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Dvvarf

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Got this problem on 2 different computers - randomly, the Disk overload 100% message appears, and everything stops. I have relatively big cache - 700 MB, so it fills up and stops any writing/reading at all. Both computers have absolutely different software/hardware. Also tried the options described in other topics for this problem - with no luck. The only way to kill the frozen utorrent.exe is to reboot computer (even tried special tools to kill it and nothing happened - it just stays there and eats CPU and RAM). So now I have to reboot one of the computers (having 2 months+ uptime) just for this bug. Is there any possible solution to this problem? Maybe the problem is with utorrents own cache and I should just disable it completely?

P.S. Been using utorrent for 4 years by now and starting to feel like moving to another client.

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Sounds like a broken Windows cache behavior.

You on Win 7?

Try 1st link in my signature, last post?

Main computer on Win 2008 R2 Server x64, another one - on Win 2003 R2 server.

As for the last post in issues thread.. I don't have any antivirus or firewall installed on second computer, but on first there is NOD32, and it was never an problem for me (just added utorrent to exclusions). As for other info - i'm ready to provide all i got for these 2 computers.

As for settings changed to solve the problem, "Disk cache" tab for both computers as on the moment of problem occurred:

1 - all setting checked, except "override automatic cache size" and "reduce memory usage"

2 - everything unchecked, checked only disable both caches in windows and enable both caches + cache set manually.

This problem usually occurs on one specific torrent (for example, i have 2 torrents, being downloaded on different disks - one works and another one fails).

P.S. Disabled cache on one of computers completely - problem was not solved (after an hour of uptime the utorrent froze again).

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If only 1 torrent is consistently failing...is it saving on a slow/busy/badly fragmented hard drive?

The problem occurs on 2 different computers and if on first computer the target disk is rather fragmented (10.5%) the second one is not fragmented at all (< 1% of fragmented files). In first case the typical SATA drive is used (Seagate Barracuda) and in second case there is RAID5 on 4x WD Caviar Green. Also, both system handled rather high speed on utorrent not a long time ago (10+ MB/s dl and 3-5 MB/s up at times) and it was not a problem.

Having utorrent disabled on both computers for now. Any help would be appreciated.

P.S. Yes, if torrent failed once it would fail again after restart (not writing anything from start - just filling up the cache and then stops). And nothing ever happened on small torrents (failed torrents was 6+ GB).

P.P.S. I'll try downloading another torrent on disk where previous failed and report the results later.

upd: tried updating to 2.2. Problem stays, but that time I was even unable to shutdown my system properly (entered in stopped state, but froze in it for 10 minutes - had to reset).

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I mentioned this message thread to uTorrent devs, but I guess they either cannot reproduce it or cannot fix it. It still could be a problem intrinsic to your hdd controller drivers...or something stranger still!

Thank you for your help.

As for my results: tried to load another torrent on the same hdd - and it went flawlessly. Maybe it has something to do with preallocation? I'll try to redownload the torrent which failed previously to the same location and see if something happens.

upd: yep, it downloaded just right. So, i guess this can be closed - the cure is to delete all you downloaded (or copy files to another location if its rare and then use the copy) and redownload it. And yes, this probably have something to do with allocation and is like not possible to reproduce (i'll log everything utorrent does from that moment and report here if something comes up again).

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  • 1 year later...

More then a year later problem strikes again. But this time I was prepared - I made memory dumps of uTorrent running in three states:

  • Stopped with faulty torrents. For some reason, utorrent do not delete anything from disks in this mode (torrents or data) and keep eating CPU around 5-10% constantly. Cache is empty.
  • Cache filled a bit. I let the torrent download for a few minutes, then stopped it and created this dump.
  • Cache filled to 100%, utorrent reporting disk overload. Process Explorer shows intensive I/O (~20 MB/s) constantly. Also made screenshot to show what threads are running at that moments.

I'm willing to provide any information I could to get this fixed. I can't post dumps openly (passkeys and such), but I'd give them to developers for analysis.

P.S. Dumps created with Process Explorer.

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ohh I have seen the disk overload its happening with me when I check my torrents I can clearly see over 100 Completed pieces... as in 32 out of 32 completed with just like a few still going... they are not being added to the file... and when I hit pause, stop or do anything to that torrent it freeze utorrent. then it shuts utorrent down and when I reload it, it doesnt have any of the pieces it already completed... but if I keep trying I am slowly adding new files to it but the problem is I have a slow computer and rechecking a 13gb torrent with tons of files... is painfully slow just to have it fail in 20 min or get stuck at 99.9 and have to recheck it all over again... btw I can tell when pieces are not adding cause it tends to drop under 10kbs.. and stick there like it is trying to do something... which it clearly isnt

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  • 1 month later...

After 1.5 years of complete lack of attention from developers, I guess I found a solution. Just disable uTorrent caching completely (uncheck all checkboxes on 'Disk cache' options tab). uTorrent will still try to hang up (filling whole cache and stopping all downloads), but on uTorrent restart Windows will handle all writing correctly.

P.S. I think that while this problem persist, it is improper to recommend uTorrent caching.

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After 1.5 years of complete lack of attention from developers, I guess I found a solution. Just disable uTorrent caching completely (uncheck all checkboxes on 'Disk cache' options tab). uTorrent will still try to hang up (filling whole cache and stopping all downloads), but on uTorrent restart Windows will handle all writing correctly.

P.S. I think that while this problem persist, it is improper to recommend uTorrent caching.

Hi Dwarf,

Yeah, I sympathize with you. I frequently and consistently get the same "Disk Overload" error that you and many, many others have reported. Like others, I have reverted to an older version where the problem had not been introduced, yet. At first I was using something like 2.2, but right now I'm using 3.0. 25460. At first, I would try each new release, but after continuing to see the same bug after half a dozen or so "upgrades", I finally gave up. Now I just read the release notice and check if it mentions a fix for "Disk Overload". If not, I don't upgrade.

I am very baffled as to why they are not fixing this problem. Do they not acknowledge that the problem even exists? Many have experienced the problem, and have sent detailed bug reports, dumps, step-by-step instructions for duplicating the error, etc., but apparently to no avail. Meanwhile, the developers continue to devote many hours to add features and fix other bugs.

It's like having a Corvette car that frequently will stall on the freeway, and every time you take it in for service, they ignore that problem, but tell you:

"Hey, we fixed that squeak you get when you open the trunk!"

"We have now tweaked your engine to give you 10 more horsepower!"

"We installed free XM/Sirius radio for you!"

Well, those improvements are all cool, but you aren't going to care if the car still stalls on the freeway! Instead, until the Corvette gets fixed, you're going to resign yourself to having to drive to work in your trusty old Camry, instead... <sigh>

I sure wish this problem will get addressed. Meantime, I'm stuck running an older, but stable version of uTorrent...

Regards,

George

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george_k

I create a topic about this same problem yesterday http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=118666

I have a new computer with a Seagate Barracuda SATA 3 1TB hard drive and Windows 7 x64. My old PC was a Seagate hard drive too, but IDE and 160 GB.

Your hard drive it's Seagate Barracuda SATA too? This really could be a uTorrent bug our could be hardware failure or drivers?

Anyway... Do you know if i downgrade my utorrent to this version you mentioned (3.0. 25460) i can be free of this too? I used Tixati when i experienced this for first time than i move to utorrent... And keep this. I update my network drivers and... Nothing, still freezing windows.

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george_k

I create a topic about this same problem yesterday http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=118666

I have a new computer with a Seagate Barracuda SATA 3 1TB hard drive and Windows 7 x64. My old PC was a Seagate hard drive too, but IDE and 160 GB.

Your hard drive it's Seagate Barracuda SATA too? This really could be a uTorrent bug our could be hardware failure or drivers?

Anyway... Do you know if i downgrade my utorrent to this version you mentioned (3.0. 25460) i can be free of this too? I used Tixati when i experienced this for first time than i move to utorrent... And keep this. I update my network drivers and... Nothing, still freezing windows.

Hi Alisson,

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the problem is not with the harddrives, because I've tried setting up uTorrent to use different ones of my harddrives, but it makes no difference. Also, as many have said, the problem does not occur on older versions of uTorrent. So I don't know if it is really a "bug", since it could be a new "feature" to actually really prevent your drive from becoming overloaded, but if it fails to work on certain harddrives or OSs, I consider it a bug. And the harddrives and OSs I've tried aren't strange, obscure ones, they are common, mainstream ones (Seagate, Western Digital, Windows XP, Vista, and 7).

I was using version 2.x (sorry, probably 2.2 but don't remember for sure) for many months, so can say confidently that that version did not have the bug. <munched by admin - DO NOT LINK OR DIRECT TO OLD VERSIONS THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING>

I did this based on reports in this forum that this version also doesn't have the bug. I have not had any Disk Overload errors so far, but have only been using it for a few days.

Good luck,

George

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As I mentioned earlier, problem occurs even in 2.1 version. So, there is no point in downgrading to 2.2. As far as I remember, there were no major changes in disk cache mechanics between 2.1 and 3.1 versions.

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As I mentioned earlier, problem occurs even in 2.1 version. So, there is no point in downgrading to 2.2. As far as I remember, there were no major changes in disk cache mechanics between 2.1 and 3.1 versions.

Hi Dvvarf,

Sorry to disagree, but there is definitely a difference in behavior for myself and many other users that have reported the same thing. Of course, you are in a much better position to know which portions of the software changed in each version, so I take your word for it that "no major changes in disk cache mechanics" changed between the versions in question. However, as a fellow software developer, I suspect that either some "minor change" in the disk caching, or even a software change in some other part of the program that was *supposed to be* unrelated, is causing the problem.

All I can say with certainty, is that for me, I used an older version (such as 2.x) for many, many months, and *never* saw the "disk overload" error occur. I have been using uTorrent for years, in fact, and never saw or heard of this problem until 3.1. However, within only minutes or hours of attempting to use 3.1, I will get the disk overload error. So despite your insistence that there were "no major changes in disk cache mechanics", *something* has changed that is causing this undesired side-effect.

Since you probably know exactly which version it was that the problem started getting reported, can't you systematically check what software changed in the first build for which the problem was reported, and try to pinpoint the root cause? Maybe the cause is in some other part of the program that is seemingly unrelated. For instance, some completely unrelated part of the software could do something nasty such as overwrite a portion of memory via pointers. The part being overwritten could be the variables or buffers being used by the disk caching code.

Thanks,

George

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The stranger point for me is that the freeze only happen if utorrent be in use without i'm not making nothing else on PC. If i keep working with utorrent on this don't happen. :o

C: 3% fragmented, D: 8%, System reserved space 0%

I ever used utorrent / tixati on my old computer wiithout this and with this new PC is acting like this... Normal downloads or by Internet Download Manager don't make this problem. I've updated my network drivers but it continues... So... i think is some configuration, but why this didn't happened on my old PC? :/

So, george_k, what is exactly the version of utorrent you're using that you don't saw this error anymore? (check help>about)

My PC configs

Intel Core i7 2600 3.4 Ghz

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO Model 1.xx BIOS Rev. 0801

2x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz

Hard Disk Seagate Barracuda SATA 3 1TB

etc. (i think items above it's the most important things)

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So, george_k, what is exactly the version of utorrent you're using that you don't saw this error anymore? (check help>about)

Hi Alisson,

The version is what I have mentioned a couple times in my previous posts: "3.0. 25460" which was just my shorthand for Version 3.0, build 25460.

George

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Here's another suggestion, try clearing the cache in your computer by using your web browser (it could be cache files from your browser bottlenecking your client and causing it to 'Disk Overload').

1. Go to your options page/dialog box

2. Go to the tab/section of the options dialog box/page that has clear browsing data

3. Deselect all other options in clear browsing data dialog box except clear cache and click ok.

4. (probably only applies to chrome at this point) in the clear browsing data box choose 'from the beginning of time' in the dropdown menu.

Hopefully that works...and probably running a defrag on your hard drive if its really fragmented.

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george_k

Unfortunatelly your version suggested made the same Disk Overload 100% =(

I let PC downloading torrent alone by 30 minutes and when i came back, hard disk light on PC case was flashing so much, so it became at the same "on for 6 seconds than flash, freezing windows".

I take some pictures here, i don't know if could be this but looking on Services at Task Manager i saw "defragsvc" loaded. At the same time i was downloading torrent this is activated? So could be this our (now, mine) problem? Disk overloading cause this defragsvc running?

When i restart Windows (by reset button on case) i check Services and the defragsvc was interrupted, than started again to live.

Do you know if this could be the problem?

So... Officially, downgrade utorrent hasn't good results.

I'm sending pictures i toke from Task Manager when Windows was frozen.

Services - http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2314/sam0512k.jpg

Process - http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/383/sam0516r.jpg

Work - http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8453/sam0513i.jpg / http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7100/sam0515s.jpg

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Here's another suggestion, try clearing the cache in your computer by using your web browser (it could be cache files from your browser bottlenecking your client and causing it to 'Disk Overload').

1. Go to your options page/dialog box

2. Go to the tab/section of the options dialog box/page that has clear browsing data

3. Deselect all other options in clear browsing data dialog box except clear cache and click ok.

4. (probably only applies to chrome at this point) in the clear browsing data box choose 'from the beginning of time' in the dropdown menu.

Hopefully that works...and probably running a defrag on your hard drive if its really fragmented.

Hi SolariStar,

Thanks a lot for your suggestion. However, I don't think I want to bother right now. Your solution is simple, but it does mean that I'll have to install the newer uTorrent, and most likely have to re-install the older one again. The reason I'm so pessimistic is that many months ago, when I first encountered the problem, I tried just about everything. I followed this forum religiously and tried every suggestion that was offered, but all to no avail. After wasting countless hours that way, I basically gave up and decided that until I hear from the authors that they've come up with a fix for this particular problem, no more upgrading for me. And actually, this is not exactly a "compromise" for me, because version 3.0 (and even the earlier 2.x) does everything I need, and very well I might add. At first, when I was so frustrated, I had even tried some other torrent clients, but none match uTorrent's power and ease-of-use. So I'm quite happy with this older version for now. I only began commenting on this thread because I periodically like to check to see if others have reported that with the latest release, their "disk overload" error went away. As I was reading to check for such news, I happened to catch someone's post, and decided to chime in, that's all.

Thanks for your suggesion, though. I appreciate your trying to help me out.

Regards,

George

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george_k

Unfortunatelly your version suggested made the same Disk Overload 100% =(

I let PC downloading torrent alone by 30 minutes and when i came back, hard disk light on PC case was flashing so much, so it became at the same "on for 6 seconds than flash, freezing windows".

I take some pictures here, i don't know if could be this but looking on Services at Task Manager i saw "defragsvc" loaded. At the same time i was downloading torrent this is activated? So could be this our (now, mine) problem? Disk overloading cause this defragsvc running?

When i restart Windows (by reset button on case) i check Services and the defragsvc was interrupted, than started again to live.

Do you know if this could be the problem?

So... Officially, downgrade utorrent hasn't good results.

I'm sending pictures i toke from Task Manager when Windows was frozen.

Services - http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2314/sam0512k.jpg

Process - http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/383/sam0516r.jpg

Work - http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8453/sam0513i.jpg / http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7100/sam0515s.jpg

Hi Alisson,

Sorry to hear that version 3.0 still gives you problems. I'm running this on my fairly new laptop which is running 64-bit Windows 7. Also, I just checked the service on my laptop, and the defragsvc indicates "stopped". My guess is that since this laptop has no harddrive (has only SSD), defrag has been disabled by default. So on this particular laptop, I could probably even run the latest version. Due to my bad experiences many months ago on my desktop PC (which does have a HD), I had started out with 2.x on this new laptop from the beginning, and only recently gave 3.0 a try due to a recent post here suggesting it. Anyway, since this laptop has no HD, it is probably not a good "data point" for determining if disk-related problems are an issue. My not having any problems on the laptop probably has nothing to do with the uTorrent version, but rather due to the fact that it has no hard drive, and thus no caching (or different caching scheme) nor defrag happening.

On my desktop, which is running Windows Vista, I'm still running 2.x, which as I've mentioned before has been running for many months with no occurrences of the disk overload problem. So perhaps you have to go back to an even earlier version (i.e. 2.x). Sorry, I'd tell you which version exactly if I could, but I'm away from my home that has the desktop computer. However, I got the info from this forum, so you could probably find a thread here where someone suggested the exact 2.x version that is known not to have the problem.

George

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