I think you hit the nail on the head. BearShare versions below 5.2 did not have UPnP support, thus you need to port forward a port for both UDP and TCP in your router.
The ...
bForcedUltrapeer = Yes ; Forced Ultrapeer mode
I think only applies to the 5.1 beta version. I suspect it was put in for testing purposes only.

Those who use BearShare 5.1 or below who do not port forward their router/modem for the incoming ports will be firewalled & damage the network by blocking search messages & also greatly reduce their own experience on the network.

I mean when you use any version that's not the beta, to become an ultrapeer, you have to open the port in your router.

Something else you can keep in mind. BearShare has an expiry date for connecting immediately as an ultrapeer. If you have not used BS for 28 days or longer, I'd recommend opening the program for just 15-30 seconds & then closing, then re-opening. This will refresh the expiry date on becoming an ultrapeer. Recheck the Freepeers file as File_Girl noted to be sure you are still set to become an ultrapeer before re-opening BS (the expiry period if surpassed will change these settings if BS is not closed fast enough.)
This especially applies to the BS 5.1 beta but also applies to other BS versions in regards to the expiry date.
Alternatively, change the expiry date to zero.
The expiry set to zero will only have an effect on the first opening.
The BS community needs as many fellow BS ultrapeers as they can get. And preferably peers that are not firewalled. You can check by hovering your mouse cursor over the far top-right indicator (as shown in the two images of this connection installer post.)

The expiry is 28 days.

Edit 22 Feb: My BS crashed 4 days ago on XP. Next opening saw this in BS Console, which is what this post refers to (do not add the following details to the file!):

Set m_bEverUltrapeerCapable=false because old value expired

m_bSessionUltrapeerCapable == false
m_bUltrapeerMachineRequirements == true
m_bEverUltrapeerCapable == false
bHostLimitsUPCapable == true

Listener is not firewalled, and BearShare detects MS ICF firewall software running.

In this case I still connected as an ultrapeer however.

I've had a BearShare Pro 5.0.2.3 connected to me for over 4 days as a leaf. The only reasons they would not become an ultrapeer are (1) they set the program not to become an ultrapeer, or (2) they are firewalled.
BearShare versions prior to 5.2 definitely did not have UPnP support & need to be 'port forwarded' so BS is not being impeded by a firewall blocking its incoming & outgoing TCP & UDP messages. This includes the BS 5.1 beta version.
And it's my guess if you are an ultrapeer but connected to less than 5 Leaves, then you are firewalled. Try to fix the this! Yes, port forwarding. It works, so don't hesitate in trying! You'll be surprised by the difference when not firewalled.

Why BearShare program "can not connect"? ; (I have version 7.0.0.57940 for Windows XP ???

version 7.0.0.57940? I don't think it's a Gnutella network version, it's only for the semi-commercial proprietary iMesh network instead of gnutella. According to Wikipedia's BearShare history section, as of June 12, 2016, BearShare is no longer available to download. The official page remains active with a message announcing its discontinuation. In effect, that network has closed down. Besides this your version sounds like a very old version that ran on that network and not on the Gnutella network.


As for the very, very old Gnutella network versions from mid last decade, the BearShare user-base is now incredibly small. Back in January the most BearShare ultrapeers seen over a week was less than 15. Most connecting as an ultrapeer at one time was usually between one and 12. Over half used the BS Beta version and at least half of those firewalled.
Leaf population was around 200 or less.

Always important to realise that BearShare requires port forwarding your router for the same port the program is using. Recommended even for the 5.2 and 5.3 versions which had a very early version UPnP approach but not totally reliable. In regards to port forwarding, although port 6346 is the default port, it might be best to choose a port to port forward & set within the program to use within the 20000 and 60000 range. Just off the hand random number like 43923, etc.

BearShare when running as an ultrapeer reserves 18 out of 26 slots for BearShare peers and 37 out of 45 for BearShare leafs. Since there's not that many BS peers around, connecting as an ultrapeer could expect an overall maximum peer count of around 20 or less.

As of the past 2 hours I have had one BearShare 5.1 Beta operating (first time since January.) I am connected to only 8 peers and 8 leafs until a short time ago when after an hour I was able to connect to a 9th leaf; a BearShare 5.2 leaf. Although I did connect to a couple of BS peers over last weekend using another program & another couple over past 10 days.

Edit: After 5 hours I am now connected to 8 BS Peers & 18 BS Leafs.
Edit: And then next day a relatively fast connection: You will notice the indicator window showing neither UDP or TCP firewalled. On the other hand, if you look at the Leaves total of other BearShare ultrapeers in the far right column of the image attachment, those that have less than 3 leaves are obviously firewalled BSBeta users. I can connect to over 10 BS leafs within 10 mins and they can't connect to more than 2 after a day's uptime. Two BS peers have zero leafs connected to them as you can see from the image attachment (they are firewalled; as are any BS peers with less than 3 leafs.) 5 firewalled BS ultrapeers in the 2nd last image.

BearShare used a built-in list of GWebCache sites. Only two of these are still active. If you set up a custom GWC file, BS tends to either add the built-in list to the list in settings or totally overwrite the file. I've experimented with making the file 'Read Only' in properties.

If anyone wishes to try the Up-to-Date GWebCache list file feel free to.
The file needs to be placed into the db folder within the BearShare program folder. Recheck the file's Properties to be sure it's Read Only, if not change it to be thus.

One disappointing fact to know is that BearShare uses an out of date approach for requesting hosts from GWebCache sites. I know it fails with a couple of gwc sites (excluded from the list) but probably not all. At least one GWC has not been upgraded for many years.

Attached Files

gwebcache.dat (288 Bytes, 427 views)