DimeFAQ:Frequently Asked Questions
From DimeWiki
General DIME related questions
Where should I ask a question that is not covered in this FAQ?
Please direct any other questions to DIME's mailing list or to the DIME moderator team as appropriate. For examples, questions about recording, handling and processing digital music, using BitTorrent clients, or seeking seeds for orphaned torrents are of general interest and should go to the list; on the other hand, the list membership can't answer questions about your account or your access or the permissibility of a particular torrent, so send those to the moderators.
- #otherquestions
What are the different user classes?
DIME uses the default users classes as they come predefined with easytree.org's EzTorrent tracker software. See article User Classes in EzTorrent for a detailed explanation.
What is "members-only operations mode"? How does it work?
Overview
On September 20, 2004, DIME changed its method for associating peers on torrents with usernames. There are no more anonymous peers listed only by their IP addresses. Every participant in a swarm must be recognized by the tracker as a known user.
We now have personalized dot-torrent blueprint files. Every user has a 128-bit binary keycode. When you download a dot-torrent file, or when you click the link to it to open it directly, the site will serve you a special version with your keycode built in. When you connect to a swarm, the tracker recognizes you by the personalized dot-torrent file you use.
We no longer depend on matching the IP address of a peer announcement with the IP address of a recent web page request, and that's especially good news for AOL users. You do not have to stay logged into the web site, nor do you have to refresh a web page before announcing just to get the right username into the peer list and correct accounting for your transfers.
Security Warnings
Do not share your personalized dot-torrent files with anyone else! When anyone opens one of your personalized dot-torrent files to connect to a swarm, all of his/her activity with it will accrue to your username and it will take up one space in your peer allotment. If two other people are currently downloading a torrent using your personalized dot-torrent file, you can't. Therefore you must never give out your own personalized dot-torrent files, or others can use them and wreak havoc with your ratio or keep you from downloading a torrent yourself.
Do not email them to other people; leave your personalized dot-torrent file out of any CD or DVD of the torrent that you burn for somebody else; and especially do not post your dot-torrent files anywhere. If you'd like to publicize a dimeadozen.org torrent, give out its link, such as <http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######&hit=1>, with the number of the torrent instead of "######". You can get the URL from your browser's address bar while you're looking at the torrent's page.
All members now can see their own current seeding and leeching activity in their profiles. If there is a torrent listed there that you have never been on, or which you exited more than an hour and a quarter ago, someone else might be using your keycode. To view your profile, click your username next to the words "Logged in as" in the top right corner of any DIME page. Another way is to click on your username wherever you see it in a peers listing, as the author of a comment, or as the uploader of a torrent.
If you suspect that anyone else knows your keycode or has a copy of one of your personalized dot-torrent files, change your keycode immediately via the link on your Account Settings page. First, disconnect from any DIME swarms you are in, log back into DIME if you are not still logged in, and then click "change your account settings" at the bottom left of your Control Panel or go directly to Account Settings. When you do that, all the dot-torrent blueprint files with your old keycode that you have previously downloaded will be unusable, so you'll have to download them afresh to get copies with your new keycode (just the blueprint files, not the entire torrent content). Then you can resume your torrents. It also might be a good idea to change your password at the same time, which you can do during your same visit to Account Settings.
Multiple connections to a torrent
No more than two different IP addresses may download the same torrent with the same keycode concurrently. The tracker will not allow a downloader on a third IP address to join a torrent with the same keycode if two others are already downloading it. There is no such limit on seeding: a user can seed a single torrent from more than two IP addresses at the same time, and the activity from all of them will accrue to that username, limited only by the maximum number of seeding peers a user may have on DIME at once.
Each one of any simultaneous connections to a torrent from the same IP address, whether the keycodes are the same (for example, you were disconnected from a torrent and returned before the ghost of your first connection timed out) or different (two users of the same home intranet are on the same torrent, but both have to announce with the router's IP address), counts toward its respective account's maximum simultaneous connections to all DIME torrents as explained elsewhere in this FAQ, but they are not subject to the provision in the preceding paragraph.
Uploading a new torrent
The procedure for uploading a fresh torrent is slightly different on DIME from trackers that do not use keycodes.
Create the dot-torrent file with DIME's unpersonalized announce URL: http://bt.dimeadozen.org/announce.php
When you add the torrent to the tracker, the server will initiate a download in your browser to send back your personalized version of the dot-torrent blueprint file. It will have the same name as the one that you sent to the tracker, and you can safely let it overwrite the one that you sent. Use the personalized version to seed; the unpersonalized one that you created for adding the torrent to the tracker will not be accepted for seeding it.
If you are reviving an old torrent that has been removed from the tracker and you still have your personalized dot-torrent file from it, it's all right to use your old personalized dot-torrent file to add the torrent to the tracker, but the server will still give you back a new personalized version, which you will need for seeding the new torrent.
- #membersonly (whole question) -- #metafileoverwrite (last subsection)
What is DIME's policy about users who sell bootlegs?
See article DimeTOS:Bootleg Sellers in this wiki.
Why should I donate?
Our tracker is open and free for all live music traders. But - of course - there are considerable running costs, especially for server hardware and the leased line connecting the server to the internet. We pay these costs out of our own pocket.
When you go back a little while, you had to buy blanks, envelopes, and stamps to trade for your preferred live music. You had to burn audio discs for your trading partners, listen to them for quality assurance, go to the post office and mail the packages. Later you changed over to shn, flac, or whatsoever, which sped up the burning/quality assurance step, but you still needed blanks, envelopes and stamps as well as time for queuing up in the post office. Now, considering all this, you are a lucky guy nowadays - you save a lot of money and time by using BitTorrent, don't you? So, why not give back a little to those who enable your savings to keep the service alive? Do you really want to do without it anymore?
A burden shared is only half a trouble
Joy that's shared is joy made double...
Michelle Shocked
To donate right now, go here.
Please don't forget to mail us your username after you have donated. We will need it for promoting your account to user class VIP.
See VIP Perquisites for a more detailed explanation.
- #whydonate
Is this site legal?
This site is merely a tracker. No files are hosted on this site. The tracker also has no way of checking the contents of any files which it tracks - it merely records the hash ID and the IP addresses of users connected to each particular torrent. It is your responsibility to check that the content of the files which you download is legal in your locality.
How can one obtain a copy of the tracker's source code?
DIME is powered by EzTorrent, which is coded and maintained by easytree.org. The source codes are available for free under no license and without any warranty. To obtain a copy of the source codes send mail to the developers. Please include to this mail:
- Your full name and snail mail address (postboxes are not accepted);
- The domain name, where you want to run EzTorrent;
- Full name and snail mail address of the domain's owner (postboxes are not accepted);
- Agreement upon not changing certain hard coded DB info like tracker name and code version and to follow open source policies by never selling the coding in whole or in parts.
You will then get your source codes copy in a zip file via e-mail.
- #sourcecode
DIME account-related questions
Is DIME membership closed? Every time I try to register, you're always full.
We are still accepting new members, but there is a cap in order to keep the load on DIME's servers (and the load on DIME's moderators!) at a manageable level, so that users can get the best possible service and support.
Every ten minutes around the clock a sweep runs that removes any accounts that have expired since the last run. DIME's home page tells you how many new accounts were opened in the preceding twenty-four hours, and that's a good gauge of how many openings there might be over the next twenty-four hours.
So keep trying, and good luck. We do not have a waiting list, nor (at this writing) an invitation system. You just have to snag a slot when one is available. We've found that if you keep trying for about thirty minutes at a sitting a couple of times a day it should not take long.
While you're trying, or as soon as you've registered, be sure to read DIME's Cautions for New Users.
Please note: some people have offered donations to get an account. We cannot accept a donation under such terms. We're happy and grateful when people who already are members help us cover DIME's expenses, but if we granted access in return for a monetary consideration, that would be just as if we sold bootlegs, so it is out of the question.
- #cannotjoin or #siteisfull or #ifsiteisfull or #gettingaslot or #tryingtojoin
I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail! What should I do?
If you are waiting for your signup confirmation mail, please check your Spam/Bulk mail folders and your Trash. Some e-mail systems, including AOL/Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail, love to put our confirmation mail in there! Please be sure you do not have your spam/bulk mail folders set up to delete spam/bulk mail immediately. (For example, on Hotmail or Live or MSN, set the Junk Mail Deletion option to Later.)
If your confirmation link doesn't arrive within two hours after you registered, please email the moderators and give your username and the e-mail address you used at signup, but not your password.
If a newly opened account is left unconfirmed for seven days, it is deleted from the system.
Meanwhile, you can take this opportunity to read DIME's Cautions for New Users.
- However, there is bad news for registrants who gave email addresses @freeuk.com or @interia.com.pl or @liwest.at or @multiways.com or @seekup.org or @spray.se: email servers for those domains categorically refuse mail from our bot. Your confirmation instruction message has bounced, and your registration was deleted for having an unreachable email address. You'll need to sign up again, using an email address that is not in any of those domains and not routed through them either.
- As of this edit on 2006-11-05, bad news for registrants who gave email addresses @zonnet.nl: Zonnet will not accept email mentioning the dimeadozen.org domain in the body. Therefore the message with your confirmation link was rejected, deleting your registration. You'll have to sign up again and use an email address not on zonnet.nl.
- As of this edit on 2007-03-06, registrants who gave email addresses @verizon.net are also out of luck. Verizon.net's email transports are refusing all mail from DIME's bot. You can receive messages from the moderator desk but not from the bot. So you won't get your confirmation link, and after you write to us for manual activation, you won't get your new temporary password. You'll need to reregister with an address not @verizon.net and not routed through verizon.net. Note: this has no effect on using DIME through an Internet connection provided by Verizon; it's only a matter of receiving email on their servers. Update as of 2007-09-30: we've given up on verizon.net and are no longer accepting their addresses for registrations nor for address changes on existing accounts.
- Other domains now blocked for new registrations or for address changes on existing accounts, for the same reason as verizon.net, are juno.com, netzero.net, and netzero.com.
- #noconfirm
I've lost my user name or password. What should I do?
Use the Account Retrieval form to have your username and a new password mailed to you. That password will have traveled in email (there is no way to avoid that), so as soon as you log into DIME, go to Account Settings and select a new password.
If the system tells you that your email address is not in our database, and you are positive that you're entering the correct email address for your DIME account, see this item elsewhere in this FAQ.
Unfortunately, we have bad news for members who are using email addresses @freeuk.com, @interia.com.pl, @iol.it, @juno.com, @liwest.at, @multiways.com, @netzero.com, @netzero.net, @seekup.org, @spray.se, @verizon.net, or @xs4all.nl: email servers for those domains categorically refuse mail from our bot, and whitelisting at user level won't help. Try very hard to remember your password, because if you request a new one, you will not receive it, and then if you remember your old one later, it will be too late and you'll be locked out.
If your email address is in one of those domains and you remember your password but not your username, write to the moderator desk; mail from the moderator desk is not blocked and we can send you your username (but do not include your password in your message to us). Those sites are accepting email from the moderator desk.
- #lostpassword
How do I update the email address on my DIME account?
It's a two-step process. If you do only the first step, your address will remain unchanged.
- Go to your DIME Account Settings page, either by using this link or by hovering over Account on any DIME page while you're logged in, then selecting My Account and Account Settings. Near the bottom is a box marked Email address. Typing carefully, enter your new address there. Click Submit Changes at the bottom of the page. Your address change is now pending and needs confirmation.
- The system will send a confirmation link by email to your new address. Follow the link. (If DIME asks you to log in, log in.) Then the address change will be confirmed.
If you do not receive the message with the confirmation link within one hour, email the moderator desk, preferably from your old address. Tell us your username and your old and new email addresses. We will respond with the appropriate instructions for the circumstances.
It is vital to keep a current email address on your DIME account. Failure to do so can lead to situations that result in loss of access or loss of privileges.
- #newaddress
I left an obsolete email address on my DIME account and now I've lost my password. Can you send my password to my new email address?
We don't have access to users' passwords. Even if we did, we couldn't send one to a different email address, because there would be no way to know that we're reaching the right person.
If you can arrange for the email address currently listed on your DIME account to reach you again temporarily (either for it to be briefly reopened for you, or for its mail to be forwarded to your current address), do so, and then request a new password and update your DIME profile. If you can't make such arrangements, and you haven't requested a new password yet, try very hard to remember your password. Either way, if you succeed, log in and update the email address on your DIME account.
If you've already requested a new password or you just can't remember your password no matter what, and also you can't arrange to receive email sent to the address on your account, then your account is inaccessible. Email the moderators to discuss whether you can be reliably identified as the user of the account. If you can, we can update the email address on your account and issue you a temporary password; if not, we may give you clearance to reregister. Do not open a new account unless we have said to! If we didn't, it will be subject to being banned as a duplicate account! If your old account wasn't of VIP rank, it will expire and be deleted 150 days after the last time you used it for a visit to our front end.
In the future, whether you get back into your current account or you have to open a new one, remember to keep a current email address on it. If you change email addresses yet again, don't neglect to update your DIME account!
- #doublewhammy
I signed up for email from DIME's mailing lists on Yahoo, or email from DIME about new uploads, but I don't want it any more. How do I make it stop? Will you take me off?
We will not do it for you, so here's how you can do it yourself, at another article in DimeWiki:
- To stop receiving DIME's direct notifications of new torrents (all or for certain categories), read this section.
- To stop getting email from DIME's discussion list, read this section.
- To stop getting email from DIME's notice list, read this section.
- #unsubscribe or #unsubscribing
Why can't I delete my account?
Accounts whose ratios are below the required minimum (currently .25), and accounts of Power User rank or below cannot be deleted by the user.
If your rank is Power User only because you're in your first thirty days of membership, write to the moderator desk and explain why you want your account deleted. If there is no other way to solve the problem and your ratio is at or above the minimum, we'll delete your account after you do a simple validation procedure.
- #cannotdeleteaccount
What is DIME's policy regarding avatars?
DIME's avatar policy is plain and simple. If a moderator or administrator does not like your avatar, it will be blocked. Afterwards, you do not have the chance to add a new avatar image to your profile anymore. To get a new one, you must send the URL of your new avatar by mail to the DIME moderator desk. The new image will be evaluated - and should it be approved - the moderators will restore your ability to change your avatar image on your own. But be aware! Should you change your avatar to an image that needs to be blocked again, you lose. There is no second chance!
- #avatarpolicy
How do I set up an avatar?
See DIME's Avatar Guide for answers to that and other common questions about DIME avatars.
Can my username be changed?
The username on an account cannot be changed. If you absolutely must have a different username from your current one, the only way is to delete your current account first (multiple accounts are strictly prohibited) and then open a new one.
Your stats will start over from 0 UL and 0 DL, you'll lose ownership of any torrents you posted with your old account, and you cannot edit or delete any comments you posted under your old account. Consider seriously whether a new username is still worth it now that you know that.
If you do go ahead and delete your account and open a new one, see article Early Promotion to Uploader for information about possibly regaining privileges on your new account without the usual waiting period. We suggest that you get in touch with the moderator team in advance, before you delete your old account or create your new one, so that you can establish your identity with us, to make sure we know who your new persona is.
- #changename
Was my DIME account deleted? I can't log in, and when I try to get a new password DIME tells me my email address is not found in the database.
Possibilities:
- Your account was deleted for inactivity because you went for 150 days without a visit to DIME's web front-end and you were not a VIP. Deleting unused accounts keeps the database compact and efficient for better service to members who are here using DIME. You don't have to do any downloading or uploading to keep your account in existence; just visit the site. There are no exceptions for users who used to have high ratios or extensive uploading histories, nor for people who feel entitled to special treatment: only for VIPs and for members who have visited the site in the preceding 150 days.
- You opened an account but didn't confirm it within seven days.
- The message with the confirmation link for your new account bounced back to DIME. Since the address given at signup was not reachable, the account was deleted.
- You didn't actually join the tracker: you opened an account on this wiki, or you joined DIME's discussion list or DIME's notice list, thinking that you were joining the tracker or that that would also create a tracker account for you at the same time. There are also at least two unrelated sites where many users get the false impression that signing up with them creates a DIME account automatically.
In those situations, the account does not exist any more or maybe it never did. It cannot be reactivated or reenabled. You need to sign up again. If you have difficulty getting a slot, see the related item elsewhere in this FAQ. After you reregister, note the above points so that you can make sure your new account will stay open.
- #accountgone or #noaccount
I'm entering the right username and the right password, but the DIME site keeps telling me they're wrong. I know my account wasn't deleted, because the system sends me a new password if I ask for one.
On a confirmed account
(For an unconfirmed your account, see below.) For an account that you have already confirmed and perhaps even used before, but where the correct username and password are not logging you in now, it is a cookie issue or a clock/timezone/calendar problem or both.
When your login attempts fail and we present our default front page for Visitors to you, scroll to the very bottom and look at the list of users who were active in the previous minute. If your own username is there, then you authenticated with the right username and password, but your login didn't stick. Reasons are (1) there is a problem with your cookie permissions, (2) you didn't override the default autologout and your clock or calendar or timezone settings are wrong, or (3) you didn't override the default autologout and you're affected by the problem that some Internet Explorer users have.
Cookie permissions
To log in or to move from page to page after logging in, you need to make sure that the cookie rules in your browser accept permanent cookies from www.dimeadozen.org. (Your software may use the term persistent or sticky rather than permanent.) If you run a software firewall that includes cookie controls, make sure that it allows permanent cookies from www.dimeadozen.org as well.
It may help to clear your browser's cache, to clear its existing cookies, to close and reopen your browser, or even to reboot your computer.
Clock, calendar, timezone and summer (Daylight Saving) time settings
You must make sure that your computer's date and timezone are set correctly, that it has the right selection for whether summer time (Daylight Saving Time as it is called in North America) is in effect, and that its clock is also correct to within a couple of minutes. Otherwise you may be able to log in only if you override the default autologout. After correcting them, close your browser and then reopen it to make sure that it knows the new settings.
Be especially careful about your timezone and your summer/daylight time rules, since it is easy to overlook them if your computer's clock display appears to be correct. If your computer's clock shows the right time for your location, but its timezone or summer/daylight time setting is wrong, your computer really thinks that it's the time when that hour was or will be reached in the effective timezone to which it is set. Very often users changing to summer time leave the system's timezone set for winter time but they fudge the computer's clock display to the right hour by summer time, which effectively makes the clock one hour fast.
As long as your cookie permissions are correct, use of certain browsers or of the override method in the next FAQ section will let you log onto DIME despite wrong settings for your computer's clock, calendar, timezone, or (lack of) summer time adjustment. But you still should correct them. If you don't, they are putting wrong timestamps on your files, they are putting wrong timestamps on your outgoing mail if you use a desktop email client, and they may give you similar login trouble on other sites.
Note to Internet Explorer users
Some Internet Explorer users, even if their cookie permissions, clocks, timezones, and calendars are set correctly, can log in only by overriding the default autologout, as described in the answer to the next item in this FAQ.
On an unconfirmed account
Have you just registered and not yet confirmed your account? An unconfirmed account can't be logged into, even with the right password. Find your confirmation instruction message in email to the address you used at sign-up (it might be in your spam folder), and confirm the account. If you can't find it, see our help for that problem elsewhere in this FAQ.
- #cookies #unconfirmed #cannotlogin
If I haven't requested or refreshed a DIME page in a while, or if I've closed the browser tab or window where I was viewing a DIME page, then when I try to refresh or visit a page on DIME, DIME tells me I'm not logged on and wants me to log in again. How can I stay logged on?
On DIME's Login page you'll find this checkbox:
If you leave that checkbox ticked, or if you log into DIME with the Quick Login boxes in the upper right corner of a page, then you will get a cookie that expires after fifteen minutes. Every time you pull up a fresh view of any DIME web page, the cookie will be renewed for fifteen minutes from then. But if fifteen minutes pass without your browser's asking for a DIME web page under your login, or when you close the window or tab where you were viewing a DIME page, you will be logged out as a security measure. This is to make sure, for example, that you don't leave your account accessible when you walk away from a shared computer.
You can override it if you log on through DIME's regular Login page and you untick the box, like this:
Then you'll stay logged on until you click “Logout” or you clear your browser's cookies.
- #autologout
Why am I not authorized to upload torrents?
Check your membership class in the upper right corner of any DIME page while you're logged in, or on your Control Panel. Only members of the Uploader class or higher can post new torrents onto DIME.
If your rank is Power User, and you have been a member for less than thirty full days, and you have never yet posted a torrent on DIME, the reason is not personal. Under the current configuration of EzTorrent on DIME, new members begin as Power Users and are promoted automatically to Uploader after thirty full days. We have found that new members, even those who are already experienced with BitTorrent from using other trackers, need to get used to DIME's procedures and policies before they upload their own torrents here. If you feel you are ready to post and seed a torrent now, read our instructions for requesting early promotion to Uploader.
Otherwise, if your membership class is
- Guest,
- User,
- Power User though you have uploaded a torrent here in the past,
or - Power User although you have been a DIME member longer than thirty days,
and you want to discuss the situation, then email the moderators from the listed contact email address on your DIME account, state your username, and ask us about it.
Your account status is a confidential matter between you and DIME, and we will discuss it only in email to the address listed as contact on your DIME account. Interference from anyone else will only gum up the works, and recruiting others to butt in will further impair your position.
- #cannotupload
Which torrents have I downloaded? Which torrents have been downloaded by a particular other user? Which users have downloaded a certain torrent?
Sorry, but we have no answers for those questions. When DIME gets legal threats, the complainants always want to know who received copies of the material that they claim to own. Therefore, for users' protection, DIME does not create such records in the first place.
If you want a log of your own downloads, you're free to keep one for yourself, but you won't find one here.
If you want a list of who downloaded a certain torrent, you're out of luck. If your reason is to know whom to ask for a seed, seed requests should be posted to the community and not sent to individuals. See this item in this FAQ.
- #whogotwhat
Torrent policy questions
What kinds of torrents are allowed on this tracker?
See article Allowed Torrents for a detailed description of content permitted on DIME.
What information does DIME require about a torrent?
See article Information Requirements in this wiki.
I have a digital satellite radio broadcast recording, a webcast recording, or audio material taken from a digital TV broadcast. Is it allowed to seed this recording on DIME?
First, of course, the torrent must be in compliance with DIME's general policies for permitted torrents and not in violation of DIME's list of prohibited bands and artists nor of DIME's list of prohibited venues and events.
From there our policies differ depending on whether the stream itself was lossy or lossless. CAUTION: Capturing a stream in a lossless filetype on your hard drive (for example, if you use Total Recorder) does not make the stream itself lossless. 10 ml of whiskey plus 740 ml of water in a 750-ml bottle are not the same as 750 ml of whiskey. The characteristics of the transmission determine lossiness, not those of the container that the capturing listener puts it into.
Because of this, lossy webstreams recorded as .wav with Total Recorder (or any similar software) are NOT allowed, unless certain conditions are satisfied.
Lossy streams
See article Circumstances Allowing Certain Lossy Audio Seeds in this wiki.
Lossless streams
The codec and bit rate of the stream must be stated in the torrent description and in the internal info file. If it is uncompressed PCM audio (example: the 1411.2-kb/s stream in WMA lossless from KEXP), you must divide it into tracks and compress it losslessly for the torrent, as explained at DIME's rules for torrents allowed on the tracker.
- #digitalstreams
What is DIME's policy for MiniDisc recordings?
See article Circumstances Allowing Certain Lossy Audio Seeds in this wiki.
- #minidisc
What is DIME's policy regarding reencoded videos?
A digital reencoding always involves a loss of quality, so DIME doesn't allow reencoded videos. A digital video must be shared in its original format, specifically :
- DVD-rips (DVD compressed to DIVX, VCD, SVCD, etc) are not allowed ;
- VCD/SVCD/DIVX/WMV/MOV/etc bloated to mpeg2 DVD are not allowed ;
- PAL to NTSC or NTSC to PAL reencoded DVDs are not allowed (Note: the PAL-M system used in Brazil is very similar to NTSC and is unlike PAL. PAL-M digital sources should be torrented in NTSC.)
- Some DVD authoring programs such as TMPGenc DVD Author 1.x do not re-encode the source videos, and versions 2.0 and later of TMGenc DVD Author do not always re-encode them. However, Nero does, not retaining the original bitrate. If you have a DVD compliant mpeg2 file, please use only a proper DVD authoring software to convert it to DVD, or share the original .mpg file.
This rule is relaxed in the following specific situations:
- DV-AVI or uncompressed AVI can be reencoded to DVD-compliant mpeg2 (preferably authored as a proper DVD). The torrent's description must make the original format appear clearly.
- When a PAL<>NTSC conversion is made during the digitalisation (VHS to DVD) process or during a direct capture, we accept it as long as no better version is available. However, if a direct PAL to PAL or NTSC to NTSC digitalised version appears on DIME or is known to be widely available to the trading community, we will consider it as an upgrade and ban the converted version on this ground.
- VCD-compliant mpeg1 can be authored as a DVD without needing a reencoding, allowing to merge many VCDs into a single DVD. Such a DVD is allowed, but to avoid a ban you need to indicate clearly in the lineage that no reencoding took place.
- High-definition video content may be torrented in its native HD resolution or in a downconversion to standard-definition 480i for NTSC or 576i for PAL; otherwise many downloaders will be able to play the material only on their computers and not in their DVD players. Do not reduce 16:9 shots to 4:3 if it's avoidable; and if it's unavoidable, letterboxing is a lesser evil than cropping the sides. When high-definition players and displays become more common, this relaxation may be eliminated. Please also note that our required information for high-definition video is slightly different from that for standard-definition video.
If you have questions or doubts, consult the moderators. Do not act on your own decisions or wishes without our clearance.
- #reencodedvideo
What is DIME's policy regarding specifications/limitations taper-friendly artists/bands put on their taping/trading permissions?
When an artist does the taper/trader community the courtesy of explicitly allowing some taping and trading of their performances, DIME returns the courtesy by respecting the specifications/limitations that the artist puts on that permission. The policy must be stated explicitly and unequivocally, either on the artist's own web site or in direct communication to DIME from the artist or his/her/their management. We cannot rely on third-party reports nor on undocumented assertions said to be commonly accepted among the artist's fans. Unclear language that is open to varying interpretations (as seems to plague many artists' web sites) will have to be construed as draconically as possible in order to protect DIME.
- #artistpolicy
I have {artist}'s show performed on {date} [or the boot {name} by {artist}]. May I seed it on DIME?
If it meets DIME's general policies for permitted torrents, and it complies with both the prohibited artists list and the prohibited venues and events list, and it is not already on DIME (and that means not on the dead list either), then yes.
But to find out whether those criteria are satisfied, uploaders have to do their own research. The moderators are a small team of volunteers, giving our spare time when we can, and we can't take on the workload of researching all potential torrents for all users who might post them. Contrary to what many members seem to believe, DIME does not have an all-inclusive master list of every recording ever made. We'd just have to do the research, same as you.
So no, an uploader can't merely identify the performance (or even less helpfully, the name of the boot) and then dump the rest of the work into our laps.
If you need help with specific questions - for example, you aren't sure how to interpret something you find out about the material, or you have the facts but you aren't sure how DIME policy applies to the situation - by all means ask us, but tell us where you've already looked and what you've already found out. For example, if your question is whether your analysis screenshots indicate lossiness, attach them; if your question is whether certain information means that there's official content, give us the link to it and explain why you're unsure.
When you are doing your research, remember to compare your material to DIME's definition of official content. DIME's definition may differ from your own, from one that you are used to, or from that of another tracker.
- #mayiseedthis, #mayIseedthis, or #wouldthistorrentbeok
I uploaded a torrent, but now someone is telling me that s/he taped it, or mastered it, or remastered it, or edited it, (or authored it if it's a DVD), and doesn't want it torrented and is ordering me to take it down. Is my torrent going to be banned now?
Only if the uploader wants it banned.
The rights in unreleased live material belong to the performer; the rights in unreleased studio material, unless otherwise assigned by the recording contract, belong to whoever incurs the financial detriment for the studio use (which usually is the performer, and that will be our presumption in the absence of disproof). Capturing it or processing a recording of it does not strip those rights from the original holder nor grant them to anybody else. Tapers, masterers, remasterers, editors, and DVD authors acquire no control or authority over the results of their processing, and no one has to obey their claims or orders.
If you are the uploader then you have some authority over your own torrent, so if you learn about that person's demand, and you choose to comply because you wouldn't have posted the torrent in the first place if you had known how s/he felt about it, and you ask us to ban the torrent, we'll do it for you as the uploader; but somebody else might upload a new torrent of it who doesn't care what that person says.
If you are a taper, editor, remasterer, or DVD author, and you claim control over someone else's performance, and you want a torrent removed because it was posted without your permission or even despite your orders not to, consider this:
- Your position is that, by repackaging and redistributing someone else's performance, you tricked the artist out of the rights and vested them in yourself.
- But the torrent uploader has in turn repackaged and redistributed the music, so if things work the way you say they do, the uploader has wrested the rights from you and vested them in him/herself.
- If we're right that the authority stays with the artist, you never had it; if you're right that ownership and control pass to each person along who repackages and redistributes the music, you don't have it any more. Either way, you have no standing to forbid or restrict further dissemination.
- #tapersaysno
There's a torrent which might violate tracker policies. How do I report it?
If someone else uploaded it
If the torrent is not already banned, you'll find a Report torrent link at the end of the torrent's details, just before the comment section starts. Please click it for a form to report the torrent to DIME's moderators. In the explanation box, include whatever information you have about the infraction. Thank you!
If it's your own upload
If the torrent is not already banned, you'll find an Edit torrent link at the end of the torrent's details grid, just before the comment section starts, and on your Control Panel (the "User CP" link) you'll also find an Edit link for each of your uploaded torrents. Go there, and at the foot of the Edit Torrent page there's a deletion request form. Fill out the form in detail and submit it by clicking the "Delete it" button. The moderator team will figure out whether the torrent should be deleted, banned, or left alone. In most cases, a violation that was reported by the uploader does not count as a mark against him/her, so you're well advised to tell us yourself before another user spots it and notifies us.
If the torrent is already banned but you know or suspect an additional violation
If the torrent is already banned, the violation report form and the deletion request form are not accessible. Therefore, Email the moderator desk with all details, and -- this is very important -- include its DIME torrent ID number in the subject of your message and preferably again in the body.
- #reportatorrent
DIME banned a torrent of a show that ran here in the past. Why is it forbidden now if it was permitted then?
There are quite a few possible explanations, and they divide into three categories:
- Circumstances have changed since the date of the original posting.
For some common examples, perhaps ...- our policies are different now;
- the artist is on our prohibited artists list now but wasn't then;
- the location or the event is on our list of prohibited events and venues now but wasn't then;
- an official release of the show has come out in the meantime,
or
- a superior version is now circulating among collectors.
- The old torrent is still on DIME, or an upgrade of it is on DIME now.
In these cases, the new torrent is a duplicate or a downgrade and should not have been posted. See this item elsewhere in our FAQ. - The old torrent was in violation back then as well.
Maybe it went unreported, and it should have been banned but wasn't. Maybe it did get reported and banned, but you had already completed your download and you didn't notice.
If you are going to repost material that ran on DIME or EZT in the past, you can't assume that it was OK then, much less that it is OK now. You have to compare it to our current policies and research it afresh for official content and lossiness.
- #thatwasthen
Share Ratio related questions
I have uploaded 2 days ago more than 1 GB and so did I yesterday. But my share ratio hasn't changed, how come?
Since the tracker is running in members-only operation mode, this won't occur anymore.
What is SRE ("share ratio enforcement") and how does it work?
As long as your cumulative ratio is 0.25 or higher, you're allowed to join a torrent as a leecher. Any member of User rank or higher who has a complete copy of a torrent may join it as a seeder, regardless of ratio. Any member of Uploader rank or higher, regardless of ratio, may upload and seed a new torrent.
The rest of this answer spells out the rules for letting a user with a ratio below 0.25 join a torrent as a leecher. If your ratio is 0.25 or higher and you keep it there, you don't have to read the rest of this answer.
The SRE rules are based on an enforcement cycle. A cycle is 5.00 GB for users of Uploader rank or below, larger for VIPs. You can find out the size of your cycle on your Control Panel (or click [User CP] in the upper right of any of DIME's pages after you've logged in).
Whenever your total download reaches a multiple of your cycle size, you can't join any more torrents as a leecher unless your ratio is at least the required minimum (currently 0.25). You can raise your ratio by seeding torrents where you already have a complete copy, or by uploading and seeding new torrents of your own. Once your ratio is high enough, you can enter a torrent as a leecher again, at least until your total download gets to the next multiple of your cycle size.
The tracker makes its decision when you try to join or rejoin a torrent; it will not kick you out of a swarm if you're already inside it. Any downloading you do is treated as part of the cycle you were in when you entered the swarm. However, the enforcement rules can potentially prevent you from rejoining a swarm after you leave it, even if it happens involuntarily (for examples, a system crash or a power failure). We recommend that you keep your ratio well above the minimum and that you not flirt with the limits.
See article Illustration of enforcement calculation for a detailed explanation.
- #sre
How can I raise my ratio?
There are four basic ways to increase your ratio:
- Keep your window open long enough after you have completed downloading.
- Return to a torrent which you have already completely downloaded. Do it as follows:
- check the torrent's details if it is still active (are there leechers around?)
- open the .torrent file with your client, and point it to the right directory/folder so that it recognizes that you have already downloaded it, and start to seed: see Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide.
- If a torrent that you've downloaded has since expired from the tracker due to inactivity, and it meets our current rules, and your account is authorized to add torrents to the tracker, you are welcome to repost it. You have to create a new torrent and upload it onto the tracker. You can find a short "How to..." manual how to create and upload a torrent here.
- After you have been a member for thirty days, you can create and upload a torrent of material you own, but which is not currently on the tracker (be sure to include dead torrents when you search), with the same procedure as under #3. Of course, make sure the material adheres to DIME's tracker rules.
- #raiseratio
I'm in share ratio violation, and I don't have any complete downloads -- or there no longer are any downloaders on the torrents where I do have complete copies. Why can't DIME let me onto a torrent where I have a partial copy and let me share out of what I have without downloading any more myself, until my ratio is high enough to download again?
That's a nice idea in theory, but the BitTorrent protocol doesn't give a tracker that ability.
Suppose we let you into the torrent, and in order to keep you from downloading, we don't give your connection info to any of the current seeders, and we don't give you their connection info. That much would be possible, but it wouldn't do the job.
You see, for you to do any sharing, we have to hook you up with the other downloaders. Once we do, just as you can send them the pieces that you have and they don't, they can send you the pieces that they have and you don't, and we have no way to prevent it. If your client had a way to prevent it (and no client that we know of does) we would have no way to know whether you're using that setting. Also, whenever one of the other downloaders completes the download and becomes a seeder, we can't force you and him/her to disconnect from one another, so now you'll have a connection with a seeder and you can download the whole rest of the torrent.
The only way to block you from additional downloading while you're in share ratio violation is to keep you out of a swarm unless you arrive with a full copy. To complete a partial download, you'll have to get out of share ratio violation first.
- #sharepartial
I'm trying to seed my own torrent, and DIME tells me I have to download it first. But I'm in share ratio violation, so I can't download. So how can I seed it and spread the music and improve my ratio?
There are two different definitions of downloading involved here, so your confusion is understandable.
The kind of downloading you can't do while you're in share ratio violation means getting torrent pieces from other peers on torrents with your BitTorrent client. If it's your own torrent, you wouldn't download its content anyway: you already have it.
The kind of downloading that you need to do now is different: fetching a file from DIME's front-end with your web browser. Share ratio violation doesn't prevent you from getting your personalized dot-torrent file and seeding. If you did that and now your BitTorrent client shows you an error message that you have to raise your ratio first, that's not because you couldn't download the personalized dot-torrent file; in fact, you did get it, but now you have a different problem, so see this other item FAQ item.
If you passed up the chance to get your personalized dot-torrent file for your own torrent, see this subsection of another item in this FAQ.
- #nocatch22
I'm in share ratio violation and I'm trying to seed a torrent of my own. But DIME still gives me the same "raise your ratio" error message as when I try to download. Can't I even seed my own torrent?
This is actually a combination of two problems.
Because you're in share ratio violation, you can enter a torrent only if you come in as a full seeder with a complete copy of the content. Of course you expect to be one; it's your torrent and you have the seeding source.
But there are two common mistakes made by inexperienced seeders that cause them to try to enter their own torrents as a leecher instead of a seeder. And then, since you're in share ratio violation and you can't enter a torrent as a leecher, you can't get into your own torrent.
So the solution is to enter your torrent as a seeder. To do that, you have to determine which of those two mistakes you've been making, and that is the same situation as the next question in this FAQ, so continue reading for further instructions.
Note: this situation is not a defect in the dot-torrent file, and deleting and reposting will not magically fix it. For most types of seeding problems deleting and reposting do not help at all, and the rest of the time they help only if you know exactly what you did wrong and what to do differently.
Now, read the next question (first one in the next section) for the links to the rest of the answer:
- #cannotseedinsrv
Torrent upload related questions
I'm checking into my own torrent as a leecher -- what can I do?
- If you are checking in as a leecher at 0% completion:
- See article 0% problem for possible causes and solutions in English language. For advice in French language see article Problème 0 pour cent. For advice in Italian language see article Problema dello 0 percentuale. For advice in German language see article 0 Prozent Problem.
- If you are checking in as a leecher at approximately 99% completion:
- See article 99% problem for possible causes and solutions in English language. For advice in French language see article Problème 99 pour cent. For advice in German language see article 99 Prozent Problem.
- #leechmyown or #leechingmyown
DIME is rejecting my torrent of FLAC files because the fingerprint file has a name ending in .txt or .ffp.txt instead of .ffp. What can I do?
under Windows
Speek's Flac Front-End for Windows and Mike Wren's modification of it force a .txt filetype extension when they save a file of fingerprints. If you specify a name ending in .ffp, Flac Front-End just adds ".txt" after that and you get a name ending in .ffp.txt.
Unfortunately, by default Windows is configured to hide filename extensions and not to let you change them. (As a result, if the filename ends in .ffp.txt, you'll see only ".ffp" and you may think it's OK, except that its icon will be the one for the .txt filetype.) Here are some ways to take care of that:
- Set Folder Options in Windows not to hide filename extensions for known filetypes, and then rename the file to a name that ends in .ffp instead.
- Open the .txt file with Notepad, select File->Save As, and save a copy with a name that ends in .ffp. This works even if Windows' Folder Options are still set to hide filename extensions. You can then delete the original .txt file of fingerprints that Flac Front-End created.
- Use Pierre-Marie Devigne's Filetype Changing Add-on,
or - Create your fingerprint files with Robert Hoffmann's Trader's Little Helper, which uses the correct extension.
under OS X
xACT defaults to the .txt filetype extension when it creates a file of fingerprints. You can override that when you give xACT the name under which to save the file. If you've already saved it with a .txt or .ffp.txt extension, rename it to end in .ffp instead. If you have Finder set to hide extensions, then in order to rename the file you have to highlight the filename, select Get Info, and expand the "Name & Extension" section of the Get Info window.
- #ffp.txt
I've added a new torrent to the tracker and am trying to seed it, but there's an error message saying, "download a new copy of the .torrent file from the tracker." How do I do that? Why do I have to?
- Note #1: if you use Azureus or Vuze, and it reports the status as OK: dht, that's a form of this same problem, and the rest of this answer applies.
- Note #2: the download a new copy or OK: dht message is normal at the end of the test when you test a torrent that you haven't posted onto the tracker yet. See the boxed area on our help page for the 99% problem. If you're receiving it after having added the torrent to the tracker, read on.
Why you need a new copy
See the FAQ item on members-only operation, especially the subsection on uploading a new torrent. To join a swarm on a members-only tracker like DIME, you need to use a personalized .torrent file. You correctly created an unpersonalized one for posting, and then we offered you the personalized file twice as you completed the upload process, but you didn't accept it either time, and you tried to seed with the unpersonalized version.
Therefore you need to download a new copy of the .torrent file from the tracker.
How to get a new copy
You can still get the personalized version that you need, and you can still seed the torrent that you've already posted. Go back to our page for your torrent: you can find a link to it on your Control Panel. Find the .torrent link on the Torrent File line at the top of the details, right-click (on a Macintosh, ctrl-click) on that link, and select Save As or Save Target As from the drop-down context menu that your browser will show you. Then you'll get a copy of the personalized .torrent file on your hard drive, and it's OK if it overwrites the unpersonalized one. Open it with your BitTorrent client, and, depending on which client you use, lead it either to the folder with your source files or to the directory that contains the folder with your source files. Your client will analyze your source files and should then start seeding.
- #downloadanewcopy or #okdht
I just uploaded a torrent and it's dead; or a torrent I uploaded was banned and the ban's been lifted but now the torrent is dead. What's wrong?
A torrent that hasn't been seeded yet is dead. So is a torrent where a ban was lifted but no seeder has announced since the lift. [See the preceding question.] If your new torrent or freshly unbanned torrent is on the dead list, that's normal. It will move to the active list automatically upon the arrival or return of a seeder -- you or anyone else who can seed it.
- #newbutdead or #mineisdead or #liftedbutdead
If something I want to seed is already on the tracker, should I make a new upload? What if the existing torrent is dead?
Almost always, no. BitTorrent is designed to work better the larger the swarm. Making people who want to share the same material split up into smaller groups defeats the purpose, and unnecessary torrents make the tracker's database bulkier and less efficient. Therefore, if there is already a torrent on the tracker of something you want to upload, even if it's on the dead list, do not post another torrent of it unless one of the situations described later in this section applies. If your files match the existing torrent, you can join it as a seed. If they don't match, someone who downloaded it can seed it, or if nobody seeds it, it will expire from the tracker eventually, and if it's already on the dead list, it will expire soon. Once it is off the tracker entirely and isn't even on the dead list any more, yours won't be a duplicate, and you'll be welcome to post it, as long as it meets DIME's rules for torrents allowed on this tracker.
Another torrent of the same performance may be posted only if it qualifies as an upgrade, an alternative, or a replacement under the four-day rule for an unsnatched torrent, as explained in the following subsections.
Upgrades
An upgrade is a torrent of a better edition, such as files from an earlier generation [for example, a pre-FM reel rather than a radio capture, or a lineage with no DAE in contrast to a rip from a CD-DA disc], or a correction of a conspicuous duplication flaw. When you post an upgrade, you must include a contrast clause (see below) at or near the top of the description. Once you have started seeding it, file a violation report on the old torrent to notify the moderators to take it down, and include the link to your upgrade's details page in the explanation box on the violation report form. (If the old torrent is also your own upload, file a deletion request form instead of a violation report and include the link to your upgrade in the reason box.) #upgrade or #upgrades
- Special note regarding alignment of track divisions in redbook audio torrents onto sector boundaries:
Many CD-burning programs can adjust for sector-boundary errors on the fly at burning time, and downloaders who prefer other burning programs can choose among several free utilities that correct sector-boundary errors in the source files, and an increasing number of audio collectors don't burn their files to CD-DA discs any more. Therefore, effective 2008-08-09, correction of sector-boundary errors alone is not in itself a sufficient improvement over an existing torrent to qualify as an upgrade, and such a torrent posted while the ragged original is still on DIME will be banned as a duplicate.
Alternative Versions
In some situations, such as captures from different microphones or cameras at the actual event, we may permit alternative torrents of the same performance. This is something we determine on a case-by-case basis. If you have questions, please email the moderator desk with full details of both filesets. Similarly to an upgrade, the description for an alternative source must include a contrast clause (see below) at or near the top. #alternative or #alternatives
The Four-Day Rule
There is one more subprovision to this policy, but it applies only if the earlier torrent has not been snatched. If all of the following apply to the torrent that is already on the tracker:
- there are no violations in the content,
- the Snatched count is 0,
- the Last Seeder activity is longer ago than four full days,
- and either
- the uploader has made no promise of returning to continue seeding, or
- the uploader promised to return but the time frame of the promise has run out, or
- the promised return is unreasonably distant or too vague,
then we'll allow one more torrent of the same material from a different uploader on the grounds that actually being seedable makes the new torrent an upgrade. (If it's from the same uploader, [s]he can seed the original or explain exactly what is wrong. A different uploader, presumably, will have a non-matching fileset.)
If the uploader has filed a deletion request form to notify the moderator desk that (s)he's given up on seeding the torrent and that you (specifying your username) will be posting a new torrent of the same material, we'll waive items #3 and #4 above.
Just like an upgrade or an alternative version, a repost under the four-day rule requires a contrast clause (see below) at or near the top of its description. #fourdayrule
The Contrast Clause
If you are posting an upgrade, an alternative torrent, or a replacement that meets the four-day rule, it must have a contrast clause.
The contrast clause is needed to make it clear that and how your torrent and the one already on the tracker differ from one another, so that users can understand the difference and make a choice, and so that users and moderators will both know that it is not just a careless duplication. Just saying "it's an upgrade," for example, without specifying what about it is better, is not satisfactory. Nor is it enough just to use two different boot names or some other implication of the variation without stating it in a contrast clause: not all DIME members are experts in the bootography of that artist and not all will catch the distinction.
To let users see the other torrent to compare for themselves, the contrast clause must refer to the older torrent's page by its torrrents-details.php link; something like "the other torrent" or "[other uploader's username]'s torrent" will not do the job.
The contrast clause must appear at or near the top of the torrent's description area as displayed on its DIME details page. The contrast clause is provisional information for this distribution, and it is not permanent information about the content itself, so do not include it in the torrent's internal .txt or .asc file.
A torrent that repeats or overlaps the content of another torrent already on the tracker, but which has no contrast clause or an incomplete one, is at risk of being banned as a duplicate or for lack of information. It is neither the other members' nor the moderators' duty to go over the two torrents' descriptions with a fine-toothed comb, much less to download them and compare playback, in order to figure out exactly how they differ. The uploader of the later torrent already knows the differences, and it is his/her responsibility to state them.
A contrast clause is not needed when a technical or content difference is stated clearly and succinctly in the page titles of both torrents. For example, if one torrent's page title says "DVD" and the other says "FLAC"; or one says "16-bit" and the other "24-bit"; or one reads "AUD" while the other reads "SBD" or "FM"; or one title reads "discs 1 & 2" and the other "discs 3 & 4," then there's satisfactory explanation in the page titles alone. However, two different microphone models or camera models named in the page titles are not enough, and the later posting will still need a contrast clause, because not all DIME members will recognize those as models of microphones or cameras. Likewise, two different boot names will not do the job either, because they do not describe the distinction: the later posting still needs a contrast clause. Additionally, if the difference is indicated in only one of the page titles and not the other (for example, the 24-bit torrent says "24 bit" in its page title but the 16-bit torrent doesn't mention it in the page title), that is not enough, and the later posting still needs a formal contrast clause, unless the earlier torrent is also yours and you edit the distinction into its title as well.
Some examples of contrast clauses:
- This torrent has additional material from the same show that isn't in http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######.
- This torrent comes from pre-FM reels and is an upgrade from the FM reception in http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######.
- This capture is by a different taper on different equipment from http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######.
- This audience recording is an alternative to the soundboard torrent at http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######.
- This recording of an analog FM broadcast is an alternative to the capture of a digital stream at http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######.
- The four-day rule has kicked in on the torrent of this show at http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######. #contrastclause
Some bad examples and wrong ways to write a contrast clause:
- This torrent differs from http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=######.
(just an assertion that a difference exists without saying what it is) - This torrent differs from http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=###### because this torrent is such-and-such.
(without the counterpart information about the other torrent to explain that it is so-and-so instead of such-and-such)
- #alreadyontracker
General bittorrent/downloading technical questions
What is BitTorrent, and how do I use .torrent files?
Before you can use this site, or any other BitTorrent site, you must know what BitTorrent (BT) actually is, how it works, the programs needed and the methods involved. All of this information can be found at Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide (also available here in a different layout).
- #btfaq
What are common errors I will encounter every now and then when using BitTorrent?
See DimeWiki article Common BitTorrent Error Messages for a detailed description of common BitTorrent error messages.
How many DIME torrents may I be on at a time? I get error messages saying "too many peers" or "bandwidth too narrow."
Note: in this usage, a peer means an appearance of you on a torrent; it doesn't mean "another person like you." If you are on ten torrents, and you have only one appearance on the tracker for each one, and in each torrent you have connections to eight other users, you have ten peers, not eighty.
To reduce system load and to discourage inefficient use of the BitTorrent protocol (see article Too Many Torrents at a Time in this wiki), DIME puts the following limits on the number of peers a user may have on DIME torrents at once:
- Your total peers on DIME may not exceed fifteen (twenty-five for VIPs) at any time;
- A user with ten peers (fifteen for VIPs) or more currently seeding may not enter another torrent as a seeder;
- A user with ten peers (fifteen for VIPs) currently leeching may not enter another torrent as a leecher;
- As stated above in the FAQ item about members-only operation, a user may have leeching peers on a single torrent from a maximum of two IP addresses at a time;
- Users with a history of high bandwidth can, under certain circumstances, have higher limits. The calculations are complicated, and characteristics of the additional torrents that you are trying to join are factored in. Thus, even if you have a very fat pipe, you might not always be able to exceed the standard peer limits for your user class, or you may not be able to exceed them as far as you might expect.
Some specifics:
- Paused torrent jobs may or may not be counted, depending on how your client implements its pause function. Stopped torrent jobs that sent a proper STOP and queued jobs that have not sent a START are not counted, even if they're scraping. Ghosts of inelegantly dropped peers will count until they time out; you can speed that up by resetting your keycode, but it usually isn't worth the inconvenience.
- Whether you are seeding or leeching is gauged at the time you enter the torrent and is added to your then-current statuses on other torrents.
Here's an example, using the limits for a non-VIP: If you are seeding nine torrents and leeching three, and you complete your three downloads and become a seeder on those torrents, you can have twelve peers seeding at the same time and you can be a seeder on those twelve torrents for as long as you stay in the swarms. These rules will not kick you out of a swarm that you're already in. But if you exit one of those torrents, or you fall out of one involuntarily, and you want to re-enter it, you have eleven other seeds going and you won't be able to get back into the other, nor enter yet another as a seeder, unless you leave at least two of the eleven and pare your number of seeding torrents to nine or fewer. It won't matter that you originally joined some of them as a leecher; you're a seeder on all of them now.
Note to µTorrent users: when a leeching peer completes a download and becomes a seeder, µTorrent sometimes sends STOP and START events instead of a COMPLETED event. Thus your peer exits the swarm and tries to return, so if you already have ten other seeding peers, it can't get back in. As of this writing it appears that the problem can be avoided by using Forced Start when you enter a torrent as a leecher; then at completion µTorrent will send COMPLETED rather than STOP plus START.
- #maxtorrents
Why does my client stop uploading when the download of a torrent has completed, even though there are leechers?
Maybe your ISP is one of those using a technology called "Sandvine," which throttles your upload speed once the download has completed. You can read more in articles Traffic Shaping and BitTorrent Protocol Encryption in Wikipedia, in article Avoid Traffic Shaping in Azureuswiki, and in arti