diff --git a/lib/boxlib.php b/lib/boxlib.php
index 0cee0da8ac7..974124f89ff 100644
--- a/lib/boxlib.php
+++ b/lib/boxlib.php
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ class boxclient {
         $params['action']     = 'get_account_tree';
         $params['onelevel']   = 1;
         $params['params[]']   = 'nozip';
-        $c = new curl(array('debug'=>$this->debug, 'cache'=>true, 'module_cache'=>'repository'));
+        $c = new curl(array('debug'=>$this->debug));
         $c->setopt(array('CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION'=>1));
         try {
             $args = array();
@@ -196,23 +196,25 @@ class boxclient {
      * Get box.net file info
      *
      * @param string $fileid
-     * @return string|null
+     * @param int $timeout request timeout in seconds
+     * @return stdClass|null
      */
-    function get_file_info($fileid) {
+    function get_file_info($fileid, $timeout = 0) {
         $this->_clearErrors();
         $params = array();
         $params['action']     = 'get_file_info';
         $params['file_id']    = $fileid;
         $params['auth_token'] = $this->auth_token;
         $params['api_key']    = $this->api_key;
-        $http = new curl(array('debug'=>$this->debug, 'cache'=>true, 'module_cache'=>'repository'));
-        $xml = $http->get($this->_box_api_url, $params);
-        $o = simplexml_load_string(trim($xml));
-        if ($o->status == 's_get_file_info') {
-            return $o->info;
-        } else {
-            return null;
+        $http = new curl(array('debug'=>$this->debug));
+        $xml = $http->get($this->_box_api_url, $params, array('timeout' => $timeout));
+        if (!$http->get_errno()) {
+            $o = simplexml_load_string(trim($xml));
+            if ($o->status == 's_get_file_info') {
+                return $o->info;
+            }
         }
+        return null;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/repository/boxnet/lib.php b/repository/boxnet/lib.php
index a60b1f4b5f9..7a19ec947dd 100644
--- a/repository/boxnet/lib.php
+++ b/repository/boxnet/lib.php
@@ -277,12 +277,21 @@ class repository_boxnet extends repository {
      * @return null|stdClass with attribute 'filepath'
      */
     public function get_file_by_reference($reference) {
-        $boxnetfile = $this->get_file($reference->reference);
-        // Please note that here we will ALWAYS receive a file
-        // If source file has been removed from external server, box.com still returns
-        // a plain/text file with content 'no such file' (filesize will be 12 bytes)
-        if (!empty($boxnetfile['path'])) {
-            return (object)array('filepath' => $boxnetfile['path']);
+        $array = explode('/', $reference->reference);
+        $fileid = array_pop($array);
+        $fileinfo = $this->boxclient->get_file_info($fileid, self::SYNCFILE_TIMEOUT);
+        if ($fileinfo) {
+            $size = (int)$fileinfo->size;
+            if (file_extension_in_typegroup($fileinfo->file_name, 'web_image')) {
+                // this is an image - download it to moodle
+                $path = $this->prepare_file('');
+                $c = new curl;
+                $result = $c->download_one($reference->reference, null, array('filepath' => $path, 'timeout' => self::SYNCIMAGE_TIMEOUT));
+                if ($result === true) {
+                    return (object)array('filepath' => $path);
+                }
+            }
+            return (object)array('filesize' => $size);
         }
         return null;
     }
@@ -297,13 +306,16 @@ class repository_boxnet extends repository {
      */
     public function get_reference_details($reference, $filestatus = 0) {
         // Indicate it's from box.net repository + secure URL
+        $array = explode('/', $reference);
+        $fileid = array_pop($array);
+        $fileinfo = $this->boxclient->get_file_info($fileid, self::SYNCFILE_TIMEOUT);
+        if (!empty($fileinfo)) {
+            $reference = (string)$fileinfo->file_name;
+        }
         $details = $this->get_name() . ': ' . $reference;
-        if (!$filestatus) {
+        if (!empty($fileinfo)) {
             return $details;
         } else {
-            // at the moment for box.net files we never can be sure that source is missing
-            // because box.com never returns 404 error.
-            // So we never change the status and actually this part is unreachable
             return get_string('lostsource', 'repository', $details);
         }
     }
@@ -315,13 +327,14 @@ class repository_boxnet extends repository {
      * @return string|null
      */
     public function get_file_source_info($url) {
+        global $USER;
         $array = explode('/', $url);
         $fileid = array_pop($array);
-        $fileinfo = $this->boxclient->get_file_info($fileid);
+        $fileinfo = $this->boxclient->get_file_info($fileid, self::SYNCFILE_TIMEOUT);
         if (!empty($fileinfo)) {
-            return 'Box: ' . (string)$fileinfo->file_name;
+            return 'Box ('. fullname($USER). '): '. (string)$fileinfo->file_name. ': '. $url;
         } else {
-            return $url;
+            return 'Box: '. $url;
         }
     }