# download fails/freezes on both direct connection and VPN (with academic license activated)

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/download-fails-freezes-on-both-direct-connection-and-vpn-with-academic-license-activated/47346>\
**Category:** Support\
**Tags:** totalsegmentator\
**Created:** [June 15, 2026, 12:40pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/download-fails-freezes-on-both-direct-connection-and-vpn-with-academic-license-activated/47346 "2026-06-15T12:40:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tomy\_Roster](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/tomy_roster/32/82468_2.png) [@Tomy\_Roster](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Tomy_Roster)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 12:40pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/download-fails-freezes-on-both-direct-connection-and-vpn-with-academic-license-activated/47346/1 "2026-06-15T12:40:42Z")

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I am using the TotalSegmentator extension in 3D Slicer to extract muscle and fat compartments using the `tissue_4_types` subtask. I have already successfully obtained and activated my academic license key.

However, I am completely blocked by downloading errors when clicking “Apply” for the `tissue_4_types` task (while the default `total` task runs perfectly fine without any issues).

**To Reproduce / Network Symptoms**

**1.Without VPN (Direct Connection):** The download process starts but is extremely slow. It consistently freezes/hangs at around 3MB and never progresses, eventually resulting in a connection timeout.

1. **2.With VPN Enabled:** The network completely fails to handshake with the model repository. 3D Slicer instantly throws an SSL/Connection error in the Python console and aborts the task **Environment:**

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**Author:** ![Tomy\_Roster](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/tomy_roster/32/82468_2.png) [@Tomy\_Roster](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Tomy_Roster)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 12:44pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/download-fails-freezes-on-both-direct-connection-and-vpn-with-academic-license-activated/47346/2 "2026-06-16T12:44:05Z")

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​**Update: License verified, but network drops mid-download (IncompleteRead error)**

​Hi again,

​Good news: My academic license is successfully verified now. However, I am facing a new network instability issue during the weight downloading process.

​The download starts successfully but always gets interrupted halfway. The Python console throws this error:

urllib3.exceptions.IncompleteRead: IncompleteRead(186127600 bytes read, 47091847 more expected)

followed by a ChunkedEncodingError. It seems my connection drops exactly at 186MB out of the 233MB file. Because the Slicer built-in downloader doesn’t support resuming broken downloads, I am completely stuck in a loop of failing mid-way.

​ **My Request:**

Due to the strict network firewall/instability in my hospital, could you please kindly provide a **direct download link (e.g., a .zip file on Google Drive, Dropbox, or Zenodo)** for the tissue\_4\_types (Task 485) model weights?

​If I can download it via a browser (which supports resume), I can manually extract it into my %USERPROFILE%\.totalsegmentator\nnunet\results folder.

​Thank you so much for your understanding and support!

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**Author:** ![Jingtao\_Chen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jingtao_chen/32/82509_2.png) [@Jingtao\_Chen](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Jingtao_Chen)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/download-fails-freezes-on-both-direct-connection-and-vpn-with-academic-license-activated/47346/3 "2026-07-13T17:17:59Z")

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Hi @Tomy_Roster,

I saw your post about the `tissue_4_types` download issue. I’m experiencing exactly the same problem — the download stalls at around 86% (202MB/233MB) with `IncompleteRead` / `ChunkedEncodingError`.

I’ve also tried using a VPN but it didn’t help.

Were you able to resolve this issue? Did you find a way to get the weights or a direct download link?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bjmufffff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bjmufffff](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/bjmufffff)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 6:38am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/download-fails-freezes-on-both-direct-connection-and-vpn-with-academic-license-activated/47346/4 "2026-09-29T06:38:13Z")

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Encountered the same issue: the weights could not be downloaded and kept reporting errors.Here is my solution just for reference (as everyone’s network environment is different):

Referring to the official documentation ( [TotalSegmentator/README.md at master · wasserth/TotalSegmentator · GitHub](https://github.com/wasserth/TotalSegmentator/blob/master/README.md) ),  
Set up Python environment on my computer (separate from 3D Slicer’s Python), install TotalSegmentator with `pip install TotalSegmentator`,

set the license with `totalseg_set_license -l aca_12345678910`,

successfully downloaded the weights with `totalseg_download_weights -t <task_name>` (with VPN global mode).

 ![1790663722167](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/7/4/742fe231c13f40dad26aed2759cd3248af7270d2.png)

 ![1790663755330](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/b/3/b38db599f64a794e9784452306c61c0cd60ba0b8.png)