Game Downloads keep cancelling themselves on Quest 3

DownunderGrumpy

Inspiring

When I struggled for days to download the game I noticed using the log functions through the developer options and/or ADB can be quite revealing.
Certain background tasks the user has no control over can slow the download or even make it stop for a moment.
And like it or not: Even your internet connection struggling a bit because someone is watching Netflix in 4K while the kid is downloading some huge update can mess things up.
But of course more often than not the connected server struggles to supply the data.

The rotten thing is that whenever a download fails or stops a new authentication is required to start it.
This means on Android 12 that whatever WAS downloaded already is discarded unless demanded otherwise and has checked first.
Since ever new authentication comes with new security token the download is lost instead of being recovered to be CONTINUED where it stopped - after removing the broken parts if any.
On normal Android system these days this is handled by the OS integrated download manager.
Storing a temp file with has verification that is used to continue a lost download.
The funny thing is that it seems the downloaded part IS checked when starting over....

One thing I noticed lately is that whenever my internet connection struggles, like during a vital footy final or streaming release Meta downloads also struggle badly - worse than let's say downloading a Linux distribution...
Using a VPN does not seem to improve things, so it can't really be the ports and protocols Meta uses and ISP's throttling them...
Leaves the server side of things and of course how downloads are handled.....

I lost my faith in Meta fixing anything within an acceptable time frame that they stuffed up.
A failed 2GB download might not be a big deal in today's times and only a bit of time is lost.
30+GB from a struggling server though is a different story....
Now imagine Meta would actually trust their security measures ROFL
Then a user could simply download from the store directly onto their PC or Laptop, even the phone if need be.
Using a proper download manager and having a quick and easy way to install the entire library after those many factory resets the support keep demanding to 'fix' things.
Even the 'budget' Quest 3 could then enjoy switching between big libraries for multiple users within a few minutes instead of hours....
And you could make a proper backup from your headset LOCALLY.....
Sadly we know this will never happen.....

Participant

This is not my experience with this issue at all. Downloads worked fine for me for about a year until around a week ago.

Using a vpn definitely improves this issue but doesn't fix it completely for me. i.e. I can't download the AW2 update at all. It just stops downloading after around 10GB.

Meta, can we PLEASE have an answer as to whether or not this will be fixed before Christmas, or are the engineers off already? At least I can give up and stop checking this thread then.

And this is for all large downloads (not just AW2) and by the size of this thread is the same for many people.

My guess is that this is not a priority at all though for Meta because I assume it's a minority of users that have a 4G/5G connection.

I think I'll just return the headset to Amazon.

Participant

Yeah I am exactly the same, I have never had an issue with downloads at all....not since day one of the Quest 1.
I haven't changed internet provider or router in well over a year, almost 2 years now in fact.....and never an issue.
I have a large number of devices on this same network.....and all of them work flawlessly, not once have any of them encountered any sort of network issue.

Just like you derek__m , this all started for me very clearly a week ago and I am able to replicate it 100% of the time, I've been doing so for the engineering team and sending ADB bug reports to them in fact.

If I turn the VPN off, everything then does not complete a download and in fact, each of the games have their own fail limit which they reach consistently each time and then go back to the download button being enabled.
I turn VPN back on and then everything works 100% of the time, I've even deleted a bunch of games to test this out......I mean, I even did a full factory reset too and lost everything.......and I can then replicate the behavior above every single time, without fail.

Using VPN fixes the issue that came in last week......the whole thing happened for a lot of people last week, I know from the messages I have been sent on here and the people I have spoken with.

Something server side changed, it had to have been on the server end because this didn't just happen to one single ISP, we are all on varying 4G and 5G internet providers, in different countries too.
The only common factor in this is the 4G / 5G part.....and the Meta servers.

Y

YellowBack1022592

Participant

Just to confirm my findings which I have reported via the headset and app. I have 2 wifi networks in my house, one connected to ADSL broadband and the other to 4G. The downloads in both the headset and PC Oculus app fail when on the 4G network but work fine if connected to the broadband one. Every non oculus application downloads fine on both networks (e.g.Steam). I also had no problem on the 4G till recent weeks (e.g V60 upgrade worked fine over 4G).

A

AlessandroV81

New Participant

it's a shame that you have to struggle with this things. I just managed to reinstall it again, after the update (took 5 times to download) the game needed to be downloaded again. It took another 5-6 trials to download.

My internet provider is Starlink, so very fast, and no issues in downloading via steam or others... the problem is meta and AW2 devs that should solve it ASAP.

Participant

Yeah I 100% agree, this isn't anything at our end and we shouldn't have to do any of this stuff that we are doing.
I feel really bad for the people that have just bought a brand new headset and their first experience is that they can't download anything at all......awful, awful experience.

Participant

For comparison, PS5 & Switch downloads are fine over this exact same 5G phone connection. Doesn't matter how big they are.

Participant

Hi Ryanality just a thought, but have the engineers thought about maybe purchasing 4G / 5G plan of some sort and replicating what we are seeing?
Pretty much every software development company I have worked at does this as the first step, in order to reliably replicate what the end user is seeing.
I can tell you what I am using, it is Three 5G home broadband in the UK.
I'm sure other users who are having the same problems wouldn't mind sharing their connections to help you out here.
It isn't just the UK either, at least one person on this thread is in the US on 4G / 5G and has the exact same issue.
I'm sure it would be much easier for the engineers to diagnose if they could see exactly what we are seeing no?

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AbWill

Participant

Just some general feedback on my experience...

So, I've been playing to get things downloaded since I couldn't even get something as small as whatsapp to finish downloading and the VPN solution has worked for me with some effort. I use a Nordic VPN service which my router doesn't support so..
My 4g router is plugged into my laptop via ethernet. My laptop runs my VPN software. I use the network settings in windows to share this virtual VPN ethernet with my laptop WiFi hotspot. I connect my Q3 to the laptop hotspot. I can download anything. AW2 has downloaded (omfg so slowly I left it going overnight!). Whatsapp downloaded, VR bowling download etc etc etc. All while still using the 4g broadband but the difference being that Meta software assumed I was on a wired system in the Netherlands as that's where my VPN was configured.

Participant

Ah cool, a slightly different approach that might work for others while we wait for the Meta engineers to do their thing.
It's such an inconsistent / mixed bag of solutions it seems.
It's difficult to know what to recommend to people in the short term to enable them to get things going......even if these are only stop gap measures.

DogWizard2000

Participant

I'm on Three 5G home broadband and have tried the VPN workaround using ProtonVPN and although it's a bit better as I can sometimes download about 1Gb of a game rather than just 100mb, it ultimately still always fails.

Participant

Hi DogWizard2000 are you using a 2nd router to connect to your Three router, or are you going directly through the Three router itself if you don't mind me asking?

DogWizard2000

Participant

Direct from the Three router to my phone as a hotspot with ProtonVPN running. I don't have a second router to try.

Participant

I'm no networking expert but I believe the vpn's don't work on an iPhone for the hotspot. i.e. it goes through the vpn for safari etc. on the phone but without vpn for anything connected to the phone. At least that's been my experience.

Hence you would need the vpn running on a router, computer, or headset.

Participant

Yeah I think you might be right, I had an idea on iOS that VPN was limited to browsing / Safari, could be wrong but I thought the same thing.

Participant

Finally managed to download the 26GB AW2 update! I used ProtonVPN sideloaded to the headset and stop/started the vpn every so often when the download stopped.

Persistence!

Participant

YES!!! 🙌

Participant

Meta response template:

Have you done a factory reset?
Have you sent a bug report?
Silence ......

😁

K

krem82023

Participant

Hi Derek … I haven’t done a factory reset yet as everything else works on my headset, it’s just Asgard not being able to install … I’ve uninstalled it now and it’s downloading for the 4th time as we speak. If it works I’ll post on here