Sharing Between Friends
 

Hi all,

I am trying to share some files with a specific computer (machine 2) using the Gnutella network. Both machines are running LimeWire v4.18.2 - would like to stick with this version.

I have shared the files on machine 1, and set port forwarding manually - Limewire says it is NOT behind a firewall, and also tried with uPnP (router shows this has worked and LimeWire says it is NOT behind a firewall).

The files appear to be shared in LimeWire on machine 1. These are unique files, created by myself, so will have a unique MD5 and SHA1 hash. They have also been named uniquely, so that machine 2 can find them using the right keywords.

Now, I have only once (after 2 days of trying) been able to see the files when searching from machine 2, and connect using Direct connect to the IP address (Machine 1) sharing the files. Even when it did work, it didn't last for long (I did not disconnect from the network on any of the machines, and so don't understand why I stopped seeing machine 1 - possibly something to do with UltraPeers?); again, I am unable to find the files using the search, and am unable to direct connect to the IP address, which LimeWire is showing is NOT behind a firewall. I even tried placing the sharing machine in a DMZ, which produced the same result.

Can anyone shed any light on why this is not working? Does Gnutella segment the network, and you can only connect to ones within your own segment, or something similar to that? I have read much of the wiki but still not sure about the answer.

Both Machines are connected to the internet using different public IP addresses.

Thanks for your help.

Ps, Yes, I know there are better ways to share files between 2 machines, but I am using LimeWire for a reason.

Hi Nobody,

You said that machine 1 isn't firewalled, what about machine 2?

Do both LW's have chat enabled? For some reason this seems to help with Direct Connect. In LW tools > options > chat > tick to enable chat > apply > ok. Restart both LWs.

When you're entering machine 1's details into LW's Direct Connect on machine 2, are you entering the IP address followed by :listening port number?
You'll need to make sure that you enter the whole line of data that you see when clicking on machine 1's direct connect tab... eg if you saw 001.001.1.1:6346 then all of that info needs to be entered into machine 2's LW.

You could try changing listening ports. Tools > options > advanced > firewall. Use a port number in the range of 49152 - 65535 (eg 49064 & 65000). Click Apply > ok to save any changes & then restart both LWs.
Of course you'd need to re-do your port forwarding if changing LW's listening port.

Otherwise check out this link in case there's any info I've missed: How to use Bitzi Web Lookup .. & How to use Magnet Links & Direct Connect/Browse/Chat

:)

Thanks for your reply birdy,

Machine 2 has port forwarding enabled also - LW is showing as NOT firewalled.

I'm not sure about he chat options - it's a pretty much default LW installation, so if it's enabled by default then it may be enabled. Will give this a go on Monday when I get back in. And no, I wasn't trying to direct connect using the listening port, just the IP address, so thanks for that also.

I have played around with different ports on both machines, and do not think that will help, but will give it another go as last resort.

Thanks for your help.

Good luck with it.

Just don't forget the colon symbol between IP address & listening port ;)

I can't remember whether chat's enabled by default, so you'd have to check within LW's options.

If you're still stuck after doing all that, delete LW's preferences folder (on both computers) when LW's properly closed.
See point 3 here & also point 2 if you've used older versions of LW in the past (there could be a folder in either location).
Fixes for LimeWire

This will change all of your settings within tools > options, you'll have to go back through afterwards & reset things.

Right, just managed to have a go at this. Chat is enabled on both clients. Can direct connect absolutely fine, so long as I input the port number too... great stuff.

Now, the files being shared are the ones within the root of the 'Shared' folder, but not those which are within subfolders, even though the option is enabled.

Also, I am still unable to successfully search for the files which I can see being shared using Direct Connect.

It's one thing after another, lol.

Cheers

Search the files? A regular LW search will not reach the entire network. So yes it can be such that files you find via someone you direct connect to cannot be found via a regular LW search. Using Get More Results will help extend normal search results.

I'm surprised about the Private shared files. I have not used this process myself but guessed it should be the same principle to publicly shared files. ie: drag & drop the files or folders onto the Private Shared icon to share those privately.

Just refreshed this page and happened to be a reply just a minute ago - I must be psychic!

Thanks for your reply,

I suspected as much, and have been using the 'Get More Results' menu with little success still... will keep trying, as finding the files using keyword searches is absolutely necessary in order for me to continue my testing.

I think you may have misunderstood somewhere... I am not trying to Privately share the files, but publically, as if normal usage, just I want to be able to see the results from another machine, in order for me to carry out some tests. In fact, I haven't even seen a private share option in the version of LW i'm using.

Thanks