check sources of dropped data, and block them

[zastroph]

I just started a download, it got to 26% with no problem, but now is not downloading any thing usable!

Surely, there is a way of tracking this data for errors, so how about checking sources of dropped data, and blocking the sources of them, or giving error messages of dropped data.

[kluelos]

BitComet already does this. The majority of data corruption happens en-route, and since routes and connections are constantly changing, what was a bad source before can become a good source later. Thus, permanently (or even long-term) blocking of a source for corrupt data is webus. If BitComet is consistently getting data that fails hashchecks from a source, it will stop using that source for a while, but will keep checking to see if things have improved.

It's very doubtful that any mere human could possibly do a better job of managing connections better than the software does. You don't have the knowledge and you can't read or react fast enough.

When a download stops at X%, it's because that's all that has been generally distributed thus far. A single source seeder distributes pieces as quickly as his connection allows. If you're among the first on the torrent, things stay at a fairly slow pace equivalent to the seeder's upload speed.

If you join the swarm later, many other peers have all of the pieces that have been distributed thus far, so you quickly "catch up" to where everyone else is. Thereafter, you slow down to the seeder's delivery speed as each piece gets sent, then distributed among the swarm, then wait for the next piece to be completed. If the seeder stops for a while, download stops for a while too.