Posted: 10/1/2007 1:35 AM
Post subject: downloading torrents
Quote
jtay
Joined: 9/20/2006
Posts: 3
Hello all. I'm basically a lurker around here and occasionally visit to see what movies are in the making. Anyways, I have a question that is likely to be very noob-ish. Is there any way to get the avi.torrent files to download a little quicker? Every time I try and download them they either take forever or never finish. Last night I started downloading the avi.torrent for the Majora's Mask run, and it actually managed to get 85% downloaded within half an hour. Then I left to go watch a movie and came back two hours later to find that it was still at 85%. What gives? How does a 60KB file take over 3hrs to download? Does anyone have any tips on how I can successfully download one of these things? Oh, here's another question I just remembered that's been bugging me. How do you get the avi's to actually play? The few I've succeeded in downloading always tell me I'm missing a codec, and I think it's the H.264 one. So I downloaded it, and I still got the error message. I suspect that there is a way to tell my video player to use that codec, but I'm not sure how. Is there a way to do this? Or maybe a better question: is there a media player that I can download that is guaranteed to be able to play the avi's distributed by this site? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Posted: 10/1/2007 2:46 AM
Quote
Dromiceius
Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
How does a 60KB file take over 3hrs to download?
Judging from your description, I'd guess that your ISP is preventing you from downloading .torrent files. There's a list somewhere on the internet of all the ISPs that are douchebags, but I can't remember the location. The codec problems are answered here: http://tasvideos.org/FAQ.html
Posted: 10/1/2007 4:55 PM
Quote
Deep_Loner
Joined: 12/26/2006
Posts: 256
Location: United States of America
Usually the problems with BitTorrent downloading are that there are no or not enough seeds, or that those who are seeding are uploading very slowly. But Majora's Mask has more than enough seeds, which suggests that the problem may be your ISP. The "Bad ISP" list Dromiceius mentions is located here. Also, if you're using a NAT router or gateway, follow the instructions at http://www.portforward.com/ and see if that helps at all. With BitTorrent, users who don't upload (for example, because of being behind a NAT router with ports closed) get slower download speeds; but again, the Majora's Mask video should have worked reasonably well despite this. Check the ISP list. As for codecs, do read the FAQ. I use the K-Lite Codec Pack (I do NOT recommend the "Mega" pack because it tends to be out of date) with Windows Media Player without problems, and that's the particular solution I personally would recommend if you use Windows. Just be sure to take the time to read the codec descriptions so that you know what you're doing. Also, be sure to select ffdshow as your H.264 decoder instead of CoreAVC, or else the videos will come out looking garbled.
Posted: 10/1/2007 7:45 PM
Quote
Soulrivers
Former player
Joined: 12/27/2006
Posts: 532
Location: Göteborg, Sweden
One thing that greatly increased my download speed was this: Options -> Preferences -> BitTorrent -> Protocol Encryption -> Outgoing -> Pick Forced. Might not be the same on your client (I use utorrent).
My published movies [03:45:05] <Naohiro19> Soulrivers: ... [03:45:19] <Soulrivers> ? [03:46:35] <Naohiro19> <Soulrivers> No! <Naohiro19> So? <Soulrivers> Yes! [03:46:48] <Naohiro19> joke
Posted: 10/1/2007 10:32 PM
Quote
jtay
Joined: 9/20/2006
Posts: 3
Thanks for the help everyone. I'm now 99.9% sure that the problem is my ISP, since the college I'm going to is my ISP. I think I remember a stipulation somewhere that said that they don't like peer-to-peer programs. I guess they really meant it. Is there any other way to download the AVI's without using BitTorrent?
Posted: 10/1/2007 11:28 PM
Quote
Deep_Loner
Joined: 12/26/2006
Posts: 256
Location: United States of America
Colleges are notorious for filtering things like BitTorrent. It looks like all you can really do it put up with it. Some of the movies have alternate download links from sites like archive.org. You might also try searching Google Video. Alternatively, if you have the right ROMs (remember not to ask for them here), you can download the approriate emulators and key input files to watch the movies.
Posted: 10/2/2007 4:25 PM
Quote
Raiscan
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
As a recent new resident of a University, I've managed to both limit the blow to my downloads (and uploads), and keep it relatively stable. That said, its important to know that you can't beat the admins. Usually colleges and universities have very knowledgable admins that know exactly what students what to do, and how to stop them if they know the network won't be able to take it. The university I'm at is quite simple with networking. They give you lots of bandwidth, which you're free to toss about. However, after you've burned it up (around 20gb or so iirc) they start shaping your traffic quite vigorously. Leaving it for a while means your quota slowly 'recharges', and you can surf at high speeds once its up to a certain level. Maintaining a level of high-speed downloading will make the system automatically throttle you again. Solutions? Well in my case, not many. I'm unsure if theres a specific torrent shaping, but in your case you can try the following: 1. High port range. 6881-6889 is not recommended, and will likely be limited by a huge amount. go for a randomly high port range like which is somewhere around 44000 (give or take anywhere in a range of 10000, for example it could be 37926). 2. If using uTorrent, try disabling uPnP and NAT-PMP port forwarding. These probably won't work anyway, so theres no point having them on. 3. If using uTorrent, Preferences --> Bittorrent--> Protocol encryption. Set to forced. I think this limits compatibility with other clients, but at least the college will have a harder time working out what kind of connection you're making. I also unchecked Legacy connections. Not sure if that helps or not. Failing that, I'm not sure what else to suggest. Aquire a ROM (which we can't help with), emulator and movie file perhaps? You say you're trying Majora's Mask, so that in itself is going to be a large task to get working I guess..
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Posted: 10/3/2007 5:23 AM
Quote
Twelvepack
Joined: 5/2/2006
Posts: 1020
Location: Boulder, CO
I knew a guy who had a creative workaround. He set up an older PC of his and left it turned on at his parents house, and had it run a bit torrent client, then established a direct connection to it, so that it could bit torrent for him, but everything he recieved came in encrypted, and as a direct download. Seemed like a clever solution to the problem.
Has never colored a dinosaur.
Posted: 10/3/2007 9:33 AM
Quote
Raiscan
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
This is quite easily possible by using a web interface (uTorrent has one), but theres a few things to consider: 1. Bandwidth limit on the actual PC you're downloading with 2. College might end up limiting your bandwidth in the end anyway 3. Source PC would probably require a good upload for large files. Probably not going to get that on a home connection.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs