phpar2 -- faster par2cmdline, modified by Paul Houle 11/18/2017

phpar2.exe
Paul Houle
--- GPL software---

[page last modified 2017-11-18]

Par2cmdline is GPL'd free software written by Peter Brian Clements. It is a 32-bit command-line tool to create and utilize parity files for a set of source files, enabling one to repair the source files in case they are damaged, perhaps in transmission or due to the aging of some storage system. The executable name of the original program is PAR2.EXE.

I've used PAR2 for quite some time to add parity files to backup sets prior to writing them to DVD. This is a scripted process that runs entirely under DOS. I use GHOST to generate the backup sets.

And yes... it's true you can run PAR2 under pure 16-bit DOS. To do so you first need long file name support, since PAR2 writes only long name output files. I have DOSLFN -- ver 0.40d -- loaded for this. Finally you need a DOS extender that can run PAR2, and HX can.

So far so good, except for the speed. PAR2 takes some time to generate, especially for large files, and the backup files in question are in the neighborhood of 2 gig.

In 2008 I took at look at the source and sped it up by adding an MMX assembly routine to the par2 creation process (the original C++ code is used if run on a non-MMX-capable processor). I also added logic to support multiple CPU cores. Creation speed was the focus -- I create .par2 files often, but rarely verify using them (which is fast as it is), and practically never need to repair.

In 2010 a new MD5 routine was installed, specific to the X86 architecture. This sped up creation and repair a bit (10%), and verification substantially (37%). phpar2 verification is now 40% faster than the sourceforge par2.exe.

The current result? On a Core 2 quad (4 cores) Q6600 -- to process a 1 gigabyte source file to create 5% par2 files:

par2.exe (sourceforge) 234 secs QuickPar (0.9.1) 130 secs phpar2.exe 44 secs

So (on my computer) for creation phpar2 is over 5x faster than the par2.exe on sourceforge, and phpar2 is 3x faster than the Win32 QuickPar 0.9.1. The repair process is also sped up, since it shares the use of the routine that has been hand-written in assembly. Note: the assembly was tuned to Intel Core 2 micro-architecture.

Since I was in the code I also fixed a couple of longstanding bugs relating to very large (>2 gig) files, and a bug causing failures in "quiet" mode.

To add the enhanced routines required changing only a couple dozen lines of the existing C++ code -- so the overall change to the code base is minimal.

Change Log

11/14/2017- phpar2 version 1.5. Added a native 64-bit executable. Built 32-bit version with more recent compiler. Added -t switch to force the number of threads used. Same assembly code at the core, so no large speed change expected. (Note 11/18/17: I've been told this version will not run on XP due to the compiler used. I do not have a solution for this -- no 64-bit XP compiler -- if someone has a workaround please let me know. Temporarily here is a 32-bit build using MSVC ver 7.1 which should work. No source change: xp compatible 32-bit build )

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9/28/2015- phpar2 version 1.4. Bug fix when generating multi-gigabyte .par2 output on systems with lots of RAM. Suppress banner unless no operation is performed. Added phpar2s.bat as a very simple workaround for lack of sub-directory support.

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4/29/2010- phpar2 version 1.3. New MD5 code -- creation is 10% faster, verification 37% faster (measured on an Intel Core 2 Quad).

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3/22/2008- phpar2 version 1.2. Sped up and simplified multi-core threading logic.