Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

pezzonovante · 2013-12-10 17:53:29

I have a router which allows me to connect my laptop through WiFi. I haven't enabled port-forwarding as I don't know enough about networking. In Windows, using uTorrent, I can download any torrent without any hassle. The downloads start very quickly. But on Arch, I have tried using rTorrent, Transmission and Deluge, but with every client the download takes a *long* time to start -- often 6 or 7 hours. Eventually, once it *does* start, it downloads in full speed.

I did a lot of searching on this topic, and suspected it was due to uPnP which rTorrent does not support. So then I tried with Transmission and Deluxe -- both of which support uPnP ( I checked in preference that uPnP was enabled). However, the result was no different. The exact same torrent which starts downloading immediately in uTorrent in Windows is taking hours to start in Arch. I don't use any proxy or fancy network settings in Windows. So it's not that.

I'm finding this very frustrating, and would dearly love a solution. Thank you.

Pierre · 2013-12-10 18:23:01

Are we talking about the Arch Linux ISO torrent here? If not, please try that. Also check if your clients are able to contact the tracker. It's possible that your ISP blocks certain ports or even protocolls. (for that latter enabling encryption might help). Did you try ktorrent yet?

If this is about ilegal downloads though, please ask elsewhere.

pezzonovante · 2013-12-10 18:29:13

Yes the clients can't download any torrents including the Arch Linux iso from the official website.

With rTorrent, the tracker takes a long time to be connected. But how can this be due to my ISP blocking ports when uTorrent can download torrents just fine on Windows? In fact, even on Linux I can download torrents -- just that it takes several *hours* for the download to start.

As an update, I have gone to Transmission preferences dialog, and checked with various ports. Every port I have tried returns the test result as "port is closed". I don't know why this is the case.

alphaniner · 2013-12-10 18:39:42

Every port I have tried returns the test result as "port is closed". I don't know why this is the case.

UPnP not withstanding (I know nothing about it), this is because you're behind a router. This is where Port Forwarding comes in to play.

The fact that things work correctly in Win but not in Linux would lead me to believe that UPnP isn't working correctly with the Linux clients. But as I said I know nothing about UPnP. My advice would be to configure port forwarding on your router.

pezzonovante · 2013-12-10 19:06:21

Yes, I guess that will be my last option. If nothing works, I'll try using uTorrent with Wine to see if can download torrents.

dodo3773 · 2013-12-10 20:20:24

The reason utorrent starts downloading quicker initially is because it announces to multiple trackers simultaneously. This hasn't been implemented in most other torrent clients (all other torrent clients?) because it breaks standards (also it is considered abusive by some multitracker network administrators and also considered a waste of bandwidth and resources server side). Other torrent clients (deluge for example) go through multitracker torrents one tracker at a time. This is the norm. All that being said I believe utorrent is the only client (at least the only one I know of) that will do what you want. On the other hand there is no way a torrent should take up to 7-8 hours to get a response from an announce. Do you use iptables or pgl? In my setup I had to allow port 6969 for torrents.

pezzonovante · 2013-12-11 07:53:33

No, I haven't ever done anything with iptables or pgl manually. I don't even know how they work to be honest. Does the default Arch install set up any firewall that prevents torrents from downloading?

Last edited by pezzonovante (2013-12-11 07:54:26)

dodo3773 · 2013-12-11 07:58:07

pezzonovante wrote:

No, I haven't ever done anything with iptables or pgl manually. I don't even know how they work to be honest. Does the default Arch install set up any firewall that prevents torrents from downloading?

No I do not believe so. I do not have these issues you are having though ((referring to the hours of waiting) I use deluge).

brebs · 2013-12-11 08:48:51

Just run this, to show the iptables setup:

iptables-save

pezzonovante · 2013-12-11 09:17:58

OK, a few updates. I have installed uTorrent with Wine, and as expected torrents download fine with uTorrent just like they do in Windows. Then I researched on a few more Bittorrent clients for Linux, and decided to give qBitTorrent a try. And suprisingly, qBitTorrent also manages to download torrents without any issue. So, I can conclude that both uTorrent and qBittorrent have some feature in common that rTorrent, Transmission and Deluge lack.

EDIT: Just seen the Wikipedia article which compares the features of various torrent clients, and found out that Transmission, rTorrent and Deluge lack *lots* of features that uTorrent and qBittorrent have http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison … Features_I

Here's the output of iptables-save:

# Generated by iptables-save v1.4.20 on Wed Dec 11 15:14:34 2013
*filter
:INPUT ACCEPT [142895:83210347]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [139958:16916785]
COMMIT
# Completed on Wed Dec 11 15:14:34 2013

Last edited by pezzonovante (2013-12-11 10:05:14)

dodo3773 · 2013-12-11 20:27:59

Well it definitely looks like you have iptables on your system. Try turning the service off and testing and see if it makes a difference.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-12-10 17:53:29

Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#2 2013-12-10 18:23:01

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#3 2013-12-10 18:29:13

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#4 2013-12-10 18:39:42

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#5 2013-12-10 19:06:21

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#6 2013-12-10 20:20:24

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#7 2013-12-11 07:53:33

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#8 2013-12-11 07:58:07

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#9 2013-12-11 08:48:51

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#10 2013-12-11 09:17:58

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

#11 2013-12-11 20:27:59

Re: Torrent downloads take a long time to start with every client

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