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How do I download shows from this site? |
This site uses BitTorrent which is a peer-to-peer protocol for downloading shows. You will need to have a BitTorrent client installed on your computer in order to use it (see the section 'What's a BitTorrent client? Where can I get one?' and/or 'Freeware Software Links. Look Inside If You're Stuck!'). After installing a client, you will need to download the .torrent file located at the end of the first post in the torrent thread and open that .torrent file with your BitTorrent client. It will then take a few hours to a couple of days to download your show depending upon the number of peers still connected to the torrent and on your upload/download speed for the torrent. There are many other factors that go into the speed also. Also, please notice that in your client it will down the total amount of data you have downloaded and uploaded for that torrent. It is common courtesy to make sure you upload as much data for the torrent as you downloaded. This may require you to not stop your client as soon as you complete the download, but instead to 'leave the window open' so others may continue their download from you. |
What's a BitTorrent client? Which ones are recommended? |
There is a plethora of information about BitTorrent on the 'net these days. In the most basic terms, it is a system by which every computer connected to a certain torrent becomes both a downloader (peer) and an uploader (seed) simultaneously. Using this revolutionary system of file distribution, no large central servers are needed. Webmasters need only setup a "tracker", a fairly simple server which allows people wishing to download a file to connect directly to each other, at which point they share with each other and the entire web of current peers. To connect to a BitTorrent, you'll need a client. It's a small piece of software that installs on your computer that will allow you to connect with other computers. It doesn't matter if you're both using the same client though, only that you are using one and can connect to the tracker server. Here's a list of some of the more popular clents out there, but there are others as well. These pages contain download links, setup tutorials, and more in depth explanations of what BitTorrent really is. |
Which BitTorrent clients are NOT recommended? |
There are several clients that are not recommended for use. Several of them have been banned at various sites - some here, too. Most of them are banned because they do not play nice with the tracker. Here are a couple common clients that are not recommended.
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I got this show from another tracker. May I upload it here? |
Torrents from other sites are welcome here. However, common courtesy dictates a few things.
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Why are my downloads so slow? How can I go faster? |
There is no sense in rewriting that is already written - Solving Slow BitTorrent Download Speeds. |
My port number is in red in the Peers List. What does this mean? |
If your port number is showing up as RED in the Peers List or it says FIREWALLED under your username stats, then the tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other peers in the swarm will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This has obviously a detrimental effect on the overall speed. The first thing to do if this happens to you is to determine if you really are firewalled or if the tracker gave a false positive when it checked you out. So, head on over to CanYouSeeMe.Org and check to see if you really are firewalled. If it says you are not, but TTD is saying you are, try stopping your torrents, waiting a moment, and then starting them again. This will very often get rid of the FIREWALLED link under you name if you really aren't firewalled. If you really are firewalled, the way to solve the problem involves opening the ports used for incoming connections (the same range you defined in your client) on the firewall and/or configuring your NAT server to use a basic form of NAT for that range instead of NAPT (the actual process differs widely between different router models. Check your router documentation and/or support forum. You will also find lots of information on the subject at PortForward).
These other links should also be helpful: Just an added note about being firewalled: It is entirely possible to get high upload and download speeds if you are firewalled. Being firewalled simply means that you may not talk/connect to anyone else who is firewalled. So, if a lot of people on the torrent are not firewalled, then you can get great speeds. However, if most of the people on the torrent are firewalled, then your speeds are greatly limited to only being connected to those that are not firewalled (and, don't forget that all the other firewalled people may only connect to those that aren't firewalled so the non-firewalled people are forced to send out their data to a lot of people and thus can only upload at a small rate to any one person). |
I'm getting yellow/red lights in my client! Am I firewalled? |
Most likely, yes. BitTorrent requires that ports 6881-6889 are open so that you can directly connect to other users. If you're client is reporting a red light for an extended period of time, you may have serious problems including unreliable internet connection or an oppressive firewall setting. Opening ports for BitTorrent use is one of the remaining black arts of online trading, so read through though the information linked here carefully to get a better understanding of what may be causing the problem. A yellow light generally means that you are firewalled against recieving connections from other users. You will be allowed to connect to others, but it will take much more time to make solid connections as you computer must initiate the connection. BitTorrent tranfers will go much faster if ports 6881 - 6889 are open to recieving direct connections. When all ports are open and OK, your client will report a green light. This is one of the most asked questions because there are so many places where this could cause a problem. If you are consistently getting red/yellow lights and never getting green lights in your client, then you are behind a firewall that needs to be opened. For information on how to open a firewall in your hardware cable modem or DSL router, checking through the guides at www.portforward.com. This will enable you to open the necessary ports for allowing BitTorrent to connect to other users. Another helpful link explaining what BitTorrent does, how firewalls affect it, and how to open your client and get rid of the yellow lights can be found at The Azureus Project Page. Yat another popular site, containing a simple explanation of how BitTorrent communication works and includes a few simple port-forwarding guides can be found here. Finally, Windows users must realize that Windows XP comes with a software firewall that often turns itself on. To administed the default XP firewall, look at this entry from Microsoft's website. |
I am seeding a show, but no one can complete past 99.9% Why? |
One of the most common mistakes made by seeders is editing a text info after creating a .torrent file. To prevent this from happening, make sure that ALL files within your torrent, including the text files, look how you want them to before creating a .torrent file. The other common mistake is people leaving a file in the torrent open in an application when they make the torrent. So, make sure all the files are closed out of any applications when you go to make your torrent. If the mistake has already been made, then simply make a new torrent with all of the files as you would like them to be, upload it to the tracker through the upload page, and then hit the Report this Post link on the old torrent, , and tell the mods what happened so they can pull the old torrent. Users should then close the old torrent and open the new torrent and point it to the same folder, at which point all of what they currently downloaded will check and they only need to grab the remaining 0.1%. |
I'm trying to seed my show but I keep showing up as a leecher, not a seeder. Help! |
This is usually caused because your bittorrent client is set to always download to a specific folder and your files are not there. So, do this: For Azureus:
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I want to open a window to help someone finish a torrent. How do I do it right? |
In order for this to work, you must have all of the files contained within a torrent kept exactly as they were when you downloaded. It is good practice to keep the files intact on your hard drive for a few days after finishing to help out if anyone gets stranded. Remember that if you edit any files (even adding tags or editing the text file) you will not be able to help struggling peers finish. Please keep the files intact for a few days and watch torrent announce threads to make sure everyone can finish before editing or removing the files from your hard drive. Once you reopen and reconnet to the torrent, everyone connected will be able to obtain missing parts from you and finish. We ask that users make all attempts to help others complete whenever possible. We also understand that people back up files to DVD or external drives, so after several days of inactivity, feel free to do with the files as you wish. Here is a quick guide on how to do this if you are using Azureus as your bittorrent client (other clients should be done in a similar manner):
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Are there seeding/leeching limits? Or, what does Connection limit exceeded mean? |
"Connection limit exceeded! You may only download/leech x shows at a time" BitTorrents works by you downloading from one person and then uploading to another. In a perfect world, you would upload just as much as you download (and have a 1.0 ratio). In order to try to achieve this, you really should not be downloading/uploading a whole lot of torrents. This means that it will take you forever to download those shows (and inconvenience the seeders since they have to stay on that torrent so long to finish you off) and it means you aren't going to be uploading much since your bandwidth is taken up with all your downloads. So, we are limiting people to downloading only x shows at a time (while allowing them to still upload on other shows). Please keep in mind that it is best to seed only a few shows at a time to give people a good download rate from you.
"Connection limit exceeded! You may only leech from one location at a time" What's happened is that the torrents didn't disconnect from the tracker correctly. So, the tracker thought you were still downloading/uploading on the shows and when you get to connection three for a torrent, it won't let you connect until the other connections get dropped. You can get through this problem in one of two ways.... a) simply wait and the tracker cleaner will delete the old connections within 30-60 minutes, or b) go to your profile (click on your name in this post > view public profile) and then on the right hand side next to 'Add
modified 2013-05-25, allow users to seed up to twenty shows at a time. |
Other Common Bit Torrent Errors |
(credit goes to Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide and BitTorrent/FAQ - inforAnarcy Wiki)
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Why should I have a share ratio of over 1:1? |
The BitTorrent community relies on everyone active on a torrent to share while they are downloading. This eliminates the need for large files to be hosted on central servers and instead shifts the burden of uploading to many peers from one central server the combined bandwidth of everyone connected. If you download more than you upload, this ideology of sharing is undermined, and the community cannot function properly. For this reason, we request that everyone who is active in a seed remains connected after completing until they have uploaded at least what they've downloaded; this shows up in some clients as the "share ratio" which should be more than 1 before disconnecting from the seed. We are sympathetic to the plight of capped upstreams that many people have, but even under the harshest of caps (128 Kbps) all users must maintain at least a 0.5 share ratio. For those lucky ones amongst us with higher upsream caps (384 Kbps or higher) please try maintain a share ratio of 1.5 or higher. Remember, in order for a BitTorrent community to flourish, everyone must make the most of their resources. Otherwise, leechers will leave, seeders will stop seeding, and our site will fail. Sharing is good, it helps keep our site strong, and it guarantees that we will be able to continue serving the trading community. |
How can I increase my ratio? |
Many users have said that they finish a download and then there is no one else who wants the show, so they are unable to reach a ratio of 1:1 on a show. Other users have complained about not being able to upload as fast as they can download and so they don't understand how they can possible reach a 1:1 ratio at all. So, here are a few things that people can do:
Also, please note that many people have a capped upload from their ISP and the way they reach a 1:1 ratio is to seed the show for a couple of days after they have finished downloading. |
How do I create a torrent? |
Here are the simple steps you would use to create a torrent using Azureus. Other clients are very similar.
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Are there other lossless sites like this? |
Yep, there are quite a few. Here is just a small listing of a portion of them. (This list is in no particular order.)
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