anniebags57

Hi mudman, it's a while since I've been doing things. Downloaded your suggested software Burn X Free - looks really simple and nice Mac interface. I have however had a problem straight up in that it is not recognising the optical drive in my Mac - have you come across this problem? I've sent a query off to the company so I hope to get some help from there but just thought I'd ask...... Hope you doing OK. cheers Annie

Thanks mudman, that's great. I probably will want to burn it so will hunt up that software suggestion.....Thanks again for all your help.

that's OK shug. I've got mudman's advice to try and nut out (I hope I hear back from him about my queries) and somone at torrentportal has recommended some Mac software that looks (at a glance) to be a good way of tackling this job..... But that's for tomorrow....... Thanks again

Hey again, I used the quote feature and realise that I got some of my ongoing queries mixed up following your quotes - sorry, I know that makes it difficult to read - would you mind reading the whole post...... Hope I have been clear in my queries. Cheers again Annie

Hey All Thanks again for your help. Very much appreciated.. Shug...no from all the research I did, I don't believe it is copyrighted - it is certainly not available commercially as I checked (I actually like to just go to my local media store and buy things in nice neat packages off the shelf - easier and you get neat booklets and stuff too (ain't I a sucker for the marketers!) The songs are all available on You Tube and I know how strict they are in removing any copyright material. Shug, the link you provided to Active ISO Burner indicates that it is for Windows and I am running Mac so wouldn't be compatible - is that correct? Mudman, thanks very much for your instructions - I have never done this on my Mac (just lack of experience/need): Can I just clarify, that I create the burn folder (have done that) and drag the CUE and BIN files into that folder and then there will be an instruction that simply says BURN. I am assuming when you say the files need to be in the proper format before they can be played from the DVD that CUE and BIN files are such files? Can I also just confirm that I need to drag BOTH the CUE and the BIN file into the burn folder? Since my post I did some more research and I understand that the CUE file points to the BIN file (sounds like I know what I'm talking about but actually I have no idea what that means lol!). The BIN file says it is 346.7 MB but isn't that the compressed/archived size? Do I need to unzip it before I burn it from the Burn folder? I don't have toast (have relied on just the freeware within my Mac to date as have not needed any special burning capabilities...... Thank you all very much for your help. This is by far and away the best forum I have ever been on for technical help when I am starting up with something that is new..... So much appreciated. Hope to hear from you. Cheers Annie edited to fix quotes

You have all been so helpful to a newbie to BTing and as I have not been getting much (read no help from BT client forums), I'm back here again to ask for advice. Having said that about BT, I did write directly to BT (I wrote to the advertising department! as no other email address seemed relevant) because the manuals I was reading bore little resemblance to the Mac interface and I did get a very quick and clear response from BT, clarifying that yes, the manuals were for the Windows client and giving me the heads up that I should go to utorrent - I know someone here (shug?) recommended that to me.....so that's something else to do.... Anyway I have been successful at downloading a VCD file (an Allman Brothers concert from 1970 - very special if you are into them). However I have never worked with the type of files that have come out of the downloaded torrent and want to get a DVD done asap as you can imagine! There are two files - a BIN file (which seems to be an archive file that needs to be opened - I haven't done that yet) and a CUE file - I don't know what sort of file this is.... A Google search revealed a product called BLINDWRITE, which says it can do the trick but I cannot find anywhere on their site to say whether it is Mac compatible. Nor is there a contact means for them. Anyway, can anyone make any recommendations re where I go from here. Note am running Leopard on a Mac. Thanks muchly in advance. Good to be here. Annie

Hi mudman and shug, thanks so much again for your help. I'm using Bit Torrent. You each recommended other client software - transmission and utorrent respectively. But since my post, I have successfully completed 1 torrent and the other is proceeding albeit slowly (probably because I think not a lot of seeds where I got it from - am now getting hang of searching torrent sites (as well as general googling - it is amazing what people have on their blogs to share) and know to look for lots of seeds. Have to also check my download speed with my ISP.... Thanks again. Hope I won't have to bother you again. Cheers Annie

Thanks you've all been so helpful..... Unlike the forums on BitTorrent.... Would you mind if I posted my problem with Bit Torrent here and if anyone can advise I would appreciate it.... "Hi I'm very new at this. I have a download running and I am getting the following error message at regular intervals: 4.27.2 2009 - 03 - 31 3:23 ERROR Message Parsing Failed Traceback (most recent call last): File "Bit Torrent/Connection.pvo," line 966 in_data_came_in File "Bit Torrent/Connection.pvo," line 658 in_read_messages File "Bit Torrent/Connection.pvo," line 711 in_got_message File BTL/bencode.pvo, line 72 in bdecode BTFailure: not a valid bencoded string. I don't think the download is progressing as I'm just letting it run (it's the middle of the night here in Oz!) but above doesn't sound good particularly as it keeps being repeated - it is the same message every time in the log. Also have seen the message: WARNING Problem connecting tp tracker please dont post links to torrent sites such as that , thanks:): Timeout while contacting server. With the latter I assume the connection has been lost - do I need to get the Torrent to restart (by using Force Start Torrent) or will it just keep trying while I have it open and running. Any advice particularly re the above messages and their meaning and whether it will mean download from this source will fail and I'll need to go looking elsewhere." Thanks from a newbie......

Hi mudman Wow thanks so much for your post - yes, those were my two tests tonite..... Going to check with ISP tomorrow re what our package is - the tests indicated that our connection speed was lousy and I don't think the download and upload rates are very high are they, particularly since we have Cable? Unfortunately I don't know what you mean re opening the correct port within the router - although finally having found PREFERENCES in BitTorrent (the manuals must be written for Windows) NETWORK it says LOOK FOR AVAILABLE PORT, has 6881 in a box where it looks like you can make changes followed by the numbers 1024-65535 and then a checkbox ticked that says ENABLE AUTO PORT MAPPING. Is that what you mean? How would I know to"open the correct port within the router"? And finally I can see you are recommending Transmission as an optional bittorrent software for Mac. Thanks for that. I'll muddle along (although I seem to have a major problem with 2 downloads I'm running now - have posted that in Troubleshooting Forum in Bit Torrent). I will certainly look at Transmission - but if you come back to this post, would you mind answering my queries above. Again, thanks for doing such a lot of work on my query... With help like yours I'll get there. cheers Annie

Thanks for the welcomes..... Two issues - I am using Bit Torrent and I am so new to it I am having trouble even using their Beginner's Guide - I have tried posting to the forum there but no-one will answer me So maybe someone here might be generous enough to advise re my following query if they are Bit Torrent experts (by the wat I have a Mac - don't know if that makes any difference)? My post was: "Am just leaarning about Bit Torrenting. Am reading the Guides from the start like a good newbie but I'm stuck straight away. I think I have used testmy.net and Beltronica successfully to get my speeds. It then says to go to OPTIONS to set the speeds - I assumed this would be a menu option in Bit Torrent but I can't find that as a menu item in the Bit Torrent menu bar on my Mac. And I also need Options to do the next step in the Connection Guide - Enabling Protocol Encryption. I know this is probably very basic but I am trying and whilst I understand (I think) the principles behind Bit Torrent, it's the technical stuff that's got me beat!" So there you go - as I said basic stuff but do want to do the right thing to optimise my use of Bit Torrent - I've got a couple staggering along at present anyway. Also I started using this site - testmy.net - to test my speeds but they reported it them in form of , eg upload 14 kB/s whereas Bit Torrent says I have to have my speeds in kilobits (kb/s). I didn't know how to convert(?) so tried Beltronica and they did report my upload speed in both kB/s - 12.43 and kpbs - 99.44. Ignorance, ignorance I know but what is the difference between the two answers and is there a conversion formula? I presume if I ever learn how to optimise my Bit Torrent speed (see question above) that I would use the Beltronica figure of say 100kpbs. I know this is basic but am trying hard to understand so any time you can spare in clarifying things would be great. By the way, this site gives much more comprehensive analysis and keeps a log of tests so it is by far better than Beltronica - it is just that I'm not sure of what speed to use in the Bit Torrent set-up - assuming I ever get there! And the tests have highlighted that our connection is very slow for Cable which we have so that will be very useful when we crouch to our ISP! As I said thanks for the welcome and if anyone can spare their precious time re my Bit Torrent issues, I'd be ever grateful :]

I'm new here and not sure in fact what it's all about: lol But I'm learning about BitTorrenting and got directed to Testmy.net and I think I'll have a few questions for my ISP after my first few tests!!! So hi!