to the opportunity to "test drive" any new software release and provide you with constructively critical feedback. Thanks for the offer.

Anonymous said...

John Hood,

Please see my post in the Errors for October thread.
Thanks.

katiewilloughby

Sandra Montisci said...

Great idea. Thanks a lot to you guys for putting up this site. I despair of getting a response from MediaMax. When the service was known as Streamload, customer service was good. MediaMax = lousy customer service! MediaMax have twice billed me 3 times the normal fee. I have written to MediaMax (4 email addresses: support, billing, feedback and legal) several times since June 2007 to no avail. Not a single response (although I have delivered and read receipts) and it's now October! I want my money back and service restored to how it was under Streamload. Otherwise, I feel I have to cut my losses, lose my files and take my business elsewhere.

Bookbag Ninja said...

account: futaihikage

Its sad that MediaMax has NEVER had a way of validating files since the change over to the new service! I think about 90% of the files in my account are inaccessible.

Giving download credit is nice, access to the files that have been uploaded is even better. I think the MD5 hash system has got to be a better way of keeping track of files than the current system! please use it!

Unknown said...

I'd like my account extended for the months I have lost. Like most other people, I object to paying for services which I have not recieved.

user name: mjross

Anonymous said...

Yes, in my case from Aug 17 to Oct 20, I was blocked from accessing my account. And from June till today, I cannot download many files.

Anonymous said...

Oh certainly shouldnt every paying customer that was with streamload/mediamax before the change over have their unused downloads rolled over each month from way back when mediamax was introduced because the lack of service the lack of files being available and the lack of information coming out of the mediamax/streamload camp

When you were lucky to recieve a reply to an email and given free downloads as compensation it was a total waste of time becuase you coulndt download anything anyway asuming of course you were lucky enough to be able to access your account

Tink