How to Download?

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1.0 The majority of downloads provided at AF are in the form of .torrent files which are used with BitTorrent (BT)


2.0 BitTorrent Basics:


2.1 Definition of BT:

BitTorrent (BT) is a P2P system that uses a central tracker to connect users when they download and launch a .torrent file. The tracker keeps track of all the people who have the file (both partially and completely) and connects users to each other for downloading and uploading.


2.2 Common terms to know:

  • torrent - Small file that contains information about the data you want to download (not the data itself) and the list of trackers being used.
  • tracker - An Internet server that keeps track of the status of torrent files and connects all the users who are uploading/downloading the files. When you open a torrent, your BT client contacts the tracker and asks for a list of peers to contact.Periodically throughout the transfer, your machine will check in with the tracker, telling it how much you've downloaded and uploaded, how much you have left before finishing, and the state you're in (starting, finished download, stopping.) If a tracker is down and you try to open a torrent, you will be unable to connect. If a tracker goes down during a torrent (i.e., you have already connected at some point and are already talking to peers), you will be able to continue transferring with those peers, but no new peers will be able to contact you. Often tracker errors are temporary, so the best thing to do is just wait and leave the client open to continue trying.
  • peer - A peer is another computer on the internet that you connect to and transfer data. Generally a peer does not have the complete file, otherwise it would be called a seed. Some people also refer to peers as leechers, to distinguish them from those generous folks who have completed their download and continue to leave the client running and act as a seed.
  • seed - A computer that has a complete copy of a certain torrent. Once your client finishes downloading, it will remain open until you click the Finish button (or otherwise close it.) This is known as being a seed or seeding. You can also start a BT client with a complete file, and once BT has checked the file it will connect and seed the file to others. Generally, it's considered good manners to continue seeding a file after you have finished downloading, to help out others. Also, when a new torrent is posted to a tracker, someone must seed it in order for it to be available to others. The first seeder is also know as the releaser.
  • reseed - When there are zero seeds for a given torrent (and not enough peers to have a distributed copy), then eventually all the peers will get stuck with an incomplete file, since no one in the swarm has the missing pieces. When this happens, someone with a complete file (a seed) must connect to the swarm so that those missing pieces can be transferred. This is called reseeding. Usually a request for a reseed comes with an implicit promise that the requester will leave his or her client open for some time period after finishing (to add longevity to the torrent) in return for the kind soul reseeding the file.
  • distributed copies - In some versions of the client, you will see the text "Connected to n seeds; also seeing n.nnn distributed copies." A seed is a machine with the complete file. However, the swarm can collectively have a complete copy (or copies) of the file, and that is what this is telling you. Even though no one person has the whole thing, people have different pieces that others need and if they upload to each other they can make up one whole copy each. In other words, even if there are no seeds, as long as there is at least one distributed copy of the file everyone can eventually get a complete file.


3.0 BT clients:


4.0 Tips on Setting up BT (Note: Most info is directly based on BitComet, however, basic concepts apply to other clients)

4.1 Upload/Download Speeds Limits

  • You can tune BitTorrent by increasing your upload limit slowly from about 75% of your maximum and finding the point where your download speed begins decreasing instead of increasing (best done on a torrent with many seeders). That peak is the best setting for your upload limit.

4.2 Connection Limits

  • For those who recently updated, Window XP's Service Pack 2 changes the maximum connections per task for safety reasons. Theoretically this will influence your download speed in a negative way.

Here you can find a patch which will set y'r max connections from 10 back to 50, or every given number you wish. Although a very high number will not necessarily mean an even higher download speed. The same goes for the "Maximum Connections per task" in BitComet itself. (>options>preferences>advanced>connection) If you set the number too high or too low, your speeds will be negatively impacted. To find out how many connections per task your computer/internet connection can handle, you'll have to do some manual "tests". First, set the max. connections per task to 10 and wait what happens. When your download speed seems to be stable, increase the max. connections with increments of 10. Continue increasing the number until you find your top-download speed. The longer you wait between incrementing the max.conn. per task, the better your results will be.

4.3 Allocate disk space - The default on most BT clients is to pre-allocate the total disk space needed for each torrent task when you first start downloading, instead of the amount you have actually downloaded so far. This is good if you don't want to accidentally run out of disk space while downloading many simultaneous tasks, but if you prefer to keep a current disk space count, you can un-check this option. (BitComet>options>preferences>task>download>)


5.0 Chinese encoding problems:


5.1 Most torrents contain some Chinese characters in the folder or file names. If your computer or operating system does not support Chinese characters, then you may get an error during download. Ways to fix this:

5.1.1 Setup Chinese support for Windows (XP only)

  • Go to Start>Settings>Control Panel>Regional and Language Options>Advanced>Language for non-Unicode Programs>Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) OR Chinese (PRC) depending on whether you have mostly Chinese Traditional (Big5) or Chinese Simplified (GB) encoded file names.

5.1.2 Rename the destination folder

  • When you first load up a torrent in your BT client, you should be asked to confirm the download destination. Change this to a non-Chinese file name.

5.1.3 Install Chinese word-processing software:


5.2 Chinese file names not showing up correctly in Nero or other programs? If the above does not solve the problem, download and install:

Microsoft AppLocale - use it to open your programs with Chinese (Trad.) or Chinese (Simpl.) encoding without re-booting.


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