BitTorrent... Why do you hate me?

[Ridah]

I had bit of bad luck and ended up losing my entire library of music on iTunes. I decided I would use BitTorrent to re-download the music that I use to own, I used BitTorrent before a few years ago and it worked pretty well. Anyhow, the first download I've started on is the Tupac discography which is basically all the officially released albums, and it's a whopping 2.5GB in size. I've been downloading this thing for nearly 4 day straight now! It's insanely slow, but that's not the problem, the real problem is that I seem to randomly get an error which pauses the download. I'm at 53% right now but geeze, what a hassle. It sucks because I have to leave my computer on, and while its on it heats my room up. Warm room no fun.

Could it be the program I'm using or does BT just suck?

[Teggy]

it's because U R A PIRATE!  Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!


Seriously though, I haven't downloaded music off bitorrent in a while, but I generally didn't have any problems.  You can run into issues if there aren't enough seeders, especially with large files.  These days I use it pretty much exclusively to get tv shows I've missed, and I don't have any problems with it.

Oh yeah - is your router set up to forward your bitorrent ports?  Usually you get a green dot (or smile if you are using Azureus) vs. a yellow or red dot if you are firewalled.

[Destructor]

BitTorrent does an excellent job at sharing files, assuming you have the port(s) open that it needs, and that lots of people are also trying to download the same file.

That said - I also will not pull music or movies via BitT any more. It's just too damn dangerous. Thankfully I have other methods if I choose to do so.

BTW - uTorrent is my Torrent program of choice.

[Daehawk]

I use Azureus and Ive never liked bittorrent anyways.

[unbreakable]

Azureus is java-based, and java sucks (Azureus is supposed to be one of the fastest clients, but it's just not worth using anything java based: too many memory leaks, for one thing).

Use uTorrent.  It's extremely small (not even 1mb), uses hardly any system resources, and has some great features (it even has a search box in it).

Peer Guardian 2 is a pretty good utility to get as well, but I've had a bit of trouble with it's stability (so it's typical open source software).  YMMV, but it's worth checking out.


BTW, my biggest disappointment with the whole iTunes service has been that it doesn't keep track of what music you own.  I mean, how hard would it be to keep a user database for you, and allow you to redownload anything you've previously purchased?

[Ridah]

BTW, my biggest disappointment with the whole iTunes service has been that it doesn't keep track of what music you own.  I mean, how hard would it be to keep a user database for you, and allow you to redownload anything you've previously purchased?

Yeah, but ultimately it's my fault for not making a backup. Half of my collection I uploaded from the CDs I used to own, and those CDs have long been lost.

[Ridah]

That said - I also will not pull music or movies via BitT any more. It's just too damn dangerous. Thankfully I have other methods if I choose to do so.

Gah, that makes me nervous. I hope I'm not downloading a 2.5GB virus 

[JuniorDan]

If Iam not mistaken. If you purchased your music from itunes, should you not be able to redownload them at any time? 

[Kevin Grey]

That said - I also will not pull music or movies via BitT any more. It's just too damn dangerous. Thankfully I have other methods if I choose to do so.

Gah, that makes me nervous. I hope I'm not downloading a 2.5GB virus 

I'm guessing he's referring to getting sued by the RIAA. 

[Destructor]

That said - I also will not pull music or movies via BitT any more. It's just too damn dangerous. Thankfully I have other methods if I choose to do so.

Gah, that makes me nervous. I hope I'm not downloading a 2.5GB virus 

I'm guessing he's referring to getting sued by the RIAA. 

That's exactly what I meant. I've gotten my one warning (because I dared to download a 15 year old TV program that just happened to be coming to DVD a year later, and didn't know about it at the time), and at that point I put off using a method to download stuff that people can VERY easily track.

Newsgroups for the win!

[Gromit]

If Iam not mistaken. If you purchased your music from itunes, should you not be able to redownload them at any time? 

No...it's a one-time download only.

That's why I no longer purchase from them (after having lost a slew of purchased music in a HDD crash).

[Teggy]

If Iam not mistaken. If you purchased your music from itunes, should you not be able to redownload them at any time? 

No...it's a one-time download only.

That's why I no longer purchase from them (after having lost a slew of purchased music in a HDD crash).

Well...it has been reported that Apple will let you download your library one time if you ask nicely (story was on Digg).  But obviously, stuff ripped from CD, you're SOL.

[Kevin Grey]

That said - I also will not pull music or movies via BitT any more. It's just too damn dangerous. Thankfully I have other methods if I choose to do so.

Gah, that makes me nervous. I hope I'm not downloading a 2.5GB virus 

I'm guessing he's referring to getting sued by the RIAA. 

That's exactly what I meant. I've gotten my one warning (because I dared to download a 15 year old TV program that just happened to be coming to DVD a year later, and didn't know about it at the time), and at that point I put off using a method to download stuff that people can VERY easily track.

Newsgroups for the win!

Yeah, I've received two warnings for downloading TV shows.  I haven't heard of the networks suing anybody but it was enough to turn me away.  The scary thing is that there ware people torrenting pretty much all of their TV without issue and I only do it on the very rare occasion I forgot to Tivo something and I get busted twice. 

[Thin_J]

Lan Parties for the win!

Fixed.

Only place I ever mess with this kind of thing is on a LAN.

[Teggy]

That said - I also will not pull music or movies via BitT any more. It's just too damn dangerous. Thankfully I have other methods if I choose to do so.

Gah, that makes me nervous. I hope I'm not downloading a 2.5GB virus 

I'm guessing he's referring to getting sued by the RIAA. 

That's exactly what I meant. I've gotten my one warning (because I dared to download a 15 year old TV program that just happened to be coming to DVD a year later, and didn't know about it at the time), and at that point I put off using a method to download stuff that people can VERY easily track.

Newsgroups for the win!

Yeah, I've received two warnings for downloading TV shows.  I haven't heard of the networks suing anybody but it was enough to turn me away.  The scary thing is that there ware people torrenting pretty much all of their TV without issue and I only do it on the very rare occasion I forgot to Tivo something and I get busted twice. 

I'm curious - who did the warning come from?

[warning]

When I do download stuff from BT I generally only use private trackers.  I'm on a couple of them and I worry less knowing things are being shared in a relatively small community.

[Kevin Grey]

I'm curious - who did the warning come from?

My ISP via warnings they received from Paramount (episode of Enterprise of all things) and Universal (for an episode of Heroes). 

[Destructor]

I'm curious - who did the warning come from?

My ISP via warnings they received from Paramount (episode of Enterprise of all things) and Universal (for an episode of Heroes). 

My ISP via...well, whoever owns Quantom Leap (wanted to grab them all for my brother one day).

[Teggy]

I'm curious - who did the warning come from?

My ISP via warnings they received from Paramount (episode of Enterprise of all things) and Universal (for an episode of Heroes). 

My ISP via...well, whoever owns Quantom Leap (wanted to grab them all for my brother one day).

I guess RCN just doesn't care.  Most recently I downloaded about 10 episodes of Lost without a peep. (and they have never peeped before).

[Kevin Grey]

I guess RCN just doesn't care.  Most recently I downloaded about 10 episodes of Lost without a peep. (and they have never peeped before).

I think it's pretty random anyway.  Like I said, I know people who get 99% of their TV shows via torrent (non-private trackers too) with nary a peep but I do it on very rare occasions and get two notices. 

[Rowdy]

Yet another reason Canada is superior - our ISP's don't jump when the MPAA and RIAA say boo.  Most of the TV I watch is downloaded.

[Destructor]

Yet another reason Canada is superior - our ISP's don't jump when the MPAA and RIAA say boo.

Lucky bastard.

[Eduardo X]

Azureus is java-based, and java sucks (Azureus is supposed to be one of the fastest clients, but it's just not worth using anything java based: too many memory leaks, for one thing).

Use uTorrent.  It's extremely small (not even 1mb), uses hardly any system resources, and has some great features (it even has a search box in it).

Peer Guardian 2 is a pretty good utility to get as well, but I've had a bit of trouble with it's stability (so it's typical open source software).  YMMV, but it's worth checking out.


BTW, my biggest disappointment with the whole iTunes service has been that it doesn't keep track of what music you own.  I mean, how hard would it be to keep a user database for you, and allow you to redownload anything you've previously purchased?

Wait, it doesn't remember? WTF kind of bullshit is that?

[Beer Goggles]

Yet another reason Canada is superior - our ISP's don't jump when the MPAA and RIAA say boo.

They are great at throttling bandwidth for applications like Skype.

[unbreakable]

Wait, it doesn't remember? WTF kind of bullshit is that?

I don't get it either.  It seems like that concept should be a given.

[Teggy]

Wait, it doesn't remember? WTF kind of bullshit is that?

I don't get it either.  It seems like that concept should be a given.

Apple most certainly knows what you have purchased.  They just don't give you the ability to redownload.

[Destructor]

Wait, it doesn't remember? WTF kind of bullshit is that?

I don't get it either.  It seems like that concept should be a given.

Apple most certainly knows what you have purchased.  They just don't give you the ability to redownload.

Exactly.

[Teggy]

Wait, it doesn't remember? WTF kind of bullshit is that?

I don't get it either.  It seems like that concept should be a given.

Apple most certainly knows what you have purchased.  They just don't give you the ability to redownload.

Exactly.

By the way, here is an article that backs up the "if you ask nicely" story.

[Ridah]

Why is it that my upload rate is so much faster than my download rate? I mean seriously, I'm downloading at like 4-5kb/sec and my upload is in the mid 30s. That doesn't make sense to me.

[Kevin Grey]

Why is it that my upload rate is so much faster than my download rate? I mean seriously, I'm downloading at like 4-5kb/sec and my upload is in the mid 30s. That doesn't make sense to me.

You can limit your upload rate in your settings if need be.  Download is driven by the number of people seeding the file.  If  it's just 4-5 then there is probably only one or two people seeding. 

[Ridah]

Why is it that my upload rate is so much faster than my download rate? I mean seriously, I'm downloading at like 4-5kb/sec and my upload is in the mid 30s. That doesn't make sense to me.

You can limit your upload rate in your settings if need be.  Download is driven by the number of people seeding the file.  If  it's just 4-5 then there is probably only one or two people seeding. 

That's what I ended up doing because the upload was slowing my network down a ridiculous amount. Now that I capped it everything is fast again. What a crappy program though, I'm still on my first download and it's been like 4-5 days straight now.

[Kevin Grey]

That's what I ended up doing because the upload was slowing my network down a ridiculous amount. Now that I capped it everything is fast again. What a crappy program though, I'm still on my first download and it's been like 4-5 days straight now.

That's the nature of file sharing- you are limited by the number of people actively seeding.  There isn't some central server out there with the file.  Consequently you'll get the best speeds when a file is the most popular which usually means shortly after release.  If it's an old file then it's doubtful there are many people sharing it at any given moment. 

[Ridah]

OMG OMG 99.1% complete, just another few days!

It was the strangest thing, the download speed hit warp speeds for about an hour which brought me from 90% to 98% in like an hour, it was nuts. Now it's back to normal.