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Lionz IPTV Downloader uses aria2 as the download engine to provide robust, resumable downloads with real-time progress tracking and advanced control options.

Starting Downloads

You can initiate downloads from multiple places within the application:

Downloading Movies

  1. Navigate to any movie’s detail page
  2. Click the Download button
  3. The download starts immediately and you’re redirected to the Downloads page

Downloading Series Episodes

Single Episode:
  1. Open a series detail page
  2. Find the episode you want to download
  3. Click the download icon next to the episode
Multiple Episodes (Batch Download):
  1. Open a series detail page
  2. Select multiple episodes using checkboxes
  3. Click Download Selected
  4. All selected episodes queue simultaneously
The application checks for active downloads before starting a new one. If you try to download content that’s already in progress, you’ll be redirected to the existing download.

Download Status Page

Access the Downloads page to view all your downloads in one place.

Download Information

Each download displays:
  • Media Details: Title, cover art, and type (movie or series episode)
  • Progress Bar: Visual indicator of download completion
  • Status: Current state (active, paused, waiting, completed, error)
  • Speed: Current download speed (for active downloads)
  • Size: Total file size and downloaded amount
  • File Information: Output directory and filename
  • Error Details: Error codes and messages (if applicable)

Download States

Downloads can be in several states:
  • Active: Currently downloading with visible progress and speed
  • Waiting: Queued and waiting to start
  • Paused: Download paused by user or system
  • Complete: Successfully finished
  • Error: Failed with error code and message
  • Removed: Cleared from aria2 but still tracked in the application

Download Actions

You can control your downloads using various actions:

Pause Download

Temporarily stop an active download:
  1. Locate the download in your Downloads list
  2. Click the Pause button
  3. The download pauses immediately and can be resumed later
Paused downloads retain their progress and can resume from where they stopped.

Resume Download

Continue a paused download:
  1. Find the paused download
  2. Click the Resume button
  3. Download continues from the last checkpoint

Retry Download

Restart a failed or errored download:
  1. Locate the failed download
  2. Click Retry
  3. Choose whether to restart from zero or resume from partial progress
Retry Options:
  • Resume from Checkpoint: Continues with existing partial files
  • Restart from Zero: Deletes partial files and starts fresh
Retrying a download generates a new GID (download identifier) and requeues the download with the same output settings.

Cancel Download

Stop and remove a download:
  1. Find the download you want to cancel
  2. Click Cancel
  3. Optionally choose to delete partial files
Cancel Options:
  • Keep Partial Files: Download is stopped but files remain on disk
  • Delete Partial Files: Removes the download and deletes incomplete files
1

Start Your Download

Click the download button on any movie or series episode
2

Monitor Progress

View real-time status, speed, and completion percentage on the Downloads page
3

Control Downloads

Pause, resume, retry, or cancel downloads as needed
4

Handle Errors

If a download fails, check the error message and use Retry to attempt again

Automatic Retry System

The application includes intelligent retry logic for failed downloads:
  • Error Classification: Errors are analyzed to determine if retry is appropriate
  • Backoff Algorithm: Failed downloads wait before retrying (prevents server overload)
  • Retry Attempts: Tracks number of retry attempts per download
  • Cooldown Period: Prevents immediate retries, respecting server limits

Retry Cooldown

When a download fails:
  1. The system calculates a backoff period based on retry count
  2. The download enters cooldown with a “retry_next_at” timestamp
  3. Manual retry is disabled until the cooldown expires
  4. Automatic retry can occur after the cooldown period
If you attempt to retry during cooldown, you’ll see a message indicating when retry will become available.

Admin Features

Administrators have additional download management capabilities:

View All User Downloads

Admins can see downloads from all users:
  • View owner information (name and email) for each download
  • Filter downloads by specific users
  • Monitor system-wide download activity

Owner Filtering

Filter the downloads page by user:
  1. Use the owner filter dropdown
  2. Select one or more users
  3. View only downloads belonging to selected users

Download File Management

The system tracks download file locations:
  • Output Directory: Configured download destination folder
  • Output Filename: Generated based on media title and metadata
  • File Tracking: Stores file paths in database for later operations
  • Cleanup: Option to delete partial or failed download files

aria2 Integration

All downloads are managed through aria2’s JSON-RPC interface, providing:
  • Resumable downloads with checkpoint support
  • HTTP pipelining for improved speed
  • Automatic file renaming prevention
  • Continue mode for partial downloads

Pagination and Performance

The Downloads page displays 10 items per page with:
  • Recent downloads shown first (sorted by creation date)
  • Query string preservation for filters and page state
  • Real-time status updates via aria2 status queries

Error Handling

When downloads encounter errors:
  1. Error Code: aria2 error code is captured and displayed
  2. Error Message: Human-readable error description
  3. Last Error Tracking: Error details stored in download record
  4. Retry Classification: System determines if error is retryable
Some errors (like network timeouts) are automatically retryable, while others (like invalid URLs) require manual intervention.

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