Bit torrent Question.. I need someone to walk me through like I am 5

scubagal · 01-08-2006, 11:13 AM

I have tried to figure out this Bit Torrent stuff FOREVER.. and never been able to get it to work.

This morning my husband tried, and again.. we are coming up

Using the bittorrent.com guide instructions.. the part we must be doing wrong is the web server part. Do I need a designated web server to download shows? I have my own personal website for business and Kevin has a web server for work, do we somehow need to tap into these?

I was thinking this was more like downloading like I used to from Napster, etc... but apparently not.

We also tried trackerless, since we don't have a tracker.. should we get a tracker? from?

Is there a Bit Torrent for Dummies instruction/site/help out there?

Please no laughing

dswallow · 01-08-2006, 11:31 AM

Install Azureus (http://azureus.sourceforge.net).

For now, just leave everything as it installs it by default.

Now use your web browser and go to a site like www.isohunt.com.

Use the search box up top (labeled "file") and type in a show name, like "shameless", leave the "extension" field blank, and press the "Torrents" button.

In the list that is displayed, the first one is likely to be "shameless SE3.EP1 divx"; click on that. It'll expand with more info. Click on the "Download .torrent" link; a dialog box will open asking what you want to do -- select "Open" or whatever similar thing to that is displayed depending on what browser you're using. This will open Azureus with the torrent file. Azureus will contact the tracker(s) identified in the torrent file and begin making connections with current seeders and leechers of that file in order to begin transferring data.

That should be the basics; now there's some issues to deal with further -- if you have a router/firewall you should configure it so the specified incoming port connects automatically to your machine. You can also specify some limits on how it'll use bandwidth as well as making it default to certain directories. But we can deal with things like that once you've come back and said you've got the basics going.

jschuur · 01-08-2006, 03:31 PM

Bonus points for promoting Shameless again, Doug! You got me interested in that show the other day too.

ScubaGal: The only time you'd need a web server and have to worry about tracker based vs trackerless is if you yourself have a large file that you want to start sharing with others, rather than downloading an episode that's already been 'seeded' (made available via BT) for others. Is that what you wanted?

mattpol · 01-08-2006, 08:17 PM

Also www.mininova.org is a good place for current TV show torrents.

TBDigital · 01-08-2006, 09:12 PM

In short, once you have your Bittorrent client of choice installed, and have found a reliable site that has the torrent files of shows you are interested in, download the .torrent file, and launch it. Your client will do the rest.

Check out http://slyck.com/bt.php?page=3 for various clients and .torrent file sites.

SeanC · 01-08-2006, 09:21 PM

If you are going to be downloading things that other parties would be interested in. And those parties would be interested in contacting your ISP and finding out who you are you should download Peerguardian.

thumperxr69 · 01-08-2006, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBDigital

In short, once you have your Bittorrent client of choice installed, and have found a reliable site that has the torrent files of shows you are interested in, download the .torrent file, and launch it. Your client will do the rest.

Check out http://slyck.com/bt.php?page=3 for various clients and .torrent file sites.

Yeah TBDigital Slyck is the best site to start at to see which Bittorrent to search from.

T

rloper · 01-08-2006, 10:31 PM

If you are running a firewall of some kind (HW or SW) you need to forward a port to get things to work smoothly. Set up the firewall (if HW) to forward port 6881 (by default) to the system running Azureus. If its a SW firewall set it to allow incoming traffic through port 6881. Then run the testing in Azureus to verify proper operation.

Good luck!

kiljoy · 01-09-2006, 12:26 AM

You also need to forward the tracker port to the machine running bittorrent. Forward 6969 and 6881-6890. If you can't do a range in your router, do 6881. Each subsequent connection uses the subsequent port. I only forward the first, but the rest seem to do ok without any forwarding. The important one is forwarding 6969, after that, it's gravy.

Something to note, I may be doing something wrong, but every once in a while I'll click on one that says it's well-seeded, but it never starts. If you've got plenty seeding (say, >100) it should be fine.

Tony

busyba · 01-09-2006, 12:36 AM

Some tracker sites don't let you use their trackers on a "standard" bit torrent port.

Also, some ISPs throttle or block standard BT ports.

Your client software should allow you to specify an alternate port or range of ports. Something with 5 digits should be good.

Redux · 01-09-2006, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiljoy

You also need to forward the tracker port to the machine running bittorrent. Forward 6969 and 6881-6890

The early suggestion was to use Azureus and I think we're kindof following that lead.

dswallow · 01-09-2006, 12:55 AM

We're all getting ahead of scubagal, I think. Let's wait till she comes back with a progress report and take things one step at a time so as not to overwhelm her with conflicting info/purposes.

busyba · 01-09-2006, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dswallow

We're all getting ahead of scubagal, I think.

Asking a bunch of geeks a technical question... it was bound to happen.

appleye1 · 01-09-2006, 02:22 AM

Yeah, if I was 5, I wouldn't know what in the hell you guys are talking about!

DevdogAZ · 01-09-2006, 12:12 PM

So Scuba, have you tried Doug's suggestion yet and had any success?

busyba · 01-09-2006, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by appleye1

Yeah, if I was 5, I wouldn't know what in the hell you guys are talking about!

When I was 5, I would have.

efilippi · 01-10-2006, 08:24 AM

May I add what seems to me a logical follow-up question? Now that I have found a torrent for my favorite show (Who's that girl?), is there a simple way for me to view it on my living room TV instead of my laptop?

crowfan · 01-10-2006, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by efilippi

May I add what seems to me a logical follow-up question? Now that I have found a torrent for my favorite show (Who's that girl?), is there a simple way for me to view it on my living room TV instead of my laptop?

Once you have the file downloaded, you can do what you want with it (convert it, burn it to DVD, etc). BT is precisely why I am looking to buy a DVD player that supports divx.

mpauley · 01-10-2006, 09:00 AM

Don't use Azureus, it's a resource hog (darn java depenencies) Give utorrent a try. Its small light weight and darn fast...

dennisacevedo · 01-10-2006, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by efilippi

May I add what seems to me a logical follow-up question? Now that I have found a torrent for my favorite show (Who's that girl?), is there a simple way for me to view it on my living room TV instead of my laptop?

I found the easiest way to do this is buy a Philips DVP642 DVD Player and a handful of DVD+RWs (or even CD+RWs). This great DVD player will play .AVI and .MPG files right off the disc with no need to worry about "authoring" a DVD. Just copy the download shows onto the disc and pop it in the player.

You can usually find these at Walmart, Circuit City, Amazon, etc...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpauley

Don't use Azureus, it's a resource hog (darn java depenencies) Give utorrent a try. Its small light weight and darn fast...

I agree

uTorrent Rocks!

Mabes · 01-10-2006, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by efilippi

May I add what seems to me a logical follow-up question? Now that I have found a torrent for my favorite show (Who's that girl?), is there a simple way for me to view it on my living room TV instead of my laptop?

Do you have a network with an ethernet connection?

http://www.iodata.com/products/produ...=AVLP2%2FDVDLA

jkindley · 01-10-2006, 11:48 AM

I second that uTorrent rocks

Once you download the file you then go out and buy an old X-box ( $150) , void the warrenty by opening it up and add a mod card ( $45), get a 100Gig hard drive & install it, go to walmart and get the xbox remote ($35), download various files: Bios's, ftp program & XBOX MEDEA CENTER. Then you can watch the video that you just downloaded,

or like others you can convert it to DVD format and burn it to a DVD.

efilippi · 01-10-2006, 03:44 PM

My apologies to Scubagal for sort of hijacking her thread, but I fear one must be well over 5 to handle this. Or maybe under 60 is the real requirement.

I have a movie downloaded with Azureaus. It runs fine on my XP but I thought I'd try it on my imac, which has a wider screen. That doesn't seem to work. The movie avi file was encoded with DivX, according to the notes, and apparently that is Windows only? I've hunted all around the Quicktime site and can't get any satisfaction.

Blockbuster is just down the road...

dswallow · 01-10-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by efilippi

My apologies to Scubagal for sort of hijacking her thread, but I fear one must be well over 5 to handle this. Or maybe under 60 is the real requirement.

I have a movie downloaded with Azureaus. It runs fine on my XP but I thought I'd try it on my imac, which has a wider screen. That doesn't seem to work. The movie avi file was encoded with DivX, according to the notes, and apparently that is Windows only? I've hunted all around the Quicktime site and can't get any satisfaction.

Blockbuster is just down the road...

http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/

efilippi · 01-10-2006, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dswallow

http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/

Hmm, why couldn't I find that.

20 bucks though, but I'll give it a try.

Thank you.

THEROCKER · 01-10-2006, 05:49 PM

What's the best and quickest way to convert Windows Media files to mpeg files, since most torrents are WM files? Thanks.

DevdogAZ · 01-10-2006, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THEROCKER

What's the best and quickest way to convert Windows Media files to mpeg files, since most torrents are WM files? Thanks.

Nearly every torrent I've ever downloaded has been an .avi file as opposed to a .wmv. If it says it opens with Windows Media Player that doesn't mean it's a Windows Media file. That's just the application that is associated with that type of file. It can easily be changed by right clicking on the file and choosing Properties.

dswallow · 01-10-2006, 08:01 PM

So... it's been 2 1/2 days since scubagal asked, and not a peep from her...

I'm surprised. Hope all is OK. Surely she knows you don't need to wait 2 1/2 days for answers to most requests here!

scubagal · 01-10-2006, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dswallow

Install Azureus (http://azureus.sourceforge.net).

For now, just leave everything as it installs it by default.

Now use your web browser and go to a site like www.isohunt.com.

Use the search box up top (labeled "file") and type in a show name, like "shameless", leave the "extension" field blank, and press the "Torrents" button.

In the list that is displayed, the first one is likely to be "shameless SE3.EP1 divx"; click on that. It'll expand with more info. Click on the "Download .torrent" link; a dialog box will open asking what you want to do -- select "Open" or whatever similar thing to that is displayed depending on what browser you're using. This will open Azureus with the torrent file. Azureus will contact the tracker(s) identified in the torrent file and begin making connections with current seeders and leechers of that file in order to begin transferring data.

That should be the basics; now there's some issues to deal with further -- if you have a router/firewall you should configure it so the specified incoming port connects automatically to your machine. You can also specify some limits on how it'll use bandwidth as well as making it default to certain directories. But we can deal with things like that once you've come back and said you've got the basics going.

Haven't read the rest of this thread yet- but this worked great- THANKS DOUG!

One more question.. we downloaded a couple things to try and they are on our tivo desktop, but I am assuming our problem is they are not in the right MPEG format. I think we need MPEG2 according to what I read somewhere on tivo... is there a converter I can get, or do I need to be downloading certain type of files only?

I am so close, I feel it... but we just can't figure it completely out. I really appreaciate the help... I am off to read the rest of this thread now, in case there is any more info I misssed..

But I wanted to thank you for this, it worked very easy!!!!

scubagal · 01-10-2006, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dswallow

We're all getting ahead of scubagal, I think. Let's wait till she comes back with a progress report and take things one step at a time so as not to overwhelm her with conflicting info/purposes.

Ha! Reading this thread just made my head spin.....