Repository: mlcommons/inference
Issue: Deepseek Dataset will not download using rclone
Root cause: Documentation Deficiency

Using the rclone commands provided at https://github.com/mlcommons/inference/tree/master/language/deepseek-r1#dataset-download to try and download preprocessed and calibration data, nothing downloads. Nothing prints with `rclone lsd mlc-inference:mlcommons-inference-wg-public/deepseek_r1/datasets` either. 

Once "rclone config ..." is run and trying to do "rclone copy ...", the following is output:

Transferred:       0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Checks:         0 / 0, -, Listed 36
Elapsed time:     0.1s



@pgmpablo157321 @nathanw-mlc to take a look^^

You can find the working download commands [here](https://inference.mlcommons-storage.org). 

I've investigated this issue and can confirm the documentation needs updating. The rclone configuration appears to be pointing to an incorrect or outdated path.

Looking at your output where `rclone lsd` returns nothing, this suggests the remote path 'mlc-inference:mlcommons-inference-wg-public/deepseek_r1/datasets' may no longer be valid.

I'll work on:
1. Verifying the correct rclone configuration and paths
2. Testing the download process end-to-end
3. Submitting a PR to update the documentation with working commands

In the meantime, @nathanw-mlc mentioned that working download commands are available at https://inference.mlcommons-storage.org - you might want to check there for alternative download methods while I prepare the documentation fix.

We're moving away from Rclone and will hopefully eventually depricate the API keys used for Rclone, so the documentation should be updated to use the download method linked above.

Thank you for clarifying @nathanw-mlc\! I understand you're moving away from rclone in favor of the direct download method from https://inference.mlcommons-storage.org.

I'd be happy to help update the documentation to reflect this change. Should I:
1. Remove all rclone references from the DeepSeek-r1 README
2. Replace them with the new download instructions from the storage site
3. Update any other benchmark READMEs that might still reference rclone

Would you like me to proceed with a PR for this documentation update?

@anivar Updating the documentation would be greatly appreciated. My only caveat to your proposed plan is to hold off on updating the documentation for the benchmarks other than DeepSeek-R1, Llama 3.1 8b, and Whisper, as we have yet to roll out the new download infrastructure for the rest of the benchmarks. We're seeing how this new method goes in the current Inference round before we roll it out for all available downloads.

@nathanw-mlc I've prepared the documentation updates as requested. The changes:

1. **Updated only the 3 specified benchmarks:**
   - DeepSeek-R1
   - Llama 3.1 8b  
   - Whisper

2. **For each benchmark README:**
   - Removed all rclone installation and configuration instructions
   - Replaced with the new MLCommons downloader commands from https://inference.mlcommons-storage.org
   - Kept the MLCFlow automation commands intact (they still reference `_rclone` in their parameters)
   - Included documentation for the `-d` flag for custom download directories

3. **No other benchmarks were touched** as per your instructions

The PR is ready for review: #2289

Thanks for the PR @anivar. The Infra engineers are working to transition MLCFlow to use R2 Downloader as well.

@nathanw-mlc Got it, thanks\! PR #2289 only fixes the native download URLs to use .uri files. I've left the MLCFlow commands as-is since you mentioned the infra team is handling that transition separately. Let me know if anything needs tweaking\!