How to torrent

[WiDGe->]

First of all pick a good program to manage it:

www.uTorrent.Com -> its new, has a good interface, good support and isn't resource hungry at all
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/ -> the favoured client of the downloaders

Don't use Bitlord or associated clients, this is from the torrent place I'm subscribed to:

"-Links to paid advertising sites
-Your IP will become a "hit" for some poor guy trying to sell something thinking you are actually visiting his website.
-During installing, use, and uninstalling, BitLord creates a dozen "unknown" entries, and does not let go of your system even after uninstalling and removing all "left over" registry entries.
-Deleting these entries causes Bitlord to hijack Azureus associations
-One entry has "Microsoft" in it
-Comes with its very own spy seeder that sends bits of itself out with every torrent piece, and tracks users who get pieces from a Bitlord user, reporting their IPs back to a remote site.


If you're using this here, stop immediately. I also advise you to ban all the "Bitcomet 1.01" users from your torrents-- these are Bitlord users, and in addition to getting rid of a shitty spy client, you'll see a speed increase."

So there you go!

Torrents work based on sharing. If you download and restrict your UL speed entirely, you'll get shite download speeds. Also if your UL speed is MASSIVE, that'll take all your bandwidth meaning your DL speed is shite. I have a 2 MB line and I cap my UL @ 22k. That gives me decent speeds. Of course if you're subscribed to a torrent site which tracks ratios, you have to ensure you share as much as you leech.

Good sites for torrents are:

http://www.themixingbowl.org - where I got most of this info from. You have to register, but its LEGAL! You MUST keep a good ratio or else you get banned. If you download something, you must keep it seeded for people to upload from until you at least upload as much as you have downloaded. I've ripped 1 1/2GB off here and am desperately trying to get back up to a 1:1 ratio
http://www.uknova.com - UK TV and radio shows
http://www.filemp3.org - music
http://www.filelist.org - all sorts
http://www.tvtorrents.com - US TV shows
http://www.teknomassif.com - mixes
http://www.torrentbytes.net - all sorts but mainly vids/tv
http://www.araditracker.com - all sorts
http://www.trancetraffic.com - music
http://www.demonoid.com - all sorts, huge but annoying ratio system lets it down for me though
http://www.uk-t.org - all sorts (invite only)
http://www.kerrazy-torrents.com - mainly music I think, particularly metal
http://www.audionews.ru - music apps
http://www.myspleen.net - mainly stand-up and cartoons
http://www.bitme.org - all sorts but restrictions on uploadable material
http://www.bitsoup.org - all sorts
http://www.torrent-damage.net - all sorts (invite only)
http://www.blackcats-games.com - games
http://www.evolutiontt.org - all sorts
http://www.djmixes2k.com - live music sets, annoying 94hr wait for new users though
http://www.torrentmatrix.com - all sorts
http://www.supremetorrents.co.uk - all sorts
http://www.boxtorrents.com - anime
http://www.torrentbox.com - all sorts
http://www.th3-stu-d-o.com - all sorts

And then those that don't requiire registration -

http://www.thepiratebay.org - great site, newly refurbished
http://www.rokanova.com - all sorts
http://www.torrentreactor.net - all sorts
http://www.robotolabs.cjb.net - Entire seasons of The Simpsons
http://www.mrtwig.net - Entire seasons of South Park
http://www.snarf-it.org - all sorts (run by ex-Suprnova staff allegedly)
http://www.isohunt.com - all sorts
http://www.newtorrents.info - all sorts
http://www.torrenttyphoon.com - all sorts !!!MY FAVOURITE!!!
http://www.torrentreactor.to - all sorts
http://www.novatina.com - all sorts
http://www.torrentspy.com - all sorts
http://www.mininova.com - all sorts
http://www.defiant.ws - all sorts
http://www.inferno-florida.com - seems to be brand new (only 6 torrents there at time of writing!) - signup required to upload

Tracker Status Sites and Other Lists -

http://www.orbdesign.net/bt
http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/romeria/bittorrentsites1.htm

Passed on since thread began -

http://www.elitetorrents.org R.I.P
http://www.btefnet.net R.I.P
http://www.phoenix-torrents.com R.I.P
http://www.torrentparadise.com R.I.P
http://www.oink.me.uk - mainly music, some apps (invite only) - I so want to be on here

[Sheena]

Sounds LOVELY

I use Bitlord...time to CHANGE methinks

Widge hijack, more info

The following article can be found in full here, please take time to read it. The easy way to become connectable is to follow the guides at www.portforward.com , find your router model and select the bittorrent client (utorrent,Azureus, etc...) you are forwarding ports for: http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm

Quote:
"Why being connectable is good for your ratio

Being connectable is a Good Thing. Why? A connectable user can share data with anyone in the torrent. Two unconnectable people can't establish a connection between them. If you're the only leecher and all the seeders are unconnectable, you won't get any data.

This information is for people who want to become connectable. It's going to take some reading and work on your part to fix it. The payoff is that you'll be able to connect to the non-clever peers in a torrent. That can dramatically improve your speed since those peers are connected to fewer others. If you're seeding, you'll be able to send data to anyone, not just "clever" users. That'll make your ratio go up faster.


Port Forwarding:There are two ways to forward ports. Let's talk about the pain-free way first. Many routers support something called uPnP. As far as I can tell, this means that computers behind the router can tell the router to open ports as needed. I use the BitTornado program for my BT needs. In it's default configuration BitTornado uses a random port between 10000 and 60000 and uses uPnP to automatically make sure that port is forwarded by the router. When you close BitTornado it should close that port. If your BT client and router both support uPnP, this is certainly the easiest way to go. Multiple computers running BT simultaneously behind the same firewall will also work properly, unless they happen to pick the same port number. It's easy to change the port number range in any BitTorrent client so that two computers' port numbers will never overlap. You don't even need a static IP address in this case, as the router will always know where to forward packets.

# The not-so-easy way to forward ports is to use your router's web interface and specifically tell it what ports to forward where. You need several things for this to work. They are:A static IP address for your computer
# Your BT client configured for a known port or small range of ports
# Your router configured to forward those ports to your static IP address
# Any software firewall must be disabled or configured to let traffic on BT ports through.

Establishing a static IP address: Directions can be found in almost any router manual that I've seen. You can also look at http://www.portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm

What ports to use: Pick something above 10000. The highest possible port number is 65535. If your BT client can have multiple torrents open using a single port (Azureus, BitComet, etc.) then you only need to open a single port. If you need a separate port for every torrent, figure out how many you'll have open and use a range of at least that many ports.

Forwarding the necessary port numbers: Once you have a static IP address and know which ports you're using, you want to set up your router to forward incoming traffic on those ports to your static IP address (and those same port numbers). Again see http://www.portforward.com for specific instructions regarding your make and model of router.

Software Firewalls: You probably want to shut these off at least temporarily to see if you can become clever. Then if you've got yourself clever you can re-enable the firewall and create exceptions for your BT client.

Some Useful Links:

# http://wiki.theppn.org/index.php/BitTorrent_Tutorial
A BitTorrent tutorial
# http://dessent.net/btfaq/
A BitTorrent FAQ
# http://www.portforward.com
Help with forwarding your ports. Specific help for many brands/models of router.
# http://www.grc.com
The ShieldsUp! application on this site can help with opening ports. If you succeed the test should fail on the forwarded ports only.
# http://www.slyck.com/bt.php
The Slyck web site is full of good info on many P2P applications including BitTorrent.
# http://btfaq.com/serve/cache/1.html
Another BitTorrent FAQ
# http://gruven42.webhop.org/xpfwbt/xp_firewall_bt.htm
Using the Windows XP Firewall with Bit Torrent
# http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/ics/icsconfiguration.htm
How to map/forward ports with Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing
# http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q308/1/27.ASP
How to manually open ports in Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP
# http://userpages.umbc.edu/~hamilton/btclientconfig.html
Tweaking your system to get the most out of BitTorrent"

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

I use Azureus... its great... although it can occasionally crash your desktop...

[WiDGe->]

You'd like utorrent then. Very simple, similar interface, VERY small and low useage on resources. I've left my PC on for about 6 days now and no problems!

Check out themixingbowl ... its got great mixes on there, everything from Essential Mixes to Solid Steel mixes, Peel Sessions, Milk Runs, Blue Room, Live shows... awesome stuff.

Hopefully going to get a spot to upload my own torrents soon, stick some of my mixes out there.

[WiDGe->]

Sounds LOVELY

I use Bitlord...time to CHANGE methinks

It sounds like the AOL of torrents

[PJL]

I use Bitlord...time to CHANGE methinks

Ditto

[WiDGe->]

You may need to do an ENTIRE system wipe if what I read about it is true (i.e. it embeds itself SO fucking deeply that 'uninstall' doesn't work ... even getting into the resigstry and deleting individual entires doesn't work).

Its always good to do a good wipe and fresh install now and again anyway. Its such a wonder when your machine runs dreamy again!

Oh another tip for those of you who use firewalls other than the XP one, turn off Automatic Updates... it just clogs up your PC and makes it run slow.

[Adeva]

I have bitstorm, bittornado and bitlord. Isnt Azureus java based? I swear I read somewhere its a system hog.

Lately I've been using bitlord the most as I've got the best speeds with that. It does sound horribly dodgy now though after having read that...

[WiDGe->]

I have bitstorm, bittornado and bitlord. Isnt Azureus java based? I swear I read somewhere its a system hog.


Yeah, thats what I've heard, never had a problem with it but thats why I'm giving this utorrent a go. Seems alright so far.

[PJL]

Yeah, thats what I've heard, never had a problem with it but thats why I'm giving this utorrent a go. Seems alright so far.

Well I haven't noticed a slowdown on my computer because of it. Then again I have Adaware & Spybot, plus I use Mozilla Firefox. Still better to be safe than sorry.

[Sheena]

So where do I get my hands on some GOOD PORN bar Gaytorrents then >?

[Crash]

I just need to find how to get ROUND my network not allowing me to direct connect to any of these P2P kinda programmes including BitLord.

Its WELL pissy because i downloaded about 5 new episodes of Desperate Housewives when I was at home and I want MORE.

If anyone knows how, that'll be nice :)

[Dr Lecter]

gaytorrentnews.net

[Sheena]

TA LOVE

Though the site seems to be DOWN :evil:

[Pele]

I have recently started using UTorrent - fucking brilliant when it comes to speed - downloads at 100kb/s compared to 20 kb/s on Bitlord! :D

[Matthew]

I just need to find how to get ROUND my network not allowing me to direct connect to any of these P2P kinda programmes including BitLord.

Its WELL pissy because i downloaded about 5 new episodes of Desperate Housewives when I was at home and I want MORE.

If anyone knows how, that'll be nice :)

www.portforward.com - check it out




I use quite an old BitComet.

[Indie]

ESSENTIAL

[WiDGe->]

If you are on a site where maintaining a ratio is important (ie, you have to seed back what you take, or upload your own stuff) ... DO NOT, play music in iTunes. iTunes alters the mp3 tags and various other bits of data, effectively ruining the torrent meaning you won't be able to share anything back.

[delirium]

I've just downloaded a torrent for the first time but when I play it, the picture isn't right - just lots of swirly lines and moving patterns (like a random screen saver). The sound is fine though.

Have I fucked up or just lucked out with my first attempt?

I used uTorrent as a client (if that's the right word!) and everything seemed fine until playing the download.

[Sheena]

That just means your Media Player doesn't have the right "codecs" (which I get all the time)

What I've done is downloaded a different media player called VLC (Widge's recommendation) which is free if you google it and plays JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

[lolly]

I've usually found that if you download the free DivX plugin (from www.divx.com I think, but google it otherwise) seems to take care of playing most things.

[Sheena]

Notice delirium goes quiet as he works out how to "use his torrent"

*ahem*

[delirium]

LOL

bitch :D

I had my questions answered before opening Moopy back up again. And yes - it was the video and I downloaded divx which works perfectly.

THANKS GUYS.

*goes blind*

[Indie]

ew

[WiDGe->]

For fans of TV shows, try getting someone who is in on the scene to get you on bitmetv.org ... its great. Maintaining a ratio isn't so hard since you can buy a load of ratio on there via Paypal.

Season6 of 24, Episode 10, grabbed it this morning @ 700+kbps. 14 mins for a 700mb episode. They also have a 720p HDTV version of it too! But since my PC is the only thing that can show HDTV, no point for me really....

Loads of stuff on that site though, really ace. Been picking up the DVDRs of Twin Peaks Season 2, got American Gothic (which someone has been kind enough to re-order into the PROPER running order).... lots of reality archives, worldwide Big Brothers, the works on there really.

[delirium]

I must admit, I still don't get all this ratio, uploading speed, downloading speed stuff.

I seem to be clicking on download and then waiting seventeen years until it arrives. Which I'm assuming SHOULDN'T be the case!

[Sheena]

I must admit, I still don't get all this ratio, uploading speed, downloading speed stuff.

I seem to be clicking on download and then waiting seventeen years until it arrives. Which I'm assuming SHOULDN'T be the case!

Oh to be FAIR, it kind of IS

[WiDGe->]

I must admit, I still don't get all this ratio, uploading speed, downloading speed stuff.

I seem to be clicking on download and then waiting seventeen years until it arrives. Which I'm assuming SHOULDN'T be the case!

Depends if this is a public site you are on. Let me give you a run down:

Public Site:

No fuss about Ratio
No need to be invited in or discover it
Usually full of people wanting to rip down files at TOP speeds and share FUCK ALL back, so speeds are low.
Also people get the file and then fuck off and close the torrent. This is called hit and running and we don't like this.
Also on public sites you can't guarantee quality. Private sites usually have releases that come from "The Scene" and "Top Sites":

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.01/topsite.html

and these tend to work from respected rippers. Bad releases get nuked and groups get a bad name if they fuck about.

Private Site:

Hard to get into.
Involve Ratio. At the moment on bitmetv I have a ratio which is about 0.96, which means I've EVER SO SLIGHTLY taken down more than I've given back. Breaking ratio rules usually results in banning. What this DOES mean is that people really want to share back as much as possible as fast as possible. The result is that you reap the benefit of massive DL speeds. As I said, 24 came down in 15 minutes for me, a 700mb file.
Basically you have to give back what you take. And this usually involves a trip to Port Forwarding sites (google it) to ensure your router is set up to do this.

[delirium]

Cheers Widge.

What happens if you get on a private site and I don't have much to share? How can you share something if you haven't downloaded anything? Also... how do you practively share?

I mean... if you have downloaded slightly more than you've given back, how do you readdress the balance?

I'd much rather take 15 minutes than the six/seven hours it took me over the last few days.

[Crash]

Does anyone know a good torrent downloading programme for the mac?

[PercyPig]

I use http://azureus.sourceforge.net/ although it's bit of hog on ye olde system memory. But since you have a new mac I presume it won't be quite as bad to run.

[Crash]

I downloaded one called "Transmission" which just isnt wanting to work, Im perhaps doing something wrong but the downloads just wont start in it! Mmm..ill check Azeurus..but dont you have to pay for that?

[Karvel]

I downloaded one called "Transmission" which just isnt wanting to work, Im perhaps doing something wrong but the downloads just wont start in it! Mmm..ill check Azeurus..but dont you have to pay for that?
Not as far as I know.

Works perfectly fine on my Intel iMac - I presume you've got a Dual Core 2 one? :Oi:

[Crash]

Not as far as I know.

Works perfectly fine on my Intel iMac - I presume you've got a Dual Core 2 one? :Oi:

That I do have :rusty2:

[PercyPig]

I downloaded one called "Transmission" which just isnt wanting to work, Im perhaps doing something wrong but the downloads just wont start in it! Mmm..ill check Azeurus..but dont you have to pay for that?

Download the "classic" version of Azureus. The new 3.0 version is crap. Azureus will test your ports to see if you've got the right ones open.

[Crash]

Im downloading the Version 2.5 one! Ill give it a whirl! Thanks!

[Crash]

Ooh its working gloriously thanks!

:disco:

[Suomi]

is it legal?

[WiDGe->]

DEPENDS

[Apocalypt_flyer]

Widge, I always get open fails, flush fails for certain files in Torrents, i'm using azureus. Ain't got msn or google desktop/toolbar search stuff and I'm slightly clueless.