Need help understanding concepts:

[donovana]

Hey all first off I would like to express my excitement in finding this site. I wish this site were around when I started collecting shows years ago.

I would like to thank all the moderators for all hard efforts they put into making this site work, and for those who share shows too. Thank you all, I"m glad I found this place.

I am a blind computer user who is new to this site, and new to many concepts and beliefs expressed on this site. I am new in general to online trading, though I must shamefully admit I have many shows of mp3 qulaity I have collected over the years, I didn't know. I have read the faq faq over and over again. I wish the faq were written more in laymen's terms. It seems like it was written for more experienced user's. What does it mean to seed? What does it mean to reseed? On the site on the main page it shows a list of shows that need to be seeded, and those that need seeds, what is the difference? I tried writing one of the moderators privately as to not clogg up this forum, but I think they've got too much going on to respond. If some of these questions seem to basic, sorry for this, but unless I am missing something, the faq doesn't seem to literally address some of these questions. I have lots more questions, but think I'll sit back, and see what kinds of responses come in before I post any further. Thank you all once again. :cool:

[brimstone]

If you want to know more about bittorrent terminology and bittorrent in general this faq is really great.

http://dessent.net/btfaq/

[U2Lynne]

Seeding means you have the complete show and you are uploading it to others (commonly called leechers).

If you have a show that you want to share, you upload it to the site and start seeding it to other people (leechers). When the leechers complete the show and they 'keep their windows open', then they start seeding the show also. We keep a list of the last 10 most recently uploaded shows on the home page.

When people stop 'seeding' the show but people still want to download it, the people who want it will download the .torrent file and try to get the show. These shows, with no seeders but with leechers, can show up on the 20 most recent shows that need seeds list on the home page.

When there are a bunch of leechers, but no seeds, people will either ask to have 'people open their windows' or they may make a post asking for a 'reseed'. Some people use the terms interchangeably. However, asking for a reseed should really mean that the show is no longer availabe (it is in the Inactive BitTorrent forum) and they want someone to upload it to the site again.

I hope that helps!

[donovana]

Thank you very much all who has responded to this thread thus far. Thanks to moderator Lynn for responding as well. I just downloaded a 9 intch nails show last night, so now I can be a seeder of the show. I just started bit tornado client, so anybody who wants this show, please come and get it, because nothing is uploading right now. I have tried to download some shows that currently are not being seeded. In order to put a request in to have these shows seedede, how do I do it? Do I need to simply post a message into the forum that contains the show, and hope that somebody will see my request? Thanks for responding once again. :D

[Five]

yeah, just post a message in the thread asking for help. shows are normally good for about three weeks then they start dropping off based on how active they are. If you jump on a show that's really old keep your window open and make a polite request in the thread. You can post a couple more times in the thread every other day or so. its generally considered too pushy to pm ppl for seeds.

[donovana]

yeah, just post a message in the thread asking for help. shows are normally good for about three weeks then they start dropping off based on how active they are. If you jump on a show that's really old keep your window open and make a polite request in the thread. You can post a couple more times in the thread every other day or so. its generally considered too pushy to pm ppl for seeds.
Ok based on these great responses, I now understand a lot more. I think what you guys are saying here is if somebody runs acrossed a show that needed to be reseeded, they put the show back on their hard drive if it is backed up, so folks can get it again. I recently downloaded the elo live in london 1976 show, and I see that it needed to be reseeded again. So I had just packed it up in a buntch of cd's, so I dug it out, and am now copying it so that it may be reseeded again by me. Man this iste is great.

[Five]

yes, you understand perfectly now.

thanks for teh props

[donovana]

Seeding means you have the complete show and you are uploading it to others (commonly called leechers).

If you have a show that you want to share, you upload it to the site and start seeding it to other people (leechers). When the leechers complete the show and they 'keep their windows open', then they start seeding the show also. We keep a list of the last 10 most recently uploaded shows on the home page.

When people stop 'seeding' the show but people still want to download it, the people who want it will download the .torrent file and try to get the show. These shows, with no seeders but with leechers, can show up on the 20 most recent shows that need seeds list on the home page.

When there are a bunch of leechers, but no seeds, people will either ask to have 'people open their windows' or they may make a post asking for a 'reseed'. Some people use the terms interchangeably. However, asking for a reseed should really mean that the show is no longer availabe (it is in the Inactive BitTorrent forum) and they want someone to upload it to the site again.

I hope that helps!
This has been a wonderful thread. Thank you all for responding. I feel really welcommed man. I would like to put in a request to the moderators ofthis site to have this thread moved to the babbel archive once this thread has beeen closed. I found all of these messages to be very useful, direct, easy to understand, and to the point. Thanks to the fello who posted that link to that bit torrent faq. I think other new folks sutch as myself would find this very useful. Thanks everybody again. :)

[Five]

cool, I agree.

worth mentioning at this point is that forwarding your ports can really help speed things up.

check here:
portforward.com

[donovana]

cool, I agree.

worth mentioning at this point is that forwarding your ports can really help speed things up.

check here:
portforward.com
Thanks for the port forwarding suggestion. I went to the port forwarding site, and I must say this looks pretty complex, and Ithink I'm gonna need somebody's help to do this. It sounds a bit visual, but I'm not sure. I'll keep working on it though, and ask questions if I have too.

[U2Lynne]

donovana,

I just made this reply in the ELO thread:

donovana, it could be that you (and maybe they) don't have your ports forwarded. Basically, that means you are firewalled and can't connect to each other.

Do you use a modem? Check out www.portforward.com/routers.htm Look on that list for the brand/model of your router and it will tell you how to forward your ports. One problem with bit tornado is that it doesn't use the standard bittorrent ports (usually 6881-6889). It has them set to randomly pick a port between 10000 and 60000. You need to *uncheck* the randomize port option in that client (in the preferences panel) and then select a port range for yourself which will be the same port range you forward in your router.

[donovana]

Hey guys I have one final question for now. I read on the main page that the elo show london 76 was needing to be seeded. I dug out my cd from where I had backed it up, recopied the show to my hd, then fired up my bit tornado client. I notic3ed noticed now I am the only seeder on the page. It says in the forum that their are 5 leachers wanting the show, yet nobody has been uploading from me since I started my bit tornado client. What is going on here?

[U2Lynne]

donovana, I think what has happened is that you are firewalled (you don't have your ports forwarded) and they can't connect to you. If we can figure out what your firewall issue is, then you will be able to connect to them. Also, you will find that your download speeds will increase since you will be able to connect to more people.

[Ted]

When I started a seed, it took a little while for people to "find" me. It shouldn't take that long though. I think it took about 10 minutes or so for the uploads to begin. Check your client now. If you still aren't uploading, then let us know if you have a router and if so, what brand/model. Are you using a software firewall? If so, which one? There are many such as, Windows XP built-in, Zone Alarm, Norton Internet Security, etc.

Any/all of these could be your problem as previously mentioned by U2Lynne and Five.

[donovana]

Hey everybody, I've got great news. I just woke up, and I see that I am finally uploading the elo show as aseec. It is 84 percent finished. I aam uploading at 25 k a second. I have a 3 meg cable connection, so I guess that is rather slow, but at least it is uploading. My client has been connected for about 12 hours or so. Before I began the upload, I disabled the built-in firewall in xp, and that must have done the trick. I have a Linksys router, but I have to figure out which model. My hope is I can forward my ports, then turn my firewall back on again. I'll try and forward the ports today, but don't know how far I'll get. :clap:

[U2Lynne]

This link (http://www.portforward.com/help/personalfirewalls/windowssp2port.htm) should help you with your Win XP firewall. You don't need to completely disable it, just allow your bit client to get through it.

And for a linksys router, try this site (http://www.linksys.com/tech_helper/advanced.html).

[donovana]

Hey folks the seed finally finished. I thought I would share the logs, so here they are. This may shed some light on what is going on, and I am hoping this will help you to help me better.

elo-LiveInLondon1976 - Upload - BitTorrent T-0.3.12 (BitTorna...
ELO-LiveInLondon1976 graphic 619 (256.07 MiB) Details Advanced Prefs About

Time elapsed / estimated : 14 hour(s) 45 min 19 sec / 0 min 03 sec / Download Succeeded
Download to: C:\mp3 albums\ELO-LiveInLondon1976
Download rate: Downloaded: 256.09 MiB Share rating: Upload rate: 0 kB/s Uploaded: 349.85 MiB
connected to 0 peers with an average of 0.0% completed (total speed 0 kB/s)
1 seeds seen recently; also seeing 0.000 distributed copies
Pause Finish
Settings for automatic Upload rate (kB/s) 0 0 5000
Max uploads 6 0 100
0 kB/s means unlimited. Tip: your download rate is proportional to your upload rate

[donovana]

Thank you all for your wonderful help, and advisce. I managed to seed two shows today, and I have uploaded almost 2 gigs, so I am very happy about this. I am still going to try and forward my ports, so I will get faster speeds, but at least I can download, and most importantly seed shows. This will probably take some time, and a lot of effort on my part, and I am not sure I can do it on my own, but I'm gonna try. If you want, you can close this thread, however I think it would be a good idea to place this thread in the babbel archive for others to learn from, because it sure helpped me. I will attempt to get as far on my own as I can, but I may need further assistance from you guys if this is ok. Thanks all once again. One more final question. Since I am at least able to seed at this point, although slower for now, until I can getthe problem cleared up, do I really run any serious risk in simply leaving my firewall turned off, or do I really need to have it on?

[TheMamba]

It's best to leave your firewall on. Although, in my opinion, the risk is somewhat small that something will happen, better safe then sorry.

[U2Lynne]

Donovana, feel free to keep asking us questions. I'm going to leave this thread open because it's nice to have a whole bunch of newbie questions in one place. I think if other newbies read this thread, it could be that their learning experiences flow the same way yours did and it will help them out.

[donovana]

I'm wondering something. Let's say that I am seeding one show, but in all actuality, I might have say 3 shows on my hd that are completely downloaded and ready to be seeded. Will other user's be able to get portions of other shows from me, even though I am seeding a particular torrent, or does it only upload the current torrent that you are seeding?

[Five]

ppl can only download the current torrent you are seeding. you can, however, open several windows at once if you wish and the speed for each goes down proportionally.

[DizzyDi]

Newbie here.....great thread! :)