Hi,
I am running 64 bit openSUSE 13.2 with KDE desktop and trying to run a torrent download. I have read all the related threads here but not found the info I need.
In short a torrent file I have been sent does not work. It does start Ktorrent and creates the directories (HC Subs?) for the several files to be downloaded but then stalls. On the other hand a torrent file found using google (to use as a test,) works fine and download completes, which suggests to me there is not a problem with firewall or router.
How may I look into the multiple file torrent to find URLs so I may try them from browser?
Budgie2
The way torrents work,
There can be a long initial delay when they first start up.
This is because peers need to discover each other.
For starters analyzing your particular situation,
Open your torrent file in a plain text editor and read what methods are used to fin other peers. You might see one or more tracker server addresses, and you might see IP addresses, or you might see nothing at all but DHT (Distributed Hash Tables) or Peer Exchange or some other method.
For whatever is described in the torrent file,
If names are used, usual name resolution issues apply.
If tracker servers are listed, this is the fastest way to discover other peers but if the tracker server is busy or non-responsive will result in a long delay.
If specific peer IP addresses are listed, you should have immediate connectivity to those peers if they’re not busy.
If only peer discovery methods are described without any specific addresses, it can take a very, very long time before some machine with the information you want is found.
So, first of all from my description you should understand that if the torrent file sent to you isn’t constructed well, it can take a very long time for your machines to discover each other.
And, then your actual file transfer can be subject to a great many factors. Network congestion, existing workloads and whether your machines are tuned well can have a big impact.
To tune your machine correctly, you need to change your TCP/IP Congestion Control algorithm, enlarge your TCP/IP buffers and change your TCP/IP window sizes (is not the same as Level 2 frames). I describe how to do this in
But optimizing your connection only maximizes transfer speed.
If the discovery methods described in your torrentfile aren’t working well, it’s not uncommon for a torrent transfer to not start for 20 minutes.
Hi Tsu,
Thanks for the reply. I had of course already read your excellent article on how to tune my machine, having been through all the recent and not so recent threads from a search on “ktorrent” in this forum, but I couldn’t find any obvious obstacles with my setup.
The person who sent me the torrent file which stalled, sent it as an attachment to an email. Now this man is a windoze user. He suggested, when I explained that it was not working, that the torrent file might have been “blocked” somewhere en route and suggested I look at the file properties.
Apparently if one does this in Windoze there is a “Blocked” button. I wonder what this might be. Could the linux equivalent be whether the file is executable or not? Does a torrent file need to be executable? As it was the file I saved was not executable.
Meanwhile my correspondent gave me the address where he found the torrent file. I fetched my own copy directly, it was a Magnet file but I opened it with Ktorrent and it started immediately so I now have the material I wanted but am still seeking to improve my knowledge.
> file is executable or not? Does a torrent file need to be executable?
I very much doubt it.
> As it was the file I saved was not executable.
>
> Meanwhile my correspondent gave me the address where he found the
> torrent file. I fetched my own copy directly, it was a Magnet file but
> I opened it with Ktorrent and it started immediately so I now have the
> material I wanted but am still seeking to improve my knowledge.
On Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:16:01 +0000, Budgie2 wrote:
> Hi Tsu,
> Thanks for the reply. I had of course already read your excellent
> article on how to tune my machine, having been through all the recent
> and not so recent threads from a search on “ktorrent” in this forum, but
> I couldn’t find any obvious obstacles with my setup.
>
> The person who sent me the torrent file which stalled, sent it as an
> attachment to an email. Now this man is a windoze user. He suggested,
> when I explained that it was not working, that the torrent file might
> have been “blocked” somewhere en route and suggested I look at the file
> properties.
>
> Apparently if one does this in Windoze there is a “Blocked” button. I
> wonder what this might be. Could the linux equivalent be whether the
> file is executable or not? Does a torrent file need to be executable?
> As it was the file I saved was not executable.
>
> Meanwhile my correspondent gave me the address where he found the
> torrent file. I fetched my own copy directly, it was a Magnet file but
> I opened it with Ktorrent and it started immediately so I now have the
> material I wanted but am still seeking to improve my knowledge.
There are a number of reasons it might have stalled - two come to mind
off the top of my head:
No seeders
Perhaps it uses a private tracker that requires authentication
From your description, the problem isn’t likely the torrent file itself as it was originally created since it worked immediately when you fetched it yourself.
So, it appears that the file was likely altered some way either on his machine (particularly if he opened and saved the file with Windows Notepad or Word) or in transit (eg anti-virus sometimes opens, inspects/analyzes, then sends the result).
Your solution is common, always “go to the original source” for files.