BearShare Connect Fix installer
 

March 2023 update: The installers have been changed to one for BearShare 5.1 Beta and one for all other BearShare versions. This new installer is an online installer in that it obtains up-to-date collection of hosts from a gWebCache. It will also install an updated list of gWebCaches for BearShare to access (this list can be easily updated in future.) These installers only grab non-BearShare hosts so connecting to other BearShare hosts will be down to luck. If your BearShare starts by using either BearStart or BSLoader then you are using BearShare 5.1 Beta. All other BearShare users should use the standard BearShare ConnectFix. (If unsure go to the Programs / Program Files (x86) folder, if the folder is called 'BearShare Test' then you are using 5.1 Beta, otherwise you are using the standard BearShare.) Wrong choice will create unnecessary and unused program folders.
BearShare must be closed when you run this connectfix. Administrator permissions required to install.

First thing to do is port forward your modem-router (default port is port 6346 or 6348, but you can choose any random port up to about 60000.) Don't worry if you do not connect to other BearShare clients initially or even on the first run. The important thing is to get connected and the longer you stay connected the better your next run will be for connecting (and also the better the chance for connecting with other BearShare users.) Connecting might be slow at first, be patient.
Edit: I fixed the bug with BearShare discarding 90% of the non-BearShare hosts and 70% of the UDP hosts upon first run.

If you ran BearShare during same session before running the Connectfix and BearShare does not connect well, reboot your computer and use the Connectfix again. ;) In fact, I find a computer reboot helps on other occasions also for connecting.

Edit: Choose between regular BearShare or the BearShare5.1 beta in the installers once you've reached the download website. Three download site options:

1. Download via MediaFire BearShare ConnectFix, BearShare Connection Fixes via MediaFire

2. Mirror site: Find the Connection installers "here" via SaberCat.

3. (a) BearShare ConnectFix (Please note, you need to be a free member of 4Shared to download from their facilities.)

3. (b) BearShare 5.1 Beta ConnectFix (Please note, you need to be a free member of 4Shared to download from their facilities.)

BearShare 5.1 Beta ConnectFix is only for the 5.1 beta that starts with either BearStart or BSLoader. All other BearShare versions should use the standard BearShare Connectfix. These installers are online installers in the respect they update their host connect data at least once every hour, so you can keep your connectfix in case you need it again in future. If you receive a message that the host file failed, ignore it, it is only due to being unable to find BearShare ultrapeers. A common result!

Keep in mind most BearShare versions require port forwarding for both TCP and UDP to operate properly. ;)
(Find your modem/router brand and model, skip the advertisements, then find BearShare on the list of applications to port forward for.)

To check if your BearShare needs port forwarding, find the port BearShare is connecting with then go to this site: Open Port Check Tool and type in the port number your BearShare is using.

Once connected, you should see a static green light top-right of the BearShare window. If this is yellow, it means you are firewalled and need to port forward your router for both TCP and UDP.

The longer you stay connected to the network, the easier you will find it for connecting in subsequent sessions.

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/attach...firewalled.gif . . . http://www.gnutellaforums.com/attach...indicators.gif
If using BearShare 5.1 Beta: If you do not connect to 30-45 Leaves (can be affected by available bandwidth) & the indicator far right is yellow, then you are firewalled. You must port forward a port in your modem-router to fix this. Otherwise your presence is damaging to the network & not good for your BearShare experience. You will be blocking everyone's search messages including several of your own search results. (Scary discussion about firewalled ultrapeers here.)

If you see the Network indicator show that you are UDP firewalled for periods of time (but not permanently) then don't worry too much about it. From what I've read, UDP has advantages over TCP for ease of connecting and uses far less bandwidth however the disadvantages are (1) UDP has a tendency to lose information packets. No doubt BS UDP tests sometimes fail because a test packet sent to another client was probably lost during transmission or sent to a firewalled host. (2) Another major reason is due to test packets being sent to hosts that are firewalled leafs (ie: very poorly designed UDP test tool within BearShare.) My BS sometimes starts off or during a session spends 5-50 mins UDP firewalled but is usually only temporary. BS should never at any time show TCP firewalled.


Safety first: Note: If you are new to using BearShare, it is recommended you help protect yourself from the major spam and ping sources via an up-to-date Hostiles block list. http://www.gnutellaforums.com/open-d...-limewire.html. This hostiles block list will block out a a high percentage of spam and also help prevent the other activities of the RIAA and MIAA sponsored anti-file-sharing companies. Installer is available for ease of putting the hostiles file in the right place for BearShare users. The Hostiles file is presently being updated at least fortnightly (that equates to every 2 weeks for USA english speaking persons lol.) I have since packaged the BS 5.1 Beta installers with a 2012 Hostiles installer. Updates of course will be provided in the link suggested above. And see bottom part of this post Hostiles and your firewall about firewall protection. Some firewalls allow you to specify blocks to apply only to a specific program (such as BearShare.) ;)


Since March 2012, 4Shared has changed to a member's only allowed to download. Membership at 4Shared is free, unless you want premium services. I have also provided Mediafire and SaberCat mirror download links, choice is yours.

If the above installer title dates are old, it's usually because I forgot to update this post. But the installers will most likely be reasonably up to date. Sometimes I update the installers just a day or two after I did a major update for them, or even several times over a week or more. (I will occasionally update the installer files on the fly (well, not totally.) Though the download links for the folders will remain the same.

My approach for the connection list is to attempt to collate hosts who have Static or Sticky Dynamic addresses. Some ISP's use Sticky Dynamic IP Addressing and do not change the IP address very often, anywhere between a month and a year. It is pointless including host addresses that will change within 1 to 7 days. I try to identify which are the same hosts via their shares and port numbers and location and similarity of addresses. My connection list is a little artificial in that I prioritize those that are mostly online, particularly static hosts and push them further up the top of the list. But yes there are also hosts that only try BS out for a week or so which is unfortunate. The good thing about BS is once you connect to one BS peer, you will usually connect to others very soon after as the peer gives your BS a list of known/detected BS peers online. Sometimes if BS is being stubborn to connect to BS peers, I manually add them one by one from a connection list into the BS connection window.
I am sometimes puzzled when I have connected to a peer several times on different BS's on different Windows and they are not added to the BS connection list despite the list only being half full. And that host may have been online without stop for 5 consecutive days. It makes me wonder about BS's host caching logic. Edit: Discovered the reason for this, if BS 5.1 Beta users are firewalled BS will not add them to its connection file.
.

Not of great importance and you can ignore this issue: Just a small note about the GWebCache file. Some listings will clash with others and the result will be duplicate host listings in your connection file. I have had up to 10 listings of a single host in the Connect file (with same ports) with the only difference being time online. And I am convinced there is at least one GWebCache host site that gives out-of-date information. I have not yet figured out which one.

If you are concerned, then if you delete all the listings of sites in the GWebCache file, within days, BearShare will create its own list. These should be trustworthy.

I have had 4 BS's running so I have been experimenting with the GWebCache hosts since before I created this thread topic and have some confidence in some that are at least acceptable. I decided to remove the GWebCache file from the installer before I released the above installer publicly.

was having trouble connecting on windows 7. downloaded BearShare Connect Fix installer connected instantly. just want to say lord of the rings you rock!! thank you very much.

Thanks for letting me know gwill :) I appreciated the feedback.

what version of windows are you running and what bit? also which bearshare?
need to know!!
thank you
edit: @ lord of the rings. when i did the "BearShare 5.1 Beta ConnectFix March 2012" it connected on the first run. BUT said "need more sources" when downloading (win7 and XP).. whatt2do??? thanks
ps.
im on XP (dualbooting)
edit again:: bearshare 5.1.0 (from filehippo) with "Regular BearShare ConnectFix March 2012"..after 2 restarts and 5restart of BS it worked!!
but hasnt worked since

The "need more sources" would just be unlucky choices for downloads or else the persons who had the files when you originally downloaded them are presently not online.
Search results probably remain on the network for a minimum 30 minutes after someone has left, so sometimes you choose a file to download and the person is actually no longer online. Else, the person has upload slots set to zero and some people do do this unfortunately. And some clear their shares during their sessions online or at the end of their session.

As for the connection file, it is not perfect. I've been using my own custom approach for it for better or worse. But note that I have been updating them on a regular basis up to now. I have been trying to avoid adding hosts that regularly change their host address.

I am still very much in 'learning' mode about how BS connects. I have a suspicion the program may also use the 'hosts-state' log when connecting. This file gives details about which hosts the program was last connected to. If this is the case, I may add a customized 'hosts-state' log file to the installer also. I will need to test if this is actually the case. I have a suspicion if the log file has hosts not listed in the connection file, BS may panic a little.

If anybody has advice, please feel free. :)

The "need more sources" doesnt even work when theres 100 sources
Attachment 5885

After choosing to download, have you tried pausing and then restarting the download?
ie: in the download window, right-click choose Pause, wait several seconds. Then right-click and choose restart.
And used the Search Again option?
I'm not a whiz on using BearShare.

its working. i dont think left it on long enough.. how long do you recommend to keep it running on the first few times?
thanks works great!... only thing that (i see) that still doesnt work is the date doesnt change back

I guess it depends on the particular system. My clock/date time can take a little while to change back but it does change back. Double-check it from time to time to see if it's changed back.

How long to leave BearShare running? The longer the better! This helps build up a good bs connection list and also lists your client as being a client that connects for good periods and is more inviting to connect to. I see clients that stay connected for many days non stop. But they run as Peers. And they are invaluable to the network, especially for other BearShare users. :) BearShare shares its own list of best BearShare hosts to connect to. Some of these run as Leafs from time to time.

The same is true for any gnutella client. The longer you leave your program running, the better you are seen overall on the network, and the better the program should run after it's been connected for some time. If running as a Peer (ultrapeer), then UDP host sites will list you highly if you stay connected for long periods. Thus you would find it easy to connect and others would seek to connect to you. The longer a gnutella program has been connected to the network, usually the better the search results. (Unless you are unluckily surrounded by spam peers/hosts.)

* An important note about those who use BearShare is to connect to the network at least a couple times a month so your connection list stays up-to-date. I have noticed that 90-95% of the BearShare host addresses change over a 2 month period.

There are 'flash in the pan' users who try BearShare out for the first time but do not return. There are some who are casual users. And of course, there are dynamic hosts who change their address, some frequently. And there might also be some who only occasionally connect as Peers but connect generally as Leafs.

As for my experiment to attempt to create a connection list concentrating on static hosts, it is a little too difficult since there does not appear to be enough static bearshare hosts out there that connect as Peers and are consistent users of BearShare. I will keep trying for the time being. The idea of my list is to help those get connected for the first time or if they have not used BearShare for some time and are having connection problems (ie: connection list out-of-date.)

And as mentioned in my previous post, the longer you stay connected to the network per session, the better you will be seen as a good host to connect to. BearShare records the amount of time each user stays connected to the network and the GWebCache host sites will keep a rating system for the most reliable hosts to connect to, transferring the time they have spent online etc. If a user has not been online in over a week then their rating might go down.
Edit 5 March 2014: the above rating system only applies if you are not firewalled. BearShare will not cache the connection details of BearShare 5.1 Beta users who are firewalled. I've been manually adding such hosts to the connection file to keep the list as up to date as possible, even if that means firewalled ultrapeers, which is not good for the network. But keeping them listed below the non-firewalled ultrapeers. Obviously the BearShare ultrapeer population is not very large.

Peerless commented to me that if you cannot connect to BearShare hosts first time, restart BearShare and (hopefully) you will find them easier to find and connect to.

i can vouch for what Peerless says about restarting bearshare and the computer. the only issue that still remains a problem for me is the date change.

The date-change is something File_Girl71 would need to fix. I know it can be slow to change back for some people and maybe not change back at all. It may take some minutes. It is only supposed to take 10 seconds or so. It might depend on a particular person's system set-up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord of the Rings (Post 367989) The date-change is something File_Girl71 would need to fix. I know it can be slow to change back for some people and maybe not change back at all. It may take some minutes. It is only supposed to take 10 seconds or so. It may depend on a particular person's system set-up.

i did find this: Make Windows synchronize time more often . but it only works for the time and not date.
Anyone know if a program that syncs the date?

GWebCache sites
 

I checked 36 GWC's and out of those some were dead, some still active, some unsure (these sites might not be configured for standard human contact.) Out of the unsure gwc's, 4 had websites but no indication of hosting and perhaps even totally unrelated topic websites (possibility of the domain being sold).

14 Dead
11 Unsure
11 Still active

I am still convinced at least one still active GWC (if I can call it active) is giving out-of-date information. Two of my BearShare connection lists (Win 8 + 2000) contain many hosts at top of the list from January but mostly from December and earlier (nearing a year old). One of my BS work lists is colour coded so a quick look to see when they were last seen (or a specific search for last exact date seen.) The Windows 8 list I started from scratch with just a dozen (or less) of active BS hosts a month or two ago. I was interested to see how it built up the list on its own.

Of course I have considered that I might simply not have seen such hosts and perhaps some of these hosts might still be active. However, I have major doubts that is the entire reason. The portion of the BS community that runs as peers does not seem to be dramatically large.
And then there's the occasional one I spot via another program that had not been seen before.

I do not like the way BS caches hosts locally. I have mentioned this before. And I suspect this contributes to the BS connection list going out of date fairly quickly. As examples, I can be connected to a host I've seen several times over a week or two but they are not to be found on the connection list. I can be connected to a host for a day or two, and they are not cached locally. I can be connected to a host who has an uptime of 6 days and they are also not to be found. I find myself manually adding hosts to the connection list. sighs
I also see decent reliable hosts rated lowly.
Perhaps this behaviour was limited to the BS 5.1 version, I don't know. But when the host list is only half-full and BS does not consider adding hosts for some unknown reason, it leaves me wondering and in no doubt why BS cache goes out of date fairly quickly.
The only logical reason I can think of why BS does not cache a host that has an uptime of 2-3 weeks and I've been connected to them for a few days is they are TCP firewalled. And thus not considered a worthy addition. This might happen if using BS 5.1 or earlier and not port forwarded which is a necessity. I doubt it is only a UDP firewalling issue as BS's UDP tests appear to fail rather frequently. ie: I've read whilst UDP is more bandwidth friendly, it is also known such UDP messages can get lost in transit rather easily. Not surprising when you consider the hammering hostile hosts give BS.
Edit 5 March 2014: Firewalled ultrapeers are not added/cached to the connection file. This is one reason many BS peers are not added to the connection file by BearShare itself. Those using BS 5.1 Beta must port forward the port they are using for both TCP & UDP or else, they will be firewalled. Other BearShare versions would simply not allow the program to become an ultrapeer if it were firewalled.

Auto Host 86.2x8.1x3.126:18335 ("gtk-gnutella/1.0.1 (2013-12-31; GTK2; Linux x86_64)") dropped: response code: 403 'Not a network member'. That's how GTK-Gnutella peers respond to firewalled BearShare 5.1 Beta ultrapeers! Handshake connection failed, communication between dropped.

I'd be curious to know where BS gets its local caching information from, other peers or gwc. ??? :confused:
(It would not surprise me if the 5.2+ versions were deliberately designed to pass out bad connection caching data. Whatever the causes are, it is definitely a problem.)


Edit: 20 June 2013:

Host in x.x.x.x ("GNUCRAWL (crawl)") Replied to crawler.
-- Handshake 1 IN --
GNUTELLA CONNECT/0.6\r\n
User-Agent: GNUCRAWL (crawl)\r\n
X-Ultrapeer: False\r\n
Query-Routing: 0.1\r\n
Crawler: 0.1\r\n
\r\n

-- Handshake 2 OUT --
GNUTELLA/0.6 503 Full\r\n
User-Agent: BearShare 5.1.0b25\r\n
Peers: xx.x.x.x:6346,xxx.x.x.x:6348,…,...,.. etc.

So BS does communicate with such crawlers after all. (I was using Win 8 at the time, not one of its happiest days re: FW indication for UDP. BS had crashed before a reboot.)
It listed the peers then leafs I was connected to. Then 5 suggestive peers to try. One of these was a specific USA host address listed (not a range) on the Hostiles list. Hoorah. lol ... 20% failure rate. At least not as bad as GWC which tend to be saturated with hostile hosts. Some GWC's I've seen are really bad for such hosts. But as might have crossed your mind, the other 4 hosts suggested might have been proxy addresses, ie: possibility of a hostile crawler giving out bad data. The crawler itself was using a dynamic 24.x.x.x ip range. . (FYI all the 5 hosts used standard ports 6346 x2, 6348 x3. Germany, Poland, Belgium, USA x2)

Crawlers should be set up with both ip and port filters so they can be trusted.

Proxy addresses make it difficult. But I've had an idea for a long time, just wish I could program. :D They can be detected with the right tools and I've already posted such evidence on the forum quite some time ago where a proxy (hostile host) user was clearly shown with both their addresses. This is different to the standard gnutella protocol check for false/fake host addresses.

Volunteers wanted for updating BearShare connection file
 

With a BearShare ultrapeer population of only about 20, I find it a little pointless continuing with the updated connection installers. To my knowledge, BearShare reserves 18 connection slots for BearShare peers out of a total of 26. I doubt I've ever connected to more than 15 BearShare peers at any time.

About 3/4 the peer population have dynamic addresses. And over half the peer population use the BS 5.1 Beta & are firewalled because they're too lazy to port forward their routers (BS 5.1 beta 'requires' port-forwarding.) A TCP firewalled ultrapeer is very damaging to the network. Because the BearShare peer population is so small, I feel obligated to include these firewalled peers on the connection file despite no other program including BearShare does this.

I spend much of my time arranging the non-BearShare connection hosts. But this seems almost totally irrelevant because BearShare concentrates upon finding hosts via GWeb sites. Hosts from the connection file are given very low priority.
As for the BearShare hosts on the connection list, many stay there in hope they might return 'lol'. Because otherwise the host size would only be about 20 hosts.

It's not only the very small & always changing BearShare peer population that's disappointing, but probably much more-so all those hosts who are firewalled ultrapeers. That just makes me feel ill and want to walk away. "!" "."

I realise the connection list is not only for ultrapeers, but also for leafs.

There seems no lack of BearShare leafs, in fact I've spent many a long session (4+ days) trying to help out catering for their needs to connect to at least some BearShare ultrapeers. BearShare's 38 reserved leaf slots for BearShare leafs out of 45 are always filled rather quickly whether I run one or even four BearShares. BearShare v.4 apparently would only connect to other BearShare hosts. There just isn't enough BearShare ultrapeers now, nor is there enough good ones who are not firewalled & blocking everyone's search messages.

Time for me to move on. Perhaps someone else might volunteer a connection list periodically if you care for their community. ;)

(I have a very high respect for those BearShare ultrapeers who are relatively long timers & are not firewalled. I love your dedication!)

Connection installer now packaged with gwebcache file. How to port forward
 

The connection installer is now packaged with a gwebcache file set to Read Only. BS has a built-in default list of almost 40 GWCs where most no longer exist and the few that do are not compatible with BS's out-of-date GWC request approach. Whilst BS might still occasionally dig into its default internal list, this is still better than total failure. Upon testing no errors were recorded either in BS console or program functioning on Win 8, XP or 2k.

Some people are unaware that the BS 5.1 Beta is not a simple plug-in & run program, but instead it requires port forwarding your modem-router before general use. This is not an if or but, it is a MUST do scenario. Firewalled ultrapeers do considerable damage to the network. But this is so easily fixed by port forwarding.

Port forwarding is not some complex scientific mathematical formula! In most cases it is actually quite easy and you will realise this after you have done it.

Whilst Port forwarding is a must for BS 5.1 Beta, it is also beneficial for those running any other version of BearShare. BS's UPnP adopted in later versions does not work for everyone. After port forwarding you will notice the dramatic difference and improvement in BS's performance.

Port Forwarding steps:

1. Set up a Static internal ip address (no this is not your external ip address.) The internal address is what your computer uses when communicating with the router and other computers on the same network (such as your partner or children's computers.) Internal addresses might be something like 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, etc. or 10.1.1.2 where the modem-router's address would be the first in line, example: 192.168.1.1 or 10.1.1.1
Guide on setting up a static internal address:
How to Setup a Static IP Address in XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Game Consoles

2. Forward a port.
The default port to use for gnutella is port 6346 (or 6348), however the BS 5.1 Beta we link to on the forum has its port set to 6348 which would be the easiest for you to use.
Using another port? Some ISP's that filter file-sharing content might monitor or filter these ports. A safer port range to use would be anywhere between a five number port of 20000 and 60000. Examples are ports 23835 or 37140 or 53192, etc.
If you should choose a different port, you will also need to make adjustments within BearShare's settings. ie: BearShare's menu bar, Setup, Connection, and change the port number in the box at bottom of that window to match the one you used for port forwarding. A restart of BS would be required.

Port Forward guide:
Router Port Forwarding Guides
(1) Choose the brand of modem-router you use (click close to the advertisement top-right of screen.) (2) Then choose the model of modem-router you use. (3) Then choose the program you are port forwarding for. Obviously BearShare in this case under the B menu portion so scroll down to that part. Now you can follow the instructions with the variations I have suggested earlier about which port to use.

In regards to setting up a static ip address, if you do not do this before the port forwarding process then the port forward rule will be designated to a particular internal address that rarely matches your computer in future. Here's an example of someone who forgot to set up a static ip address http://www.gnutellaforums.com/host-c...tml#post373809 and just recently saw them non-firewalled again 18 months later (that's how long it took.)

I am presently connected to 10 BearShare ultrapeers and 17 BS leafs. Out of the 10 BS ultrapeers only 3 are not firewalled. This simply should not even be allowed to happen. Please try to not be one of the damaging firewalled ultrapeers. How to know if you are not firewalled? Check the Light-like icon top-right of BearShare & it should be green, not yellow or red. If you are an ultrapeer then you should be connected to 3 or more BS leafs and a total of 11 or more leafs. (If an ultrapeer & connected to less than 3 leafs after an hour, you are firewalled!)

Do not forget to set BS to be allowed through your software firewall.

Hostiles: I removed the full-Japanese hostiles from the hostiles installer because the majority of BearShare users need as many hosts as they can to try to connect to. Japan represents one of the very best countries for the best of hosts to connect to. I am still hosting this particular hostiles but not at mediafire. If you are an experienced BS user and insist on the full block then you can find it at 4Shared (need to be registered at & logged into 4Shared to download the designated file.)

BS host-file bugs: I know I've commented about the BS host caching system before. But just to show how poor it is, two BS ultrapeers: one with uptime of 14 days and other with consistent uptime of 24 to 48 hours consecutively, have average uptimes of 38 mins and 80 mins respectively. Resulting in the best BS hosts at the bottom of the host-file. Obviously a severe bug with BS's host-file management.
There's other bugs also, such as multiple host listings, disregard of the hostiles when adding hosts to the host-file, and adding BS ultrapeers also to the non-BS list. The host-file also seems to obtain out-of-date host data with BS ultrapeers that have not existed for years (this might be due to a rogue BS ultrapeer.)