Why an XFreeHD download sometimes needs a second try
About half the download addresses XFreeHD issues are refused on first use, and a refused one never recovers. What was measured, and what this tool does.
Press Save on an XFreeHD file and, now and then, nothing happens for a second before the download starts. That pause is this tool asking XFreeHD for a second address because it refused the first one. It is worth explaining, because the behaviour is strange enough that most tools in this category simply fail instead.
What was measured
Each download needs a freshly signed address from XFreeHD. Over eight trials per quality on the same video:
| Quality | Worked on the first address |
|---|---|
| SD | 3 of 8 |
| HD | 5 of 8 |
So roughly half of all issued addresses are refused the moment they are used. That is not a rare edge case. It is the normal behaviour of this source.
Retrying the same address does not work
The obvious fix is to ask again for the same file. It does nothing. Three attempts at 250-millisecond intervals converted zero failures on either quality — 3 of 8 stayed 3 of 8, and 5 of 8 stayed 5 of 8. A refused address stays refused for as long as you care to keep asking.
That tells you the refusal is a property of the address itself, not a passing network problem. So the only recovery is to go back and get a completely new one.
What this tool does
It asks for up to four fresh addresses before giving up. At roughly even odds per attempt that puts the combined chance of success near 94%, which matches what was measured end to end: nine successful downloads in ten.
It also does the retrying around the actual download, not around a test. An earlier version of this tool checked an address was alive with a tiny request first, then fetched it properly to send you the file. That was wrong: an address that passed the check was still sometimes refused on the very next request, so the check was proving something about a request nobody was going to make. Now the request that gets retried is the one carrying your file.
If it still fails
Fetch the link again from the top of the page. Download addresses also expire on XFreeHD's side after about three hours, so a page left open over lunch will need a fresh read regardless.