BitTorrent: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:23, 6 February 2014

Languages:

e

Updated:

This page has been updated on 2011-01-16 for the release of Shareaza v2.5.3.0.

e

BitTorrent is one of several P2P protocols supported by Shareaza, however it is different to a P2P network, so you do not have to connect to it and keep a permanent connection, like it is necessary for Gnutella2, gnutella or the eDonkey network. However, it lacks the possibility of searching files shared by computers within the protocol structure.

General

BitTorrent works through three main parts: ".torrent files", "trackers" and "clients".

.torrent files
A .torrent file is a small binary file containing information about one or more files that can be downloaded by that torrent. The file usually contains the file name and hash (BTIH) of each downloadable file, as well as the URL of a tracker for that torrent - however, that is only a mandatory part of the file. Additionally, the .torrent file can also contain any type of metadata on the linked to files. See .torrent file for more information.
Trackers
A tracker is a computer (usually a server on the internet) that keeps track of the users down- and uploading files using the BitTorrent protocol. When you open a .torrent file in Shareaza, it contacts (one of) the tracker(s) of that torrent. Shareaza tells the tracker which torrent it's interested in and what IP address and port it expects to be contacted on. The tracker replies with the IP addresses and port numbers of other users already sharing or downloading the file(s) of that tracker.
Clients
A client is a computer program supporting the BitTorrent protocol, able to communicate with trackers, up- and downloading data and create downloads from the information contained in .torrent files. An example for such a client program is Shareaza.

The BitTorrent protocol creates an interconnected mesh of down- and uploading users instead of having one central server using all of its resources to upload to everyone who wants the file. This gives the user higher download speeds because he is downloading at the combined bandwidth of everyone who is uploading a part of the file to him. Usually this means that the more bandwidth you give, the more bandwidth you will get. Note that most trackers do limit the upload bandwidth to members of a swarm who do not upload enough data to other users.

Common Questions

For common questions about BitTorrent, have a look at the BitTorrent FAQ page.

BitTorrent Error Messages

The most important thing first: It is normal for trackers to become temporarily unavailable or take some time to respond. This happens all the time and the best trick is just to wait. Also torrents are short-lived, usually they will not work after some time. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of the BitTorrent protocol: torrents always starve after a certain time, which means that there is nobody left to seed them, so you can't download them anymore.

But if you get an error message telling you that there is a problem communicating with the tracker, there's no reason to panic. Shareaza will keep on trying to connect and there are no other tricks to fix this. Usually you download many torrents without even noticing the error messages.

Sometimes though a tracker is permanently disabled, or the torrent has starved. Look for messages from the tracker, which may appear in the System Window (shortcut: [F11]). Other times a tracker may want you to change your port. You can do this using the connection settings and afterwards restarting Shareaza.

You may get a message from Shareaza about a "BitTorrent encoding error". This means that there is an error within the .torrent file, or something that your system may have trouble with. Most of the time, Shareaza is able to deal with these problems automatically, except for if the .torrent file is too heavily damaged or to badly coded for actually being of any use for Shareaza. However you may sometimes notice that the downloaded files of such a torrent have odd names when it has been completed.

Note: On earlier versions of Shareaza, changing the Advanced Setting BitTorrent.TorrentIgnoreErrors to true (1) was possible to force Shareaza to seed a torrent with encoding error(s). However, this option is no longer present, as Shareaza now ignores the respective encoding errors in the torrent and proceeds with seeding it if possible.

See also BitTorrent encoding error for more information.

If while trying to start seeding, you get an error message about Shareaza not being able to find the files to seed, try moving the .torrent file to the parent directory of the file or files you wish to seed.

Also note that .torrent files specify what is contained by the file name, so Shareaza will often fail to seed if you rename or move your files. Recent versions of Shareaza will also check the default downloads directory, but if you move files around, there may be trouble seeding them.

If you get some other error while trying to seed, such as unable to create bittorrent share file, open the incomplete folder, and make sure there hasn't been a file mistakenly left there by Shareaza. If the file it is trying to recreate in order to reseed already exists in the incomplete folder, reseeding will fail. Try deleting from the incomplete folder any extra file to do with the torrent you wish to reseed. See Clear Incomplete folder for more information on how to get rid of unused leftover .partial files.

How to seed a torrent with Shareaza

First, start Shareaza. In case you'd like to reseed a torrent, go to the Library Manager and choose Folder View, else proceed with step 3.
There should be a directory called Torrents, which contains a copy of all the .torrent files you have downloaded before. There you probably will be able to find the torrent you want to seed.
Make sure the files contained in the torrent are all inside your library, or else Shareaza will try to redownload the torrent.
Double click on the .torrent file to open it and choose Seed.
Shareaza should proceed to reverify the file and once the necessary files have been build, seed it. Note that this takes some space on your hard drive, so if you are reseeding a torrent, you need to look out for disk space problems if you are running low on disk space.
Sometimes an error message will pop up when Shareaza cannot find (some of) the file(s) to seed. In this case, use the library to move the .torrent file from the Torrents folder to the parent directory of the file(s) you wish to seed.

To stop seeding again, go to the Transfers Tab and clear the seeding torrent.

If you have trouble seeding, look in the incomplete folder to make sure there isn't already an incomplete file for the torrent accidentally left there by the program. If there is, delete it, and try reseeding again. See also clear Incomplete folder for more information.

Please refer to the preceding info on BitTorrent Error Messages for potential problems you may encounter while seeding.

BitTorrent utilities

TorrentWizard
Included in Shareazas install package. Very easy way to create full Unicode compatible torrents following the official specs.
TorrentSpy
Windows tool which allows you to query a tracker about a specific torrent, view metadata info, check a file's hashes, etc. You can also create torrent files for upload.

External Links

BitTorrent's official website

Official BitTorrent Specifications

BitTorrent.org The BitTorrent developers forum. Includes dev exchange, protocol extension proposals and specs.
BitTorrent Protocol
Bittornado
BitComet Extensions

Navigation: ShareazaWiki > Networks and Hashes > BitTorrent

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Language}}
+{{Languages}}
+{{UpdatedPage|2011-01-16|2.5.3.0}}
-==The BitTorrent network==
-BitTorrent is one of several networks Shareaza supports but it is different because you do not connect to it like the Gnutella or the eDonkey network.
+BitTorrent is one of several P2P protocols supported by Shareaza, however it is different to a P2P network, so you do not have to connect to it and keep a permanent connection, like it is necessary for [[Gnutella2]], [[gnutella]] or the [[eDonkey network]]. However, it lacks the possibility of searching files shared by computers within the protocol structure.
-'''How does it work'''
+== General ==
-BitTorrent works through two main parts: a "torrent" and a "tracker".
+BitTorrent works through three main parts: ".torrent files", "trackers" and "clients".
+* '''.torrent files'''<br />A .torrent file is a small binary file containing information about one or more files that can be downloaded by that torrent. The file usually contains the file name and hash (BTIH) of each downloadable file, as well as the URL of a tracker for that torrent - however, that is only a mandatory part of the file. Additionally, the .torrent file can also contain any type of [[metadata]] on the linked to files. See ''[[.torrent file]]'' for more information.
+* '''Trackers'''<br />A tracker is a computer (usually a server on the internet) that keeps track of the users down- and uploading files using the BitTorrent protocol. When you open a .torrent file in Shareaza, it contacts (one of) the tracker(s) of that torrent. Shareaza tells the tracker which torrent it's interested in and what IP address and port it expects to be contacted on. The tracker replies with the IP addresses and port numbers of other users already sharing or downloading the file(s) of that tracker.
+* '''Clients'''<br />A client is a computer program supporting the BitTorrent protocol, able to communicate with trackers, up- and downloading data and create downloads from the information contained in .torrent files. An example for such a client program is Shareaza.
-'''Tracker'''
+The BitTorrent protocol creates an interconnected mesh of down- and uploading users instead of having one central server using all of its resources to upload to everyone who wants the file. This gives the user higher download speeds because he is downloading at the combined bandwidth of everyone who is uploading a part of the file to him. Usually this means that the more bandwidth you give, the more bandwidth you will get. Note that most trackers do limit the upload bandwidth to members of a swarm who do not upload enough data to other users.
-A tracker is a computer that keeps track of the users on one or more torrents. When you open a torrent file in your Shareaza, it contacts the tracker. Shareaza tells the tracker which torrent it's interested in and what IP address and port it expects to be contacted on. The tracker replies with the IP addresses and port numbers of other users already sharing or downloading the file(s).
-'''Torrent'''
+== Common Questions ==
-A torrent is a small text file, it contains the location of data files that can be downloaded through the BitTorrent network. Torrent files can be found on numerous Web sites. You either save the torrent link and open it with Shareaza or set Shareaza to start the download automatically.
+For common questions about BitTorrent, have a look at the [[FAQ.BitTorrent|BitTorrent FAQ page]].
-'''Benefits'''
-An interconnected mesh of downloading occurs instead of one server using all of its resources to upload to everyone who wants the file. This gives the user higher speed because he is downloading at the combined bandwidth of everyone who is uploading a part of the file to him. If you give 100KB/s you will get 100 KB/s.
-[http://www.bittorrent.com/|BitTorrent's official website]
+== BitTorrent Error Messages ==
-[http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/|The best BitTorrent FAQ]
+The most important thing first: It is normal for trackers to become temporarily unavailable or take some time to respond. This happens all the time and the best trick is just to wait. Also torrents are short-lived, usually they will not work after some time. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of the BitTorrent protocol: torrents always ''starve'' after a certain time, which means that there is nobody left to seed them, so you can't download them anymore.
------
-==BitTorrent Error Messages==
-First things first, it’s normal for trackers to become unavailable or take some time to respond, this happens all the time and the best trick is just to wait. Also torrents are temporary, usually they will not work after some time.
 But if you get an error message telling you that there is a problem communicating with the tracker, there's no reason to panic. Shareaza will keep on trying to connect and there are no other tricks to fix this. Usually you download many torrents without even noticing the error messages.
-Sometimes though a tracker is permanently disabled, or the torrent is obsolete. Look for messages from the tracker, which may appear in the system window (shortcut: '''<nowiki>[F11]</nowiki>'''). Other times a tracker may want you to change your port. You can do this using the [[Options.Connection|connection settings]], then restarting Shareaza.
+Sometimes though a tracker is permanently disabled, or the torrent has starved. Look for messages from the tracker, which may appear in the [[System Window]] (shortcut: [[Manual.ShortcutKeys|[F11]]]). Other times a tracker may want you to change your port. You can do this using the [[Options.Connection|connection settings]] and afterwards restarting Shareaza.
-Other times, a tracker may want you to use a different client, which is a tracker's perogative. Keep at least another client on hand.
-You may get a message from Shareaza about a "[[BitTorrent encoding error]]". This means that the torrent contained something Shareaza didn't like, or that your system may have trouble with. Usually Shareaza deals with these problems automatically, but you may notice that the torrented files have odd names when completed.
+You may get a message from Shareaza about a "[[BitTorrent encoding error]]". This means that there is an error within the [[.torrent file]], or something that your system may have trouble with. Most of the time, Shareaza is able to deal with these problems automatically, except for if the .torrent file is too heavily damaged or to badly coded for actually being of any use for Shareaza. However you may sometimes notice that the downloaded files of such a torrent have odd names when it has been completed.
+{{box|Note: On earlier versions of Shareaza, changing the [[Options.Advanced|Advanced Setting]] ''BitTorrent.TorrentIgnoreErrors'' to ''true'' (1) was possible to force Shareaza to seed a torrent with encoding error(s). However, this option is no longer present, as Shareaza now ignores the respective encoding errors in the torrent and proceeds with seeding it if possible.}}
-If you get a message about an encoding error, you may have trouble reseeding the torrent with Shareaza. You can try changing the [[Options.Advanced|advanced setting]] '''BitTorrent.TorrentIgnoreErrors''' to '''<nowiki>TRUE</nowiki>'''  to force Shareaza to seed the torrent.
+: ''See also [[BitTorrent encoding error]] for more information.''
 If while trying to start seeding, you get an error message about Shareaza not being able to find the files to seed, try moving the .torrent file to the parent directory of the file or files you wish to seed.
@@ Line 40: / Line 31: @@
 Also note that .torrent files specify what is contained by the file name, so Shareaza will often fail to seed if you rename or move your files. Recent versions of Shareaza will also check the default downloads directory, but if you move files around, there may be trouble seeding them.
-If you get some other error while trying to seed, such as ''unable to create bittorrent share file'', open the incomplete folder, and make sure there hasn't been a file mistakenly left there by Shareaza. If the file it is trying to recreate in order to reseed already exists in the incomplete folder, reseeding will fail. Try deleting from the incomplete folder any extra file to do with the torrent you wish to reseed.
+If you get some other error while trying to seed, such as ''unable to create bittorrent share file'', open the incomplete folder, and make sure there hasn't been a file mistakenly left there by Shareaza. If the file it is trying to recreate in order to reseed already exists in the incomplete folder, reseeding will fail. Try deleting from the incomplete folder any extra file to do with the torrent you wish to reseed. See [[Clear Incomplete folder]] for more information on how to get rid of unused leftover .partial files.
------
-== How to Seed with Shareaza ==
-# First, start Shareaza, and go to the [[Library Window]], and choose folder view.
+== How to seed a torrent with Shareaza ==
-# There should be a directory called Torrents, which contains a copy of all the .torrent files you have downloaded before. There you probably will be able to find the torrent you want to seed.
+# First, start Shareaza. In case you'd like to reseed a torrent, go to the [[Library Manager]] and choose ''Folder View'', else proceed with step 3.
+# There should be a directory called <code>Torrents</code>, which contains a copy of all the .torrent files you have downloaded before. There you probably will be able to find the torrent you want to seed.
 # Make sure the files contained in the torrent are all inside your library, or else Shareaza will try to redownload the torrent.
-# Double click on the .torrent file to open it and choose '''Seed'''.
+# Double click on the .torrent file to open it and choose ''Seed''.
-# Shareaza should proceed to reverify the file and seed it.
+# Shareaza should proceed to reverify the file and once the necessary files have been build, seed it. Note that this takes some space on your hard drive, so if you are reseeding a torrent, you need to look out for disk space problems if you are running low on disk space.
-# Sometimes an error message will pop up when Shareaza cannot find the file to seed. In this case, use the library to move the .torrent file from the Torrents folder to the parent directory of the file you wish to seed.
+# Sometimes an error message will pop up when Shareaza cannot find (some of) the file(s) to seed. In this case, use the library to move the .torrent file from the <code>Torrents</code> folder to the parent directory of the file(s) you wish to seed.
-To stop seeding, go to the downloads window, and clear the reseeding torrent.
+To stop seeding again, go to the [[Transfers Tab]] and clear the seeding torrent.
-Note that for batch BitTorrent downloads, Shareaza will recreate a temporary file in the incomplete folder. This, unfortunately, means that you may want to watch out for disk-space problems, if you trying to reseed large torrents while running low on disk space.
+If you have trouble seeding, look in the incomplete folder to make sure there isn't already an incomplete file for the torrent accidentally left there by the program. If there is, delete it, and try reseeding again. See also [[clear Incomplete folder]] for more information.
-If you have trouble seeding, look in the incomplete folder to make sure there isn't already an incomplete file for the torrent accidentally left there by the program. If there is, delete it, and try reseeding again.
+Please refer to the preceding info on [[#BitTorrent Error Messages|BitTorrent Error Messages]] for potential problems you may encounter while seeding.
-Please refer to the preceding info on ''error messages'' for potential problems you may encounter while seeding.
+== BitTorrent utilities ==
+* [[TorrentWizard]] <br />Included in Shareazas install package. Very easy way to create full Unicode compatible torrents following the official specs.
+* [http://torrentspy.sourceforge.net/ TorrentSpy] <br />Windows tool which allows you to query a tracker about a specific torrent, view [[metadata]] info, check a file's hashes, etc. You can also create torrent files for upload.
-==Some helpful hints==
+== External Links ==
+* [http://www.bittorrent.com/ BitTorrent's official website]
-'''You are trying to Start a download, but Shareaza doesn't detect it.'''
+=== Official BitTorrent Specifications ===
-Maybe Shareaza isn't associated with .torrent files. Go to
+* [http://www.bittorrent.org/ BitTorrent.org] The BitTorrent developers forum. Includes dev exchange, protocol extension proposals and specs.
-{{box|Tools &gt; Shareaza Settings... &gt; '''General''' &gt; Web}}then check the .torrent association and hit apply.
+* [http://wiki.theory.org/BitTorrentSpecification BitTorrent Protocol]
-If that doesn't work try: right click the torrent link and choose Save As..., save the torrent file to disk, and then double-click the file to launch Shareaza.
+* [http://bittornado.com/ Bittornado]
+* [http://www.bitcomet.com/doc/specification.htm BitComet Extensions]
-'''The download is almost finished, but then goes backwards'''
-You can safely ignore it. It means that you received a piece of the file that didn't check out as being correct, so it will be downloaded again. (Some pieces fails the built-in hash checking, but Shareaza will verify the file before it's moved to your complete files folder.).
-'''"Unable to communicate with tracker" or "Tracker Down"'''
-You can ignore this, usually it happens when the tracker is overloaded or otherwise unstable.
-Trackers are usually heavily loaded with traffic, and sometimes the connections fail.
-Just be patient and let Shareaza work on it. (Try restarting Shareaza or pause and resume the download).
-'''Connection refused or not authorized'''
-Indicates that the tracker administrators are not allowing it to be used for this torrent.
-Some trackers will only track torrents that are also posted in their forums/website, for example. Usually this indicates a stale torrent -- try going to the web site associated with the tracker and see if you can find an updated torrent.
-'''What do "Choked" and "Uninterested" mean?'''
-Choked means that the user is already uploading to four (default) other users. Uninterested means that they/you do not currently have parts of the file you/they need.
-'''The Download doesn't start'''
-The Torrent link might be too old and the tracker no longer supports it. Try to find a new link.
-'''How to download selected files from torrent, but not all?'''
-You can do this only with 2.4.0.4 and later versions. Just go to download properties and set priority for unneeded files to "off". Other priorities in 2.4.0.4 r8216 are not supported yet. There is drop down menu under priorities when you click on a file there, so you can set "off" priority.
-==Other problems==
-'''Shareaza has taken over my torrent links. I want to stop it from doing so.'''
-Go to {{box|Tools &gt; Shareaza Settings... &gt; '''Internet''' &gt; Web}} then uncheck the .torrent link handling and hit apply. If the link is already unchecked, check it, hit apply, then uncheck it and hit apply. Now run your other BitTorrent program's setup program and tell it to take torrent links. If you run your other BitTorrent program's setup before unchecking Shareaza's link handling, your other BT program will be registered as the default link handler, but Shareaza will likely remain the DDE application. This is perhaps an oversite of many BitTorrent programs' installers.
-==BitTorrent utilities==
-* [[TorrentWizard]]
-Included in Shareazas install package. Very easy way to create full Unicode compatible torrents following the official specs.
-* [http://torrentspy.sourceforge.net/| TorrentSpy]
-Windows tool which allows you to query a tracker about a specific torrent, view metadata info, check a file's hashes, etc. You can also create torrent files for upload.
-* [http://krypt.dyndns.org:81/torrent/maketorrent/|Maketorrent]
-Utility for creating or editing torrent files. Highly recommended!
-* [http://bytetorrent.sourceforge.net/downloads.php|BTChange]
-Modify tracker info in an existing .torrent file.
-If the tracker changes you don't have to recreate the file.
-* [http://azureus.sourceforge.net/|Azureus]
-Very good BitTorrent client, probably the most highly regarded. Also has a good torrent making utility
-== Official BitTorrent Specifications ==
+{{Navigation|Networks and Hashes}}
+[[Category:External Links]]
-* [http://www.bittorrent.org/ BitTorrent.org] The BitTorrent developers forum. Includes dev exchange, protocol extension proposals and specs.
-* [http://wiki.theory.org/BitTorrentSpecification|BitTorrent Protocol]
-* [http://bittornado.com/docs/multitracker-spec.txt|Multitracker BitTorrent Specs]
-* [http://www.bitcomet.com/doc/specification.htm|BitComet Extensions]