Does µtorrent save corrupt pieces to disk?

[Eighty]

When µtorrent downloads pieces with hash fails, are they still written to the .!ut file?

I recently downloaded a torrent containing mp3s. The seeder accidentally changed the files' tags, so the pieces at the start and end of the files never completed. Fragmented mp3s can be played though, so I tried to rename the incomplete files and play them. The tags (both id3v1 and id3v2) were fine, and I didn't hear any gaps, so it seems like I got the complete files (as they were on the seeder's computer).

In this particular case, it would be better to get the wrong pieces (but "working" ones), than nothing, so I'm wondering if this is what's happening.

[DreadWingKnight]

No it doesn't.

Corrupted pieces are discarded and re-downloaded.

Re-tagging mp3s is one of the big nonos for dealing with torrents.

[Honeyfrog]

uTorrent will, however, save a piece that it *thinks* is good, but has been corrupted by some means other than a bad sender. I.e., a memory freeze or "hiccup", or hardware crash, can result in bad data on your save-drive, and uTorrent will blithely send out the corrupt piece to other peers (resulting in you getting auto-blocked by them).

Solution: If uTorrent doesn't automatically re-check your existing open torrents after a crash, do so manually.

[Eighty]

I think it's very strange that the tags were readable and that there were no audible gaps. None of the normal stuff in the tags had been changed, just a playcount or something, but still, none of it should be there. The missing data was pretty substantial, 9% in one case, for a 50 second mp3.

[Honeyfrog]

It doesn't matter if a file runs/plays fine; what matters is that it is CHANGED, and therefore treated as incomplete or "bad data" when you're trading. Sending bad pieces to other peers will get you automatically kick/banned by their clients. If you're downloading several torrents from the same "group" (i.e., a private site with a limited clientele), you could could quickly find yourself playing tiddlywinks in an empty room.

[Eighty]

The first and last pieces of every file would never complete because they had hash fails. That's precisely where the tags are stored. So if, as DreadWingKnight said, failed pieces are discarded, shouldn't those pieces in the actual file just be null? Why could I read any tags at all?