File Transfers can Silently Fail

• Ring version: 2019-08-24-01
• Device model: Samsung Tablet S2
• Android version: 8.1 / LineageOS 15.1-20190228
• Jami-Version from F-droid

Steps to reproduce

• Can you reproduce the bug: don't know
• Steps as observed when problem occurred: Send several images from IOS client (probably version 2.14 from Apple store) to Android client. Presumed condition: Start next file transfer before previous file transfer completes.
• Actual result: Zero-length image files with expected file names are transferred to receiver (to be found in /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/cx.ring/cache). No indication is given in the receiver's text chat view regarding initiated but failed file transfers. No error indication is given on the transmitter's device.
• Expected result:

1. File transfers shall not fail.
2. File transfer status shall be visually observable on transmitter's and receiver's side in a better way. This shall include beginning, current progress, ETA and completion of every single file transfer.
3. File transfer errors shall be made obvious for Alice and Bob simultaneously. This shall include scenarios like retries (if any), resumptions, loss of connectivity during transfer, insufficient receiver memory, stalled file transfers due to receiver's off-line state, remaining resumption duration, abandoned file transfers (in cases where receiver remains off-line too long) etc

Additional information

Information regarding file transfers could be shown in the text chat view in a similar way as received calls are shown. Receiver out-of-memory condition could be checked in advance so that error-bound transfers can be avoided. I have seen somewhere that Jami tries to transfer files for a limited amount of time only. If this is true then this limit should be configurable including an "indefinite" setting.

This behavior should be better in current FDroid version. However, files are still able to fail, but it's related to https://git.jami.net/savoirfairelinux/ring-daemon/issues/136

This should be ok in current version:

• Steps as observed when problem occurred: Send several images from IOS client (probably version 2.14 from Apple store) to Android client. Presumed condition: Start next file transfer before previous file transfer completes.

For 2. Related to https://git.jami.net/savoirfairelinux/ring-client-android/issues/645

3. In fact this is a normally the case, unless some cases or the receiver/sender doesn't receives any packets on RX, in this case the error will come when the socket will timeout.

mentioned in issue #788 (closed)

Since swarm, trasnfers are retried

closed