Frustrated Downloading iso: Repairing / Fixing bad md5sum iso

[Uriah]

Hi Dylunio,

Dylunio wrote in How to download and burn an iso:

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Now that you have the original md5sum for the downloaded .iso file you must compare it with the md5sum of the download. To do do this in linux use the md5sum command:

Code: md5sum file.iso

this will spit out a number/letter mix. Compare this with the original md5sum from where you downloaded. If they match you are fine and go on to the next section. If they do not match you need to try downloading the file again.
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After numerous downloads of an iso from numerous mirrors. All downloaded iso's have bad md5sum's. Isn't it possible to take say 3, 4 or more of these iso's and compare them bit for bit, correcting the bad bits and generate a new corrected iso which could be verified with md5sum?

Each iso is 731,604,992 Bytes

Example (simplistic - each file only has one error at different locations) :

Bits: 1 2 3 4 5 6 .............................. 8*(731,604,992) bad md5
iso #1 0 0 1 0 1 1 .............................. 8*(731,604,992) bad md5
iso #2 1 1 0 0 1 1 .............................. 8*(731,604,992) bad md5
iso #3 1 0 1 0 1 0 .............................. 8*(731,604,992) bad md5
iso #4 1 0 1 1 1 1 .............................. 8*(731,604,992) bad md5
iso #N ............................................. 8*(731,604,992) bad md5
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New iso 1 0 1 0 1 1 .............................. 8*(731,604,992) good md5

Bits could also be sent in blocks with self correcting parity bits to verify that blocks of data were sent correctly and if not, correct the offending bit(s).

In cases where whole blocks of data are lost a resynchronization technique could be used to realign iso bit patterns until synched then the main bit for bit comparison routine could continue. Why let three or more 'time intensive' downloads go to waste ? I know that many fine Distro's offer their iso's for a very nominal price, but some distro's you have to download since they are either very old, unsupported, or not that popular. I think that such a program would be a great benifit to the Linux community. In Africa and elsewhere $5 or $10 is alot of money ! I believe in the Linux mission. Lets help our ( soon to be ) new Linux users out.

Your Friend, Uriah
Yes - "We are our brother's keeper"

[Roxoff]

Dunno where you're based, but if you want to get around the download headaches, you can try buying pre-burned CD's from places like Linuxemporium in the UK or Cheapbytes in the USA.