Configuring LW ... a question
 

Hello
I have been using LW for a while now and although I have read all the threads on configuring LW, and applied their suggestions, I still have some questions/issues I would like help on.
One problem I have is that when I try to d/l video content, they typically start d/ling at good speeds (even from 1 host alone) but very quickly slow down to 1 or 0 KB/s and remain there.
This also occurs when I am d/ling from many hosts (up to six).
Here are all my details:
Machine:
PowerBook G4
1 GHz PowerPC G4
1 MB L3 cache
768 MB SDRAM
OSX 10.3.8
LimeWire 4.8.1
Internet Connection:
ADSL 600/100
Test Scores - 512/94
Current Configuration:
Speed Section:
Connection Speed - Cable/DSL
Ultrapeer Capabilities - Disabled
OOB Searching - Disabled
Downloads Section:
Max Downloads - 5
Clear Downloads - Auto-clear Enabled
Download Bandwidth - 100%
Uploads Basic Section:
Clear Uploads - Auto-clear Enabled
Upload Bandwidth - 10.94 KB/s
Partial Files - Partial sharing Disabled
Uploads Slots Section:
Uploads per person - 3
Max Upload Slots - 20
Searching Limits Section:
Max Searches - 5
All qualities/All speeds
Advanced Preferencing Section:
Connection Preferencing - 1 file to not be a freeloader
Allow freeloaders always
Advanced Firewall Config Section:
Listening Port - 6346
Router Config. - Use UPnP (Recommended)
Advanced Proxy Section:
Proxy - No Proxy

I think thats eveything!
I would really appreciate it if someone in the know could take a look and suggest the optimal set up for me.

Thanks very much

Amedeo

Try turning partial file sharing back on, and test by downloading one of the free videos from a reliable source like magnetmix.com (The Scene episodes are pretty popular and should fill your max download speed of 64 KB/s). Turn PFS off and try again.

Also, check the sample bug reports to see if your machine can accept incoming connections. If so, setting the OS X firewall to allow gnutella connections on port 6346 should help.

btw--high initial spikes in speed followed quickly by low averages, then another spike 30 or so seconds later might indicate that your bandwidth is being choked--often by ISP controls. Watch the download bandwidth graphs in Tools->Statistics

Thanks Steif,
btw is that as in the teddy bear maker?
Turning the partial sharing on/off didnt really make a difference, ie the speeds remained the same, between 55-75 for the duration of both d/ls, both from 2 sources.
At one point it spiked to 81 which I dont really understand as I thought my theoretical max. was 75!!
I'm sorry but I dont really understand your other 2 suggestions, I'm not particularly in-depth with all this computer stuff.
The result of d/ling from the magnetmix website you suggested was surprising as I did not have the same problem I usually get from d/ling from a Limewire search... high initial and then slows right down!! Dont really understand why that should be the case.
I get this problem even when d/ling a quite popular file (anywhere from 5 - 25+ in the search on LW) held on DSL+ connections....

Your quick check against magnetmix shows that your connection/set-up is OK. Your set-up works when connected to "reliable" sources.

The bad results you saw earlier shows that the hosts you connected to aren't very reliable. Control-click the downloads column, and show "vendor:" you might see a pattern.

As for my other two suggestions--sorry: I don't understand what I'm saying much of the time too. Guess I should pay more attention in English classes.

re the "bug report". In the LimeWire preferences, there's a section called "bug reports." If you go there, there's a button labeled "Sample." Click that and you get a screen showing all the key settings. Look for the line that says "accept incoming" to find out if your setup is set for clear gnutella (LimeWire) connections.

As for the Firewall, there is one built into OS X. LW's help menu->Tip of the Day has a tip on how to set it up.

Thanks again Stief,
In the bug report, the only thing I could find which is close to what you say is:
Acceptor: 1
in the listing thread section.

For the OSX firewall tip, the 'sharing' section which I should go into is shaded and not available to me ?!?!?

I have another query, does it make any difference if i run the same searches again when restarting LW, ie if the d/l is already in my queue and incomplete, does re-searching help? As well, does refreshing searches periodically make any difference. A few times I have done this, it does seem to 'help' connecting to d/ls

Thanks

Double posting will only get you negative attention. In other words don't do it. It's all in the rules

Hello Murasame,
Whats double posting? And how have I done it?

Thanks

Amedeo

Please note the usual polite conventions.

Hi Amedeo (You're welcome) There's a screenshot of the line you need to find in the example bug report at http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...=&postid=90500I don't understand this. Perhaps your Sharing Panel in the Apple Menu->OS X Preferences is locked? Search your mac's Help menu for "Firewall" to see how to add a port or turn your firewall off. Re-searching can "seem" to help, but sometimes this can also trigger a bug where LW can get sluggish after a few days. I re-search anyway--more out of curiousity. Currently LW's ability to get alternate sources while downloading is often pretty effective. However, if the sources are bad or few, researching doen't help much.

Ok, so the line in the Bug Report says:
'Received incoming this session: false'

I guess this is really wrong huh?

Am asking the questions now on the Apple forums as to how to access the 'sharing' button in the sys. prefs. in order to fiddle with the firewall...

I suppose the way to change the line to true is to change the firewall settings in sys. prefs.?

Thanks Stief

The built-in Firewall may be properly blocking incoming connections, or the block may be further upstream on your connection. Only an "Admin" user has permission to change most System Preferences on OS X. I assumed you were the Admin user on your machine, because installing LW requires an Admin password.

Home routers allow outgoing connections, but need most ports opened for incoming. School and work connections also usually block "unused" ports by default too. Internet Service Providers may also block/filter certain ports, especially if the ISP is filtering or blocking filesharing.

So, while LW runs best with a clear two-way connection to the internet, it's not "wrong." LW's code does quite a good job of working within many limitations, as you saw with the magnetmix test.

Thanks again Stief,
If its no problem then I'll leave it at that....
The whole firewall question is a bit strange as I am the Admin user, ie its my laptop, used at home, no work/office network arrangement etc... wierd.

As you seem to be somewhat of an expert on this I wonder if I could ask you for some general advice...
I understand that this a Limewire forum, so the question might seem a little odd... however...
Is Limewire the 'best' P2P program to use... ie most users, most content etc. for Mac?

Thanks

Amedeo

Quick answer: yes, it's the best for OS X.

--The gnutella network is big and is growing. I'm watching for when it hits 2 million online users. If you go to http://www.limewire.com/english/content/uastats.shtml, you can see the clients that are connected. Of the ones that can be run on OS X, LW is the leader. New vendors are often just LW "under the hood." They take LW's opensource code and tweak it, but then they can't keep up with LW's 5 years of development experience. Lot's more to say here, but no more time :)

btw--did you try clicking the Lock icon on your OS X Sharing Preferences to get at the Firewall settings?

Well thats just the problem....
I cant access the sharin preferences at all!
When I hover the mouse over the button in System Preferences, I get the message:
'Your access to this preference has been restricted'

I am quite stumped with that, like I said I am the Admin user here, so I dont really see why I should be restricted there...???

I have posted the query on the apple forums but i'm still waiting for a reply....

Thanks

My guess is that permissions might need repairing: go to the Applications folder>Utilities>Disk Utility and run a repair permissions, then try again.

Thanks murasame,
Thats the advice I got from the Apple forums....
tried it but to no effect.

Any other suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Amedeo

Did they suggest you try a "safe boot" to run a file system ckeck/fix? http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393

more links at http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=24092

Yep, did that as well also to no effect....

totally stumped.....

Heeelp

Amedeo

Maybe something needs fixing by apps such as Disk Warrior or something. (yes, I'm pretty specific as you can see...)
You could also try to restore some apps by poping in the CD-ROM the OS X CD

I forgot: do you have multiple accounts on your comp or not?

Thanks murasame
no, no multiple accounts, just me.

Right then,
I've finally managed to get into OSX's firewall by using the root user function....
I have enabled the Limewire port there, and also enabled the Port forwarding feature in LW (so not the UPnP recomended option)...
When I ask for a bug report though, it still says that the receiving incoming messages false....

Any suggestions??

Amedeo

What brand of Modem - router do you have? Whilst LW's UPnP works well on modems that utilise that technology, not all modems that have internal firewalls such as NAT have Universal Plug and Play ability. Thus might require a port to be forwarded (opened.) Just a thought.

One way to check would be to connect via dial up if your isp provider has that type of backup service. I presume you have an internal modem. This would by-pass the other modem. If your incoming was true after this then you know the issue is with your usual modem. But you should do the bug test after LW's been open for at least 20 to 30 mins.

By the way could I ask who your isp provider is?

Thanks LOTR,
No problem.
I am in Switzerland, so my provider is Bluewin, a part of the incumbant telecom provoder Swisscom.
I did wonder about the UPnP, so I did already the port forwarding.
My modem/router is:
Belkin ADSL Modem with Built-in 802.11g Wireless Router.

I'll try the bug report as u suggest after half an hour or so.

Thanks for the help

Amedeo

So you did or didn't forward a port on your modem? You probably have better instructions in your manual but: There's instructions here but these are basically for windows versions: http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm & of course you'd need to have a static ip for this to work. Then within LW follow Manual port forward instructions & sample image & 2 posts after that. ie: Opening Port 6346. (Manual port forward within LW was previously known as Force IP.)

I also came across these port forward hints for Belkin: http://www.adslguide.org.uk/hardware...f5d7630-4a.asp & also these results & Support

Hi LOTR,
Ok so I went through the reading you suggest, and I figure the best thing to do is to enable the feature called 'Application Gateways' in the Belkin router. This is what the blurb says:
"it allows a set of port forwarding rules to be pre-defined, but only to become active when traffic on a specific outgoing port is seen"...
It asks me for the trigger port and the public port, which are both I presume 6346...
Also it asks for the 'Type' for both of these (trigger & public) and the options it gives me are TCP or UDP.... can you let me know which I should choose?

Just to let you know I tried enabling the UPnP option in the Belkin (and changed the relevant LW pref) but it made no difference, so I figure this Application Gateway is the best way to go.

Thanks

Amedeo

Both UDP and TCP should be allowed. see http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...=&postid=81714

btw--re the System firewall being greyed out, disabling the root password is often advised.

Thanks Steif,
Well, I chose TCP for both and now the bug report shows "Received incoming this session: true" so I guess its all ok now.... Unfortunately it only allows me to pick one or another....

Thanks to all of you for all your help

Amedeo

Odd. Does it allow you to add a new entry and make that one UDP?

Good to hear though that incoming is now allowed.

Yeah Steif,
I thought of that just after I posted, so I have now set up 2 lines, one for TCP and one for UDP...
All seems to be fine and dandy now!!

Amedeo

Good to hear. Happy sharing, and best wishes with the greyed out firewall setting. Just a belated thought: your wireless card (Airport?) functions as a firewall, IIRC. I wonder if the AirPort Admin in your Utilites folder (or whatever controls the wireless card on your Mac) has taken over controlling the firewall/port forwarding functions, so that is why your Firewall settings are/were greyed out.

Cheers

Thanks Stief,
and also to all the responders, you guys have been great. As for the firewall setting, it is a little strange, but since i discovered the root user thing, i'm not too worried as i can access it from there....
Had a look at the AirPort Admin, but it doesnt seem as there is anything there that fits the bill

Thanks again

Amedeo

Wow!
This is amazing!!
I am now connected to 29 peers!!
Before, the most it would ever get to is 4!!
What does this mean....?
I imagine that the dl speed will not be directly affected, as i suppose that that is more affected by how many users have the dl file and their connection speed.
But ...
It must be good for something else....
Can anyone explain please?

Thanks

Amedeo

hehe--you are now an UltraPeer.

You probably won't see much difference in your searches and downloads, but you are now handling the traffic that gets directed to the leaves. Pretty soon you'll see a # of leaves connected. You'll be shielding them from the flood of requests passing through the network.

For fun, turn on the incoming searches in the monitor pane to see the searches flowing through the network. Your machine will pass on those searches to the relevant leaves. You can also doubleclick those searches.

Cool eh?:p

hahah... very cool.
Tell me something, is that also why my internet has slowed down some?
Time for pages to load, fwd and bck buttons etc.?

Ah--you shouldn't notice much of a slowdown, unless you are sharing a lot of popular files.

Limit the uploads to ~ 85% of your available upload speed (in the upload preferences). IIRC, you tested at ~90KB/s upstream, so try setting your throttle at ~70-80. You shouldn't notice much slowdown in browsing the web then.

If this slows the uploaders down too much, limit the number of slots available so they can get increased speeds from you. You can change the settings on-the-fly so see what works best by watching the uploads in the Monitors page.

Btw---you will want to keep an eye on your bandwidth, especially if your ISP has applied monthy bandwidth caps or throttles. Check with them (mine allows 60 GB/mo and I check the usage page that they provide daily ). With a similar connection to yours, running as an UP uses a bit less than 1 GB in 24 hrs.