Stranded in Mass(LW 4.8.1 not connecting)
 

Howdy, to the board! :)

1. Win XP Pro v2002 SP2
2. Windows Firewall & whatever firewall came w/my Linksys WRT54GS
3. 1.00 GB RAM
4. 6.66 GB on my boot partition (where LW resides)
5. 4.3 MB/sec Cable Connection
6. Modem: Motorola SB5120; Router: Linksys WRT54GS v2.0
7. Connecting from my home.
8. LW 4.8.1 Pro & Java 1.5.0_11
9. ISP: Comcast took over Adelphia here recently (tech says that they don't limit P2P, however)
10. I get a message stating that "Your test worked!"
11. My wife occassionally hooks up to a second output from the router.
12. I've used LW many times in the past from the same location.
13. NO, but I'm not sure where to find this either. It's NOT on the LW window.

I too have a constant single green connection status bar, but no actual connection. In addition, I get no error messages of any kind. I've been trying to help myself by reading up on this and following any procedural text I can glean, or otherwise find in this regard. In fact, I went to PortForward.com and applied the text they've posted there for LW and my router. As you can tell, I still have an internet connection, so I probably did something correctly. ;)

I've also tried taking the chance of turning off my firewalls -- both in Windows and in the Router -- to no avail. In short, I'm fairly well stuck. Is anyone interested in working with me on this?

Have a great one,
Bill
P.S. We've moved more than once since I initially installed LW Pro. I'd like to see if I can get my old [once very reliable] version running before I get the latest and greatest.

Hi Roy B,
Your 4.8.1 won't have the firewall status showing, that's a feature of later versions;)

What you can do is go tools > options > bug reports > view example. Scroll down to 'recieved incoming this session'...if it's false there's probably a firewall problem somewhere.

Go back through the port forwarding setup, it's easy to make a mistake (I know from experience:D). Did you set up a static IP first? You'll have to, if you haven't already. The portforward.com instructions have a link for that. Also...check that LW's listening port, the port forwarded thru your router & the port in the 'manual port forward' box are all the same number.

You should probably also check your XP firewall config, just in case.
Firewall setup

I just fired up my 4.8.1 & it took a loooooonng time to connect (5 mins at least).

Thanks very much, Birdy!
 

Your 4.8.1 won't have the firewall status showing, that's a feature of later versions

Thank you for educating me on that, Birdy. :xeri_ok1ani:

What you can do is go tools > options > bug reports > view example. Scroll down to 'recieved incoming this session'...if it's false there's probably a firewall problem somewhere.

I pressed the VIEW EXAMPLE button, scrolled down to "Received incoming this session:" and indeed saw false there.

Did you set up a static IP first? You'll have to, if you haven't already. The portforward.com instructions have a link for that.

I went through this again VERY SLOWLY and, despite everything matching my notes from the last time I did this, set it up a second time.

Also...check that LW's listening port, the port forwarded thru your router & the port in the 'manual port forward' box are all the same number.

All three match one another.

You should probably also check your XP firewall config, just in case.

I went through this again also. In addition, I exited LW (including the system tray), deleted the exception for LimeWire from the Windows Firewall and then restarted LW to add the exception once again.

I just fired up my 4.8.1 & it took a loooooonng time to connect (5 mins at least).

Great post script! I think I understood the subtle message here, but I promise you that I'm not one of those hyper-impatient type folks. I've started LW repeatedly and let it try to connect for hours -- WITH NO LUCK. ;)

Considering your thoughts about that 'FALSE' indicating a firewall issue, should I proceed from that angle?

Thanks for your consideration (and your time) once again ...

I wasn't saying you were being impatient & not giving LW enough time to connect...honest! I was surprised at how long my old version took to connect:p

Try going file > disconnect. Leave it for 5 mins, then file > connect.

Are you using any of the connections patches for SP2?
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showpo...56&postcount=4

Try deleting LW's preferences folder when LW's properly closed. Check out point 2 in the thread below for the location.
Fixes for LimeWire

You could also try Java 6 if you like. Use the offline JRE installer here. Remove all of your old Java versions before you install the new one.
http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp

If you've saved the 4.8.1 installer...download the latest LW basic & see if that connects. Installing a new LW will automatically remove the old version, so if you don't have the 4.8.1 installer, you'd lose that version. I have the basic version but I don't have a Pro that I could send you.

If none of this works & you don't want to lose the version you have, try changing ports. Use a port like 64049, or any one in the range of 49152 - 65535. Remember, if you change ports you'll also have to change any specific ports allowed thru a software firewall & ports forwarded thru a router;)

BTW your model of Linksys is rather infamous. Linksys are a great brand but the wrt 54's were lemons. I'd suggest port forwarding ... check your model here http://portforward.com/routers.htm

I can't remember whether 4.8.1 had UPnP support in any case. If you want to see a certain fix for your Linksys but only for the very skillful .. see the paragraph about Linksys under the UPnP secton here Connection problems? Check here first! (click on link) & look for the link called 'WRT54G - Fixed my problem, Followed these steps and it works!'

He has set up port forwarding. And double checked it.

Cheers, to you all!!
 

A big thanks to anyone who attempted to help me out -- especially Birdy. :xeri_ok1ani:

I'm not sure exactly how, but I'm up and running again. :D As any forum is only as good as the people who post and, more importantly, their willingness to follow through to the very end -- including a description of any resolutions they were fortunate enough to obtain -- I'll attempt to [completely] describe what happened:

1. Tried disconnecting and reconnecting after a 5 minute delay -- No Luck.

2. Read up on the Win XP SP2 Patches (both the Microshaft version and the Lvllord version) -- Didn't like what I was reading from others who tried them.

3. Deleted the .limewire [yes, DOT limewire] folder from the Documents and Settings folder on my boot partition. Upon, starting LimeWire (LW) again, however, this file was recreated. I suppose that means that you're essentially refreshing this file. Anyway -- This didn't work either.

At this point, I started to study Birdy's words a bit more closely. In particular, the text relating to installing a new version of LW caught my attention.

4. Used Windows Control Panel to remove my old version of LW 4.8.1 Pro.

5. Reconfigured my Linksys WRT54GS router, by entering 192.168.1.1 as a URL, so that the port forwarding (under Applications & Gaming/Port Range Forward) I previously created was disabled. I also took this opportunity to ensure that the UPnP feature (under Administration/Management) was enabled.

6. Downloaded the Basic version of LW 4.12.11 -- with the Offline Installer [as I always opt for].

7. Opened up the Windows Firewall utility and deleted the LimeWire exception.

8. Closed all open applications.

9. Used Start | Run to install the Basic version of LW 4.12.11.

10. Ran LW -- still no immediate connection.

10. As I noticed that I wasn't asked by the Windows Firewall program to Unblock the LimeWire .exe during its execution, I checked the exceptions tab once more -- LimeWire was listed.

11. Restarted Windows XP.

12. Started LW Basic 4.12.11 -- Voilà! Also known as: 5 Green Bars!

In short, it would seem that my repeated attempts to use my old version of LW -- 4.8.1 Pro -- were meeting with some sort of incompatibility issue (or issues). Regardless, I'm now able to use the Direct Connect feature in the application to transfer large work files, so, as the Pythons would say, "...and there was much rejoicing." :)

By the way, Birdy. Considering that I went through the Port Forwarding procedure twice, do I need to go back and make follow-up changes now that I'm using UPnP? Although I certainly learned a thing or two by way of this experience, I don't know a whole lot about router security. Consequently, I don't want to create an opportunity for a hacker attack without knowing it. In other words, I wouldn't want to have an unnecessary open port. ;)

Many thanks!