Need help getting first upload to work!!!!! HELP!!!!!

[slipkid]

I just tried to upload my first torrent here but I cannot get it to work.

I followed all of the instructions in the seeding guide here as completely and thoroughly as possible.

The torrent is an AUDIO of "Joe Satriani 2008-04-03 GUITAR CENTER, Plymouth Meeting, PA (FLAC)".

After following all of the steps in the seeding guide I am now left with a "red arrow" in my client (uTORRENT) and a status message from the tracker that says "Tracker sending invalid data <NULL>".

The thread in the AUDIO forum for my torrent says this in a box above my torrent and I wonder if this has anything to do with the problem:

"YOUR SHOW WAS SUCCESSFULLY UPLOADED
You must download your personalized torrent before you may begin seeding."

I have no idea how to "download my personalized torrent". There is no mention of this in the upload guide. At Dimeadozen I know this step happens somewhat automatically when I upload. But I didn't see anything like that here happening here.

Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong and how to properly upload here????? I haven't a clue what to do next.

I am using uTORRENT version 1.8 build 11742.

[mooncusser]

you need to download the torrent file from the thread you started with the upload. you can't use the exact same file that you created and uploaded, you have to download a new one from the tracker (the "personalized" one) and use that to seed.

[slipkid]

you need to download the torrent file from the thread you started with the upload. you can't use the exact same file that you created and uploaded, you have to download a new one from the tracker (the "personalized" one) and use that to seed.

Thanks but how do I do that?

And what do I do with the one that is stuck in uTORRENT now? I am totally confused.

The guide here says (under "10. Begin Seeding"):

"You may now open the .torrent file with your BitTorrent client of choice. After it checks the files, your client will register itself as a seed with the tracker."

That's what I did. I opened the .torrent file (on my hard drive) just like the guide says. I don't understand what else I am supposed to do.

[U2Lynne]

Remove the torrent file (not the files themselves) from uTorrent. Then download the torrent file from the thread, like you would if you were downloading a show, and add it to uTorrent. This FAQ item may help - I'm trying to seed my show but I keep showing up as a leecher, not a seeder. Help! (http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/faq.php?faq=bittorrent#faq_wrong_folder)

[U2Lynne]

It sounds like I should rewrite number 10 on the Audio Seeding Guide. Would this help.

10. Begin seeding.
Download the .torrent file from the thread - it gets personalized upon download. Then open the .torrent file with your BitTorrent client of choice. After it checks the files, your client will register itself as a seed with the tracker. If you client supports "super-seed" mode, you will want to enable that. Though it's not required, this mode will help you distribute the torrent faster by lowering the amount of redundant uploads. If you don't use it, plan on the upload taking about 25% longer.

[slipkid]

I decided to take an educated guess, based on what I did on Dime after I had to stop and move a torrent from one hard drive to another (also thanks to mooncusser). This seemed to have worked. Hope this helps anybody else.

- I deleted the torrent that was stuck in my client.

- I clicked on the torrent link in the thread for my torrent, like I was going to download it.

- I then pointed that via my client to my directory that has the files.

I'd like to ask if the seeding instructions up here could be changed from this:

"You may now open the .torrent file with your BitTorrent client of choice. After it checks the files, your client will register itself as a seed with the tracker."

To something like this:

"To start seeding your torrent you now need to click on the torrent link in your forum announcement; just as if you were wanting to download it. Then in your client make sure to change the directory to download/upload to match the directory that contains your files for this torrent".

I know all this is second nature to folks who have been doing it for years, but for newbies like me things really need to be spelled out.

[slipkid]

Just saw U2Lynne's posts. Yes something like that would help!!

Let me ask something else though - I saw it in the original guide and see it mentioned now by U2Lynne - the bit about "superseed mode".

I never heard of that before and just ignored it (there is too much to absorb with all this).

So now I went and did a look in the HELP for my client (uTORRENT) and found this:

"How do I enable Initial Seeding (Super Seeding)?
You can enable it from the torrent job properties. If you are not the only seeder in the swarm, you should not enable Initial Seeding."


So I then went and looked at the properties for this torrent. And in there there is NO MENTION of anything to do with "super seeding". Does anyone know how to set this in uTORRENT? I can see something called "initial seeding" under "other settings" but I don't know if that is the same thing or not. Also, if this is the right thing, should I have this turned on for all torrents that i am the original uploader of, then turn it off after others have joined in?????? And if that is right, how is it possible to stay on top of that to turn it off??? Wouldn't you have to keep a close eye on when others have downloaded everything and then switched to seeding themselves???? I don't see how it is practical to do that.

[mooncusser]

"Initial seeding" is the same thing as "super seeding".

When that mode is enabled, your torrent client will give preference to others in the swarm who have given pieces of data to other users. Basically, it makes pieces available to downloaders if they are sharing with other downloaders. The idea is to decrease the likelihood of you having to hand out the same pieces to multiple leechers, thereby speeding up the process of seeding out to the swarm.

You don't need to enable that mode, and you don't need to turn it off if another seeder joins in. You can leave it alone if you like.

[U2Lynne]

It looks like uTorrent calls it Initial Seeding in the list instead of Super Seeding. You should only enable that if there are a lot of leechers on the torrent and you want to get the show out fast. And actually, I rarely hear anyone talk about Super Seeding anymore. I think upload rates have improved quite a bit since we wrote that faq item and it's just not as big of a deal anymore.

[slipkid]

It looks like uTorrent calls it Initial Seeding in the list instead of Super Seeding. You should only enable that if there are a lot of leechers on the torrent and you want to get the show out fast. And actually, I rarely hear anyone talk about Super Seeding anymore. I think upload rates have improved quite a bit since we wrote that faq item and it's just not as big of a deal anymore.

OK thanks (to both of you).

I got started about 2-3 weeks ago on Bittorrent and one thing I've learned is that a lot of the FAQs, advice, guidelines, etc that I have been reading on the 'net seem to be outdated or just don't apply in various ways. For instance over and over in general bittorenting guides I had read that I needed to open a "range of ports from blah blah to blah blah" in my firewall and router but when it came down to it I only needed to open one port that I set in uTORRENT, not a range.

Anyways, looks like I've got my first torrent up & running over here! Sweet.

[dorrcoq]

I never use superseed mode on any of my torrents. Am I right then in assuming by not using it, I upload more data to the point where others have the full file, and therefore increase my ratio?