TMB Wiki - User contributions [en]

FAQ

2007-08-16T10:40:15Z

Sleepy: /* General Uploaders Etiquette (Uploading Guidelines) */

{{Policy}}

==Site information==
We intend to be the 1st stop for torrents for: The Essential Mix, The Breezeblock, Kiss FM, XFM, Worldwide, BTTB, One World, Blue Room, The Milk Run, Solid Steel, Annie On One and much more...
Before you do anything here we suggest you have a look at the [[rules]].

===What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files?===

The idea behind [[Bittorrent]] is the SHARING of files. As you download a file you will also upload the parts you already have to help others. Bittorrent only works because other users like you are also sharing the files so please be considerate and leave the files open in your [[:Category:Bittorrent_Client_Guide|bittorrent client]] for as long as you can. The site will keep track of your [[ratio|sharing ratio]], the more you share the more music you have access to.

If you are new to BitTorrent then you will be advised to have a look at the very good [http://www.utorrent.com/beginners-guide.php|Beginners guide to BitTorrent] which explains how BitTorrent works and how to get started.

For a BitTorrent client we recommend using [[Azureus]] or [[uTorrent]]. Both clients keep track of all your torrents for you, making it easier to seed and maintain a decent ratio.

===Where does the donated money go?===

All donated money goes towards hosting the site.

===How does the auto ban/warning system work?===

'''Auto warnings'''

Every day we automatically issue warnings to any account who has downloaded 1.5gb and has a ratio of 0.3 or less. The account then has a warning flag issued recording the date and account statistics when the warning was issued. The following PM is send to the account by the system:

'''WARNING FROM ADMINS - READ OR BE BANNED... wrote:'''

You are receiving this autowarning because you have a VERY poor ratio.
This site is a community that '''requires all members to SHARE'''.
Using bittorrent while you download you also upload.
The easiest way to maintain your ratio is to stay seeding the file after you have
downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.
You now have 30 days to make a significant improvement on your ratio or you will be banned from the site.
If your ratio gets worse you will be banned a lot sooner.
Because you have to increase your ratio you should read idea's for how to do this [http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4171 here].
If you have any questions AFTER READING THE FAQ and EXISTING help threads we have a
support forum you can ask for help in [http://themixingbowl.org/forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=6 here].
Good luck, we hope you are still with us in 30 days.

'''Auto bans'''

Every day we automatically ban any account which has been warned for over 30 days and whose ratio is still 0.3 or worse.

We also monitor the accounts currently flagged with a warning and will ban any one who is trying to download lots before the auto ban or whose ratio has gotten worse since the warning.

Other non-ratio related warnings can be issued by the admin team for abusive behaviour, persistent commercial uploads etc.

===How does your RSS feed work?===

Use the url : http://themixingbowl.org/rss.xml

Basic or cookie authentication can be used or you may supply a username and password like this: http://themixingbowl.org/rss.xml?user=USERNAME&pass=PASSWORD

You can also restrict your feed to particular categories or genres of torrent by adding to the above url. Here are some examples:

Just category 9 ([[Breezeblock]])
&cat=9

Categories 7, 10 and 18 ([[BTTB]], [[Solid Steel]] and [[Annie Mac]])
&cat=1|2|3

Genre 11 ([[Techno]])
&gen=11

For torrents in category 7 or 10 AND genre 11 (Techno aired on BTTB or Solid Steel)
&cat=7|10&gen=11

For torrents in category 7 or 10 OR genre 11 (Techno or BTTB or Solid Steel)
&cat=7|10&gen=11&anor=or - torrents from (cat 1 or 2) OR (gen 3)

Or any combination of. To find out which categories use which numbers hover over the listings on the [http://themixingbowl.org/browse.php torrents page].

See also : [[How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?]]

===How can I contact an admin?===

Use [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Question%20from%20the%20Wiki this link] to send a question to the admin team, this will be answered by any available admin.

If you message an admin you see online directly you may not get a response especially if your question is already covered in the FAQ.

==User information==

===I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!===

You can use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete the account so you can re-register. Note though that if you didn't receive the email the first time it will probably not succeed the second time either so you should really try another email address.

===I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?===

Please use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/recover.php this form] to have the login details mailed back to you.

===Can you rename my account?===

Possibly. Send a message to the admin team explaining why using [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Change%20name%20request this link].

===Can you delete my (confirmed) account?===

You can do it yourself by using [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form].

===So, what's MY ratio?===

You can view your ratio by searching for your username in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/userdetails.php Members page], clicking your name on your [http://themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile page] will also take you to your user details. Your ratio is displayed near the top of the page.

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio just indicates the values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf.", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

===Why is my IP displayed on my details page?===

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

===Help! I cannot login!? (a.k.a. Login of Death)===

This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

===Why is my port number reported as "---"? (And why should I care?)===

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other [[peers]] in the [[swarm]] will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This will slow down ''your'' torrents so it's in your best interests to fix it.

Have a read of the [[How to become connectable]] page or lookup your router on [http://www.portforward.com portforward.com]).

===What are the different user classes?===

{|class="wikitable"
!align="left" valign="top"|User
|The default class of new members.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|User[[Image:star.gif]]
|Has donated money to themixingbowl.org.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:teal"|Uploader
|Allowed to upload torrents. For information on how to become an Uploader please see the uploading section of the FAQ.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Other
|Customised title. Only an Administrator can customize someones title.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:green"|Resident
|User who has contributed to the site. To become a Resident you must meet BOTH the following criteria:
*Have to be registered on the site for more than 3 months
*Have a ratio of 1.0+
And at least ONE of the following criteria:
*Over 200 forum posts
*Uploaded over 20 individual torrents
*Uploaded over 100GB
*Have donated any amount
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:orange"|Moderator
|Can edit and delete any uploaded torrents. Can also moderate usercomments and disable accounts.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:red"|Administrator
|Can do just about anything.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:red"|SysOp
|coptang (site owner).
|-
|}

===Hey! I've seen a Resident with less than 100GB uploaded!===

Members who make an outstanding contribution to The Mixing Bowl may be promoted to Resident before they meet all the normal criteria.

===How do I add an avatar to my profile?===

You can set your avatar from your [http://www.themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile] page.

You will need to find somewhere to host your avitar as we don not allow members to upload their avatar directly to The Mixing Bowl. Some places where you can host your avatar are [http://photobucket.com/ Photobucket], [http://photobucket.com/ Upload-It!] or [http://www.imageshack.us/ ImageShack].

Please make sure you avatar is safe for work and is less that 100 KB in size.

===Can I become an admin?===

No. I'm afraid getting to be an admin by asking is not possible on themixingbowl.

==Uploading==

===Why can't I upload torrents?===

Only specially authorized users ('''Uploaders''') have permission to upload torrents.

===What criteria must I meet before I can join the Uploader team?===

Any member can become an uploader. In order to join the uploader group [http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=158 you must post in this thread] to signify that you've read the rules about what kind of torrents are allowed ('''no commercial releases!''').

Once you've done this an admin will add you to the uploaders group. This is a manual process so please allow a few days for this to happen. You will be sent a PM to confirm when your account has been upgraded.

===General Uploaders Etiquette (Uploading Guidelines)===

* There are over 2,000 members here with uploading privelidges. '''You are not more important than anyone else'''.
* There are over 15,000 torrents in the database. '''Your upload is not more important than any other'''.
* Don't immediately upload lots of torrents after becoming an uploader; you will probably cock things right up and create a mess. Take it easy and ask in the forums if you get stuck and if your answer isn't covered here.
* Only upload 2 torrents at a time. Wait until they are well seeded by a few other people before you move onto more.
* Name your torrent and folder to be uploaded according the the guidelines.
* Please keep the scene crap to a minimum. By all means include the nfo with the upload, but don't copy and paste a screen full of indecipherable symbols and "shout-outs" into the torrent description.

===How to attract more downloaders to your torrents===

* Name/Title your upload clearly & according to our guidelines.
* Provide a good description including your method of capture if you are uploading a radio show or live set.
* If you are uploading a cd learn how to rip with EAC and encode it correctly with the lame setting '-V 2 --vbr-new'.
* Include a Tracklist if at all possible (you can often find them by searching google).
* Use sensible names for the folder and files to be uploaded.
* If possible include a .cue sheet.
* Seed it until there are a few other seeders.

===Common mistakes made by new uploaders===

* SHOUTING IN YOUR TITLES.
* @@>>!!??# or other useless characters in your title (aka ebay idiot syndrome).
* Useless folder title (always include the artist name, mix title and date if it is a radio show or live dj set).
* Useless info in the title, e.g. (OMG GREAT MIX!)
* Including your username in the title, filename or main file tags (comment tag is ok)
* CDs ripped with mediaplayer/itunes or other non gapless compliant applications.
* Uploading a single mp3 instead of uploading inside a clearly named folder.
* Uploading a mix then not seeding for a day (wait to upload if you can't seed for some time).
* If you have 2 parts put them in a folder and upload as one, DO NOT upload 2 separate torrents
* Forgetting to include the site .nfo file.
* Incorrect choice of category or genre.

'''IMPORTANT:'''

* If you have made any of these mistakes and an admin notices it they will ban (remove) your torrent. If any other member thinks your torrent hasn't followed the uploading guidlines they can report [[Image:Rep.gif|Report Button]] it (which will bring it to the attention of the admin team). If you have already had uploads banned the admin may revoke your uploading privileges. It will be harder for you to regain your uploader status as you will have to demonstrate an understanding of the guidelines and a willingness to follow them.
* If you have made these mistakes on any of your uploads don't panic. You can edit your own torrent including any of the details, you can also delete your own torrent. You should only delete your torrent if it can't be edited for example when you didn't upload inside a folder or had a useless filename, in this case you will need to make the corrections and upload again. To edit or delete a torrent view the torrent details (not the forum topic) and click [Edit this torrent].
* If you see a torrent you feel isn't up to scratch you should report it using the link provided in the forum thread [[Image:Rep.gif|Report Button]]. You could tell the uploader in the thread if it is something easily fixable, like incorrect genre or category, but don't start any flaming with abusive comments!

===How should I title my torrent? [torrent naming guidelines]===

Properly naming your torrent is VERY important. It makes the forum and torrent list much easier to view when there is a uniform list of names.

Most importantly it makes it MUCH easier for the admin team to pull out data. For example we will have YYYY - MM - DD drop down selections and separate artist/title fields on the upload page at some stage. If all the torrents were named as below we could automatically pull the information from the titles.

So whilst naming of your files and folders is to some degree down to personal preference we are going to enforce the torrent naming guidelines.

The date must always be in the form YYYY-MM-DD eg 2005-11-21 being the 21st of November 2005. Any other method can lead to confusion with the month and day.

Use a shortened version of the radio name where possible so that the titles fit the forum view. For Example:
EM = Essential Mix
BB = Breezeblock
AOO = Annie On One
ES = Essential Selection
BR = Blue Room
AM = Annie Mac
BTTB = Back To The Basics
KISS = Kiss 100
JP = John Peel / Peel Sessions
OW = One World
SS = Solid Steel
TR = The Residency

'''Radio Shows''' must be named %date%-%month%-%day% - %show title% - %artist%[ - %title][, %comment%]
For example:
2006-03-11 - EM - Pete Tong and Col Hamilton, Live at Lush Northern Ireland

'''Live sets''' must be named %artist% - %title% - %date%-%month%-%day%
For example:
Sander Kleinenberg - Live at Villa, Lima, Peru - 2006-02-22

'''Studio/Promo, Video and misc'''. Mixes must be named %artist% - %title%
For example:
Kutski - Back To The Oldskool

'''Readers mixes''' must be named %artist% - %title% (use your username as artist if you want people to remember what it was after downloading).
For example:
Wicked Lizard - Keep Prepared fo the Breaks Part II

For a '''megapack''' we either want the artist or radio show name followed by a usefull title.
For example:
Essential Mix - 2004 The Complete Year
Solid Steel 1999
DJ Yoda - Mixtape Collection

===Why have I been demoted back to a user from uploader status?===

There are a number of reasons you might have been demoted to user from uploader or resident. These include (but are not limited to):

*Uploading commercial releases
*Uploading stream rips
*Persistently uploading poorly classified torrents
*Uploads not following the naming guidelines

===What will happen if I ignore any of the uploading guidelines?===

The upload will be deleted, and if you do it persistently you will be demoted. If you persistently upload commercial releases or argue with an admin you will probably be banned as well.

===Can I upload the new blahblahblah music video?===

No, music video's are treated the same as single songs and are not allowed. vj mixes, mashups etc are normally ok, if you are in any doubt at all [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Can%20I%20upload%20this%3F ask] before uploading.

===Can I upload a stream rip?===

See the [[Internet Radios]] page for rules about uploading internet radio streams.

===Can I upload your torrents to other trackers and/or share them with my friends?===

No. Each torrent you download from here contains a unique ID linking it to your account. If other people try to download using the same torrent they will mess up your stats, which could result in you getting banned.

However, the files you download from us are yours to do as you please. You can always create another torrent, pointing to some other tracker, and upload it to the site of your choice. We only ask that you include themixingbowl.org .nfo file to spread the word.

===How do I create a torrent?===

See the [[:Category:Bittorrent_Client_Guide|Bittorrent client guide]] page for guides on how to create torrents.

==Stats==

===Most common reason for stats not updating===

*The user is cheating. (a.k.a. "Summary Ban")
*The server is overloaded and unresponsive. Just try to keep the session open until the server responds again. (Flooding the server with consecutive manual updates is not recommended.)
*You are using a faulty client. If you want to use an experimental or CVS version you do it at your own risk.

===Best practices===

*If a torrent you are currently leeching/seeding is not listed on your profile, just wait or force a manual update.
*Make sure you exit your client properly, so that the tracker receives "event=completed".
*If the tracker is down, do not stop seeding. As long as the tracker is back up before you exit the client the stats should update properly.

===May I use any bittorrent client?===

NO. Some clients have been banned (for various reasons). If you attempt to use a banned client you will receive an error response from the tracker. The following clients are recommended:

*[[Azureus]]
*[[Utorrent]]

Because some reasons may involve security of the site or ratio cheating we will not discuss them so please do not post asking us to change our minds about banned clients or asking why individual clients have been banned. We also highly encourage you to avoid any clients in alpha or beta version, any ratio errors they create will NOT be rectified.

===Why is a torrent I'm leeching/seeding listed several times in my profile?===

If for some reason (e.g. pc crash, or frozen client) your client exits improperly and you restart it, it will have a new peer_id, so it will show as a new torrent. The old one will never receive a "event=completed" or "event=stopped" and will be listed until some tracker timeout. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

Another reason could be that you have given torrents you have downloaded from this site to other people. Each .torrent file you download contains a unique ID that links it to your account. For this reason sharing .torrent files you have downloaded from The Mixing Bowl is forbidden.

===I've finished or cancelled a torrent. Why is it still listed in my profile?===

Some clients, notably TorrentStorm and Nova Torrent, do not report properly to the tracker when cancelling or finishing a torrent. In that case the tracker will keep waiting for some message - and thus listing the torrent as seeding or leeching - until some timeout occurs. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

===Multiple IPs (Can I login from different computers?)===

Yes, the tracker is now capable of following sessions from different IPs for the same user. A torrent is associated with the user when it starts, and only at that moment is the IP relevant. So if you want to seed/leech from computer A and computer B with the same account you should access the site from computer A, start the torrent there, and then repeat both steps from computer B (not limited to two computers or to a single torrent on each, this is just the simplest example). You do not need to login again when closing the torrent.

===How does NAT/ICS change the picture?===

This is a very particular case in that all computers in the LAN will appear to the outside world as having the same IP. We must distinguish between two cases:

#You are the single Mixing Bowl user in the LAN ''You should use the same Mixing Bowl account in all the computers.'' Note also that in the ICS case it is preferable to run the BT client on the ICS gateway. Clients running on the other computers will be unconnectable (their ports will be listed as "---", as explained elsewhere in the FAQ) unless you specify the appropriate services in your ICS configuration (a good explanation of how to do this for Windows XP can be found here). In the NAT case you should configure different ranges for clients on different computers and create appropriate NAT rules in the router. (Details vary widely from router to router and are outside the scope of this FAQ. Check your router documentation and/or support forum.) 
#There are multiple Mixing Bowl users in the LAN ''At present there is no way of making this setup always work properly with The Mixing Bowl.'' Each torrent will be associated with the user who last accessed the site from within the LAN before the torrent was started. Unless there is cooperation between the users mixing of statistics is possible. (User A accesses the site, downloads a .torrent file, but does not start the torrent immediately. Meanwhile, user B accesses the site. User A then starts the torrent. The torrent will count towards user B's statistics, not user A's.) It is your LAN, the responsibility is yours. Do not ask us to ban other users with the same IP, we will not do that. (Why should we ban him instead of you?)

===How do I improve my ratio?===

Read the [[One Stop Ratio Shop]].

==Downloading==

===Why did an active torrent suddenly disappear?===

The most likely reasons are that the uploader deleted it because there was a problem with the release, or an admin/moderator deleted it because it broke the site [[rules]].

===How do I resume a broken download or reseed something?===

Download the original .torrent file from server after that open it in you Bit Torrent client and browse the folder of the torrent you are downloading/reseeding.

===What are these "a piece has failed an hash check" messages?===

Bittorrent clients check the data they receive for integrity. When a piece fails this check it is automatically re-downloaded. Occasional hash fails are a common occurrence, and you shouldn't worry.

Some clients have an (advanced) option/preference to "kick/ban" clients that send you bad data or similar. It should be turned on, since it makes sure that if a peer repeatedly sends you pieces that fail the hash check it will be ignored in the future.

===The torrent is supposed to be 100MB. How come I downloaded 120MB?===

See the hash fails topic. If your client receives bad data it will have to redownload it, therefore the total downloaded may be larger than the torrent size. Make sure the "kick/ban" option is turned on to minimize the extra downloads.

===Why do I get a "rejected by tracker - Port xxxx is blacklisted" error?===

Your client is reporting to the tracker that it uses one of the default bittorrent ports (6881-6889) or any other common p2p port for incoming connections.

The Mixing Bowl does not allow clients to use ports commonly associated with p2p protocols. The reason for this is that it is a common practice for ISPs to throttle those ports (that is, limit the bandwidth, hence the speed).

The blocked ports list include, but is not neccessarily limited to, the following:

BitTorrent : 6881 - 6889

In order to use use our tracker you must configure your client to use any port range that does not contain those ports (a range within the region 49152 through 65535 is preferable, cf. IANA). Notice that some clients, like Azureus 2.0.7.0 or higher, use a single port for all torrents, while most others use one port per open torrent. The size of the range you choose should take this into account (typically less than 10 ports wide. There is no benefit whatsoever in choosing a wide range, and there are possible security implications).

These ports are used for connections between peers, not client to tracker. Therefore this change will not interfere with your ability to use other trackers (in fact it should increase your speed with torrents from any tracker, not just ours). Your client will also still be able to connect to peers that are using the standard ports. If your client does not allow custom ports to be used, you will have to switch to one that does.

Do not ask us, or in the forums, which ports you should choose. The more random the choice is the harder it will be for ISPs to catch on to us and start limiting speeds on the ports we use. If we simply define another range ISPs will start throttling that range also.

Finally, remember to forward the chosen ports in your router and/or open them in your firewall, should you have them.

===What's this "IOError - [Errno13] Permission denied" error?===

If you just want to fix it reboot your computer, it should solve the problem. Otherwise read on.

IOError means Input-Output Error, and that is a file system error, not a tracker one. It shows up when your client is for some reason unable to open the partially downloaded torrent files. The most common cause is two instances of the client to be running simultaneously: the last time the client was closed it somehow didn't really close but kept running in the background, and is therefore still locking the files, making it impossible for the new instance to open them.

A more uncommon occurrence is a corrupted FAT. A crash may result in corruption that makes the partially downloaded files unreadable, and the error ensues. Running scandisk should solve the problem. (Note that this may happen only if you're running Windows 9x - which only support FAT - or NT/2000/XP with FAT formatted hard drives. NTFS is much more robust and should never permit this problem.)

===Why do I get an "Error (You need a better ratio to download megatorrents!) message?===

In order to prevent new members from digging a big hole in their ratio they can't get out of, they are prevented from downloading any torrent over 1GB.

This restriction is lifted once you have downloaded over 1.5GB and have a ratio better than 0.8.

===How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?===

See the [[Azureus]] page for information on how to do this.

==How can I improve my download speed?==

===Do not immediately jump on new torrents===

The download speed mostly depends on the seeder-to-leecher ratio (SLR). Poor download speed is mainly a problem with new and very popular torrents where the SLR is low.

(Proselytising sidenote: make sure you remember that you did not enjoy the low speed. Seed so that others will not endure the same.)

The best speeds will be found around the half-life of a torrent, when the SLR will be at its highest. (The downside is that you will not be able to seed so much. It's up to you to balance the pros and cons of this.)

===Limit your upload speed===

The upload speed affects the download speed in essentially two ways:

*Bittorrent peers tend to favour those other peers that upload to them. This means that if A and B are leeching the same torrent and A is sending data to B at high speed then B will try to reciprocate. So due to this effect high upload speeds lead to high download speeds.
*Due to the way TCP works, when A is downloading something from B it has to keep telling B that it received the data sent to him. (These are called acknowledgements - ACKs -, a sort of "got it!" messages). If A fails to do this then B will stop sending data and wait. If A is uploading at full speed there may be no bandwidth left for the ACKs and they will be delayed. So due to this effect excessively high upload speeds lead to low download speeds.

The full effect is a combination of the two. The upload should be kept as high as possible while allowing the ACKs to get through without delay. '''A good thumb rule is keeping the upload at about 80% of the theoretical upload speed.''' You will have to fine tune yours to find out what works best for you. (Remember that keeping the upload high has the additional benefit of helping with your ratio.)

If you are running more than one instance of a client it is the overall upload speed that you must take into account. Some clients (e.g. [[Azureus]]) limit global upload speed, others (e.g. Shad0w's) do it on a per torrent basis. Know your client. The same applies if you are using your connection for anything else (e.g. browsing or ftp), always think of the overall upload speed.

===Limit the number of simultaneous connections===

Some operating systems (like Windows 9x) do not deal well with a large number of connections, and may even crash. Also some home routers (particularly when running NAT and/or firewall with stateful inspection services) tend to become slow or crash when having to deal with too many connections. There are no fixed values for this, you may try 60 or 100 and experiment with the value. Note that these numbers are additive, if you have two instances of a client running the numbers add up.

===Limit the number of simultaneous uploads===

Isn't this the same as above? No. Connections limit the number of peers your client is talking to and/or downloading from. Uploads limit the number of peers your client is actually uploading to. The ideal number is typically much lower than the number of connections, and highly dependent on your (physical) connection.

===Just give it some time===

As explained above peers favour other peers that upload to them. When you start leeching a new torrent you have nothing to offer to other peers and they will tend to ignore you. This makes the starts slow, in particular if, by change, the peers you are connected to include few or no seeders. The download speed should increase as soon as you have some pieces to share.

===Why is my browsing so slow while leeching?===

Your download speed is always finite. If you are a peer in a fast torrent it will almost certainly saturate your download bandwidth, and your browsing will suffer. There are very few clients that allow you to limit the download speed ([[Azureus]] and [[uTorrent]] can), only the upload. So if your Client does not allow this then you will have to use a third-party solution, such as [http://www.netlimiter.com/ NetLimiter].

Browsing was used just as an example, the same would apply to gaming, IMing, etc...

==My ISP uses a transparent proxy. What should I do?==

===What is a proxy?===

Basically a middleman. When you are browsing a site through a proxy your requests are sent to the proxy and the proxy forwards them to the site instead of you connecting directly to the site. There are several classifications (the terminology is far from standard):

{|class="wikitable"
!align="left" valign="top"|Transparent
|A transparent proxy is one that needs no configuration on the clients. It works by automatically redirecting all port 80 traffic to the proxy. (Sometimes used as synonymous for non-anonymous.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Explicit/Voluntary
|Clients must configure their browsers to use them.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Anonymous
|The proxy sends no client identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR header is not sent; the server does not see your IP.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Highly Anonymous
|The proxy sends no client nor proxy identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR, HTTP_VIA and HTTP_PROXY_CONNECTION headers are not sent; the server doesn't see your IP and doesn't even know you're using a proxy.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Public
|Self explanatory.
|-
|}

A transparent proxy may or may not be anonymous, and there are several levels of anonymity.

===How do I find out if I'm behind a (transparent/anonymous) proxy?===

Try [http://proxyjudge.org/ ProxyJudge]. It lists the HTTP headers that the server where it is running received from you. The relevant ones are HTTP_CLIENT_IP, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR and REMOTE_ADDR.

===Can I bypass my ISP's proxy?===

If your ISP only allows HTTP traffic through port 80 or blocks the usual proxy ports then you would need to use something like [http://www.socks.permeo.com/ socks] and that is outside the scope of this FAQ.

Otherwise you may try the following:

*Choose any public '''non-anonymous''' proxy that does '''not''' use port 80 (e.g. from [http://tools.rosinstrument.com/proxy this], [http://www.proxy4free.com/index.html this] or [http://www.samair.ru/proxy this] list).
*Configure your computer to use that proxy. For Windows XP, do Start, Control Panel, Internet Options, Connections, LAN Settings, Use a Proxy server, Advanced and type in the IP and port of your chosen proxy. Or from Internet Explorer use Tools, Internet Options, ...
*(Facultative) Visit [http://proxyjudge.org/ ProxyJudge]. If you see an HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR in the list followed by your IP then everything should be ok, otherwise choose another proxy and try again.
*Visit TorrentBits. Hopefully the tracker will now pickup your real IP (check your profile to make sure).

Notice that now you will be doing all your browsing through a public proxy, which are typically quite slow. Communications between peers do not use port 80 so their speed will not be affected by this, and should be better than when you were "unconnectable".

===How do I make my bittorrent client use a proxy?===

Just configure Windows XP as above. When you configure a proxy for Internet Explorer you're actually configuring a proxy for all HTTP traffic (thank Microsoft and their "IE as part of the OS policy" ). On the other hand if you use another browser (Opera/Mozilla/Firefox) and configure a proxy there you'll be configuring a proxy just for that browser. We don't know of any BT client that allows a proxy to be specified explicitly.

===Why can't I signup from behind a proxy?===

It is our policy not to allow new accounts to be opened from behind a proxy.

===Does this apply to other torrent sites?===

This section was written for The Mixing Bowl, a closed, port 80-81 tracker. Other trackers may be open or closed, and many listen on e.g. ports 6868 or 6969. The above does not necessarily apply to other trackers.

===Why is my port listed as "---" even though I'm not NAT/Firewalled?===

The TorrentBits tracker is quite smart at finding your real IP, but it does need the proxy to send the HTTP header HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR. If your ISP's proxy does not then what happens is that the tracker will interpret the proxy's IP address as the client's IP address. So when you login and the tracker tries to connect to your client to see if you are NAT/firewalled it will actually try to connect to the proxy on the port your client reports to be using for incoming connections. Naturally the proxy will not be listening on that port, the connection will fail and the tracker will think you are NAT/firewalled.

==Why can't I connect? Is the site blocking me?==

===Maybe my address is blacklisted?===

The site blocks addresses listed in the (former) [http://methlabs.org/ PeerGuardian] database, as well as addresses of banned users. This works at Apache/PHP level, it's just a script that blocks logins from those addresses. It should not stop you from reaching the site. In particular it does not block lower level protocols, you should be able to ping/traceroute the server even if your address is blacklisted. If you cannot then the reason for the problem lies elsewhere.

If somehow your address is indeed blocked in the PG database do not contact us about it, it is not our policy to open ad hoc exceptions. You should clear your IP with the database maintainers instead.

===Your ISP blocks the site's address===

(In first place, it's unlikely your ISP is doing so. DNS name resolution and/or network problems are the usual culprits.)

There's nothing we can do. You should contact your ISP (or get a new one). Note that you can still visit the site via a proxy, follow the instructions in the relevant section. In this case it doesn't matter if the proxy is anonymous or not, or which port it listens to.

Notice that you will always be listed as an "unconnectable" client because the tracker will be unable to check that you're capable of accepting incoming connections.

==What if I can't find the answer to my problem here?==

===You can try these:===

Post in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/forums.php forums], by all means. You'll find they are usually a friendly and helpful place, provided you follow a few basic guidelines:

*Make sure your problem is not really in this FAQ. There's no point in posting just to be sent back here.
*Before posting read the sticky topics (the ones at the top). Many times new information that still hasn't been incorporated in the FAQ can be found there.
*Help us in helping you. Do not just say "it doesn't work!". Provide details so that we don't have to guess or waste time asking. What client do you use? What's your OS? What's your network setup? What's the exact error message you get, if any? What are the torrents you are having problems with? The more you tell the easiest it will be for us, and the more probable your post will get a reply.
*And needless to say: be polite. Demanding help rarely works, asking for it usually does the trick.

FAQ

2007-08-16T10:38:16Z

Sleepy: /* General Uploaders Etiquette (Uploading Guidelines) */

{{Policy}}

==Site information==
We intend to be the 1st stop for torrents for: The Essential Mix, The Breezeblock, Kiss FM, XFM, Worldwide, BTTB, One World, Blue Room, The Milk Run, Solid Steel, Annie On One and much more...
Before you do anything here we suggest you have a look at the [[rules]].

===What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files?===

The idea behind [[Bittorrent]] is the SHARING of files. As you download a file you will also upload the parts you already have to help others. Bittorrent only works because other users like you are also sharing the files so please be considerate and leave the files open in your [[:Category:Bittorrent_Client_Guide|bittorrent client]] for as long as you can. The site will keep track of your [[ratio|sharing ratio]], the more you share the more music you have access to.

If you are new to BitTorrent then you will be advised to have a look at the very good [http://www.utorrent.com/beginners-guide.php|Beginners guide to BitTorrent] which explains how BitTorrent works and how to get started.

For a BitTorrent client we recommend using [[Azureus]] or [[uTorrent]]. Both clients keep track of all your torrents for you, making it easier to seed and maintain a decent ratio.

===Where does the donated money go?===

All donated money goes towards hosting the site.

===How does the auto ban/warning system work?===

'''Auto warnings'''

Every day we automatically issue warnings to any account who has downloaded 1.5gb and has a ratio of 0.3 or less. The account then has a warning flag issued recording the date and account statistics when the warning was issued. The following PM is send to the account by the system:

'''WARNING FROM ADMINS - READ OR BE BANNED... wrote:'''

You are receiving this autowarning because you have a VERY poor ratio.
This site is a community that '''requires all members to SHARE'''.
Using bittorrent while you download you also upload.
The easiest way to maintain your ratio is to stay seeding the file after you have
downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.
You now have 30 days to make a significant improvement on your ratio or you will be banned from the site.
If your ratio gets worse you will be banned a lot sooner.
Because you have to increase your ratio you should read idea's for how to do this [http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4171 here].
If you have any questions AFTER READING THE FAQ and EXISTING help threads we have a
support forum you can ask for help in [http://themixingbowl.org/forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=6 here].
Good luck, we hope you are still with us in 30 days.

'''Auto bans'''

Every day we automatically ban any account which has been warned for over 30 days and whose ratio is still 0.3 or worse.

We also monitor the accounts currently flagged with a warning and will ban any one who is trying to download lots before the auto ban or whose ratio has gotten worse since the warning.

Other non-ratio related warnings can be issued by the admin team for abusive behaviour, persistent commercial uploads etc.

===How does your RSS feed work?===

Use the url : http://themixingbowl.org/rss.xml

Basic or cookie authentication can be used or you may supply a username and password like this: http://themixingbowl.org/rss.xml?user=USERNAME&pass=PASSWORD

You can also restrict your feed to particular categories or genres of torrent by adding to the above url. Here are some examples:

Just category 9 ([[Breezeblock]])
&cat=9

Categories 7, 10 and 18 ([[BTTB]], [[Solid Steel]] and [[Annie Mac]])
&cat=1|2|3

Genre 11 ([[Techno]])
&gen=11

For torrents in category 7 or 10 AND genre 11 (Techno aired on BTTB or Solid Steel)
&cat=7|10&gen=11

For torrents in category 7 or 10 OR genre 11 (Techno or BTTB or Solid Steel)
&cat=7|10&gen=11&anor=or - torrents from (cat 1 or 2) OR (gen 3)

Or any combination of. To find out which categories use which numbers hover over the listings on the [http://themixingbowl.org/browse.php torrents page].

See also : [[How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?]]

===How can I contact an admin?===

Use [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Question%20from%20the%20Wiki this link] to send a question to the admin team, this will be answered by any available admin.

If you message an admin you see online directly you may not get a response especially if your question is already covered in the FAQ.

==User information==

===I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!===

You can use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete the account so you can re-register. Note though that if you didn't receive the email the first time it will probably not succeed the second time either so you should really try another email address.

===I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?===

Please use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/recover.php this form] to have the login details mailed back to you.

===Can you rename my account?===

Possibly. Send a message to the admin team explaining why using [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Change%20name%20request this link].

===Can you delete my (confirmed) account?===

You can do it yourself by using [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form].

===So, what's MY ratio?===

You can view your ratio by searching for your username in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/userdetails.php Members page], clicking your name on your [http://themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile page] will also take you to your user details. Your ratio is displayed near the top of the page.

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio just indicates the values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf.", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

===Why is my IP displayed on my details page?===

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

===Help! I cannot login!? (a.k.a. Login of Death)===

This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

===Why is my port number reported as "---"? (And why should I care?)===

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other [[peers]] in the [[swarm]] will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This will slow down ''your'' torrents so it's in your best interests to fix it.

Have a read of the [[How to become connectable]] page or lookup your router on [http://www.portforward.com portforward.com]).

===What are the different user classes?===

{|class="wikitable"
!align="left" valign="top"|User
|The default class of new members.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|User[[Image:star.gif]]
|Has donated money to themixingbowl.org.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:teal"|Uploader
|Allowed to upload torrents. For information on how to become an Uploader please see the uploading section of the FAQ.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Other
|Customised title. Only an Administrator can customize someones title.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:green"|Resident
|User who has contributed to the site. To become a Resident you must meet BOTH the following criteria:
*Have to be registered on the site for more than 3 months
*Have a ratio of 1.0+
And at least ONE of the following criteria:
*Over 200 forum posts
*Uploaded over 20 individual torrents
*Uploaded over 100GB
*Have donated any amount
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:orange"|Moderator
|Can edit and delete any uploaded torrents. Can also moderate usercomments and disable accounts.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:red"|Administrator
|Can do just about anything.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:red"|SysOp
|coptang (site owner).
|-
|}

===Hey! I've seen a Resident with less than 100GB uploaded!===

Members who make an outstanding contribution to The Mixing Bowl may be promoted to Resident before they meet all the normal criteria.

===How do I add an avatar to my profile?===

You can set your avatar from your [http://www.themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile] page.

You will need to find somewhere to host your avitar as we don not allow members to upload their avatar directly to The Mixing Bowl. Some places where you can host your avatar are [http://photobucket.com/ Photobucket], [http://photobucket.com/ Upload-It!] or [http://www.imageshack.us/ ImageShack].

Please make sure you avatar is safe for work and is less that 100 KB in size.

===Can I become an admin?===

No. I'm afraid getting to be an admin by asking is not possible on themixingbowl.

==Uploading==

===Why can't I upload torrents?===

Only specially authorized users ('''Uploaders''') have permission to upload torrents.

===What criteria must I meet before I can join the Uploader team?===

Any member can become an uploader. In order to join the uploader group [http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=158 you must post in this thread] to signify that you've read the rules about what kind of torrents are allowed ('''no commercial releases!''').

Once you've done this an admin will add you to the uploaders group. This is a manual process so please allow a few days for this to happen. You will be sent a PM to confirm when your account has been upgraded.

===General Uploaders Etiquette (Uploading Guidelines)===

* There are over 2,000 members here with uploading privelidges. '''You are not more important than anyone else'''.
* There are over 15,000 torrents in the database. '''Your upload is not more important than any other'''.
* Don't immediately upload lots of torrents after becoming an uploader; you will probably cock things right up and create a mess. Take it easy and ask in the forums if you get stuck and if your answer isn't covered here.
* Only upload 2 torrents at a time. Wait until they are well seeded by a few other people before you move onto more.
* Name your torrent and folder to be uploaded according the the guidelines.
* Please keep the scene crap to a minimum. By all means include the nfo with the upload, but don't copy and paste a screen full of indecipherable symbols and shout-outs into the torrent description.

===How to attract more downloaders to your torrents===

* Name/Title your upload clearly & according to our guidelines.
* Provide a good description including your method of capture if you are uploading a radio show or live set.
* If you are uploading a cd learn how to rip with EAC and encode it correctly with the lame setting '-V 2 --vbr-new'.
* Include a Tracklist if at all possible (you can often find them by searching google).
* Use sensible names for the folder and files to be uploaded.
* If possible include a .cue sheet.
* Seed it until there are a few other seeders.

===Common mistakes made by new uploaders===

* SHOUTING IN YOUR TITLES.
* @@>>!!??# or other useless characters in your title (aka ebay idiot syndrome).
* Useless folder title (always include the artist name, mix title and date if it is a radio show or live dj set).
* Useless info in the title, e.g. (OMG GREAT MIX!)
* Including your username in the title, filename or main file tags (comment tag is ok)
* CDs ripped with mediaplayer/itunes or other non gapless compliant applications.
* Uploading a single mp3 instead of uploading inside a clearly named folder.
* Uploading a mix then not seeding for a day (wait to upload if you can't seed for some time).
* If you have 2 parts put them in a folder and upload as one, DO NOT upload 2 separate torrents
* Forgetting to include the site .nfo file.
* Incorrect choice of category or genre.

'''IMPORTANT:'''

* If you have made any of these mistakes and an admin notices it they will ban (remove) your torrent. If any other member thinks your torrent hasn't followed the uploading guidlines they can report [[Image:Rep.gif|Report Button]] it (which will bring it to the attention of the admin team). If you have already had uploads banned the admin may revoke your uploading privileges. It will be harder for you to regain your uploader status as you will have to demonstrate an understanding of the guidelines and a willingness to follow them.
* If you have made these mistakes on any of your uploads don't panic. You can edit your own torrent including any of the details, you can also delete your own torrent. You should only delete your torrent if it can't be edited for example when you didn't upload inside a folder or had a useless filename, in this case you will need to make the corrections and upload again. To edit or delete a torrent view the torrent details (not the forum topic) and click [Edit this torrent].
* If you see a torrent you feel isn't up to scratch you should report it using the link provided in the forum thread [[Image:Rep.gif|Report Button]]. You could tell the uploader in the thread if it is something easily fixable, like incorrect genre or category, but don't start any flaming with abusive comments!

===How should I title my torrent? [torrent naming guidelines]===

Properly naming your torrent is VERY important. It makes the forum and torrent list much easier to view when there is a uniform list of names.

Most importantly it makes it MUCH easier for the admin team to pull out data. For example we will have YYYY - MM - DD drop down selections and separate artist/title fields on the upload page at some stage. If all the torrents were named as below we could automatically pull the information from the titles.

So whilst naming of your files and folders is to some degree down to personal preference we are going to enforce the torrent naming guidelines.

The date must always be in the form YYYY-MM-DD eg 2005-11-21 being the 21st of November 2005. Any other method can lead to confusion with the month and day.

Use a shortened version of the radio name where possible so that the titles fit the forum view. For Example:
EM = Essential Mix
BB = Breezeblock
AOO = Annie On One
ES = Essential Selection
BR = Blue Room
AM = Annie Mac
BTTB = Back To The Basics
KISS = Kiss 100
JP = John Peel / Peel Sessions
OW = One World
SS = Solid Steel
TR = The Residency

'''Radio Shows''' must be named %date%-%month%-%day% - %show title% - %artist%[ - %title][, %comment%]
For example:
2006-03-11 - EM - Pete Tong and Col Hamilton, Live at Lush Northern Ireland

'''Live sets''' must be named %artist% - %title% - %date%-%month%-%day%
For example:
Sander Kleinenberg - Live at Villa, Lima, Peru - 2006-02-22

'''Studio/Promo, Video and misc'''. Mixes must be named %artist% - %title%
For example:
Kutski - Back To The Oldskool

'''Readers mixes''' must be named %artist% - %title% (use your username as artist if you want people to remember what it was after downloading).
For example:
Wicked Lizard - Keep Prepared fo the Breaks Part II

For a '''megapack''' we either want the artist or radio show name followed by a usefull title.
For example:
Essential Mix - 2004 The Complete Year
Solid Steel 1999
DJ Yoda - Mixtape Collection

===Why have I been demoted back to a user from uploader status?===

There are a number of reasons you might have been demoted to user from uploader or resident. These include (but are not limited to):

*Uploading commercial releases
*Uploading stream rips
*Persistently uploading poorly classified torrents
*Uploads not following the naming guidelines

===What will happen if I ignore any of the uploading guidelines?===

The upload will be deleted, and if you do it persistently you will be demoted. If you persistently upload commercial releases or argue with an admin you will probably be banned as well.

===Can I upload the new blahblahblah music video?===

No, music video's are treated the same as single songs and are not allowed. vj mixes, mashups etc are normally ok, if you are in any doubt at all [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Can%20I%20upload%20this%3F ask] before uploading.

===Can I upload a stream rip?===

See the [[Internet Radios]] page for rules about uploading internet radio streams.

===Can I upload your torrents to other trackers and/or share them with my friends?===

No. Each torrent you download from here contains a unique ID linking it to your account. If other people try to download using the same torrent they will mess up your stats, which could result in you getting banned.

However, the files you download from us are yours to do as you please. You can always create another torrent, pointing to some other tracker, and upload it to the site of your choice. We only ask that you include themixingbowl.org .nfo file to spread the word.

===How do I create a torrent?===

See the [[:Category:Bittorrent_Client_Guide|Bittorrent client guide]] page for guides on how to create torrents.

==Stats==

===Most common reason for stats not updating===

*The user is cheating. (a.k.a. "Summary Ban")
*The server is overloaded and unresponsive. Just try to keep the session open until the server responds again. (Flooding the server with consecutive manual updates is not recommended.)
*You are using a faulty client. If you want to use an experimental or CVS version you do it at your own risk.

===Best practices===

*If a torrent you are currently leeching/seeding is not listed on your profile, just wait or force a manual update.
*Make sure you exit your client properly, so that the tracker receives "event=completed".
*If the tracker is down, do not stop seeding. As long as the tracker is back up before you exit the client the stats should update properly.

===May I use any bittorrent client?===

NO. Some clients have been banned (for various reasons). If you attempt to use a banned client you will receive an error response from the tracker. The following clients are recommended:

*[[Azureus]]
*[[Utorrent]]

Because some reasons may involve security of the site or ratio cheating we will not discuss them so please do not post asking us to change our minds about banned clients or asking why individual clients have been banned. We also highly encourage you to avoid any clients in alpha or beta version, any ratio errors they create will NOT be rectified.

===Why is a torrent I'm leeching/seeding listed several times in my profile?===

If for some reason (e.g. pc crash, or frozen client) your client exits improperly and you restart it, it will have a new peer_id, so it will show as a new torrent. The old one will never receive a "event=completed" or "event=stopped" and will be listed until some tracker timeout. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

Another reason could be that you have given torrents you have downloaded from this site to other people. Each .torrent file you download contains a unique ID that links it to your account. For this reason sharing .torrent files you have downloaded from The Mixing Bowl is forbidden.

===I've finished or cancelled a torrent. Why is it still listed in my profile?===

Some clients, notably TorrentStorm and Nova Torrent, do not report properly to the tracker when cancelling or finishing a torrent. In that case the tracker will keep waiting for some message - and thus listing the torrent as seeding or leeching - until some timeout occurs. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

===Multiple IPs (Can I login from different computers?)===

Yes, the tracker is now capable of following sessions from different IPs for the same user. A torrent is associated with the user when it starts, and only at that moment is the IP relevant. So if you want to seed/leech from computer A and computer B with the same account you should access the site from computer A, start the torrent there, and then repeat both steps from computer B (not limited to two computers or to a single torrent on each, this is just the simplest example). You do not need to login again when closing the torrent.

===How does NAT/ICS change the picture?===

This is a very particular case in that all computers in the LAN will appear to the outside world as having the same IP. We must distinguish between two cases:

#You are the single Mixing Bowl user in the LAN ''You should use the same Mixing Bowl account in all the computers.'' Note also that in the ICS case it is preferable to run the BT client on the ICS gateway. Clients running on the other computers will be unconnectable (their ports will be listed as "---", as explained elsewhere in the FAQ) unless you specify the appropriate services in your ICS configuration (a good explanation of how to do this for Windows XP can be found here). In the NAT case you should configure different ranges for clients on different computers and create appropriate NAT rules in the router. (Details vary widely from router to router and are outside the scope of this FAQ. Check your router documentation and/or support forum.) 
#There are multiple Mixing Bowl users in the LAN ''At present there is no way of making this setup always work properly with The Mixing Bowl.'' Each torrent will be associated with the user who last accessed the site from within the LAN before the torrent was started. Unless there is cooperation between the users mixing of statistics is possible. (User A accesses the site, downloads a .torrent file, but does not start the torrent immediately. Meanwhile, user B accesses the site. User A then starts the torrent. The torrent will count towards user B's statistics, not user A's.) It is your LAN, the responsibility is yours. Do not ask us to ban other users with the same IP, we will not do that. (Why should we ban him instead of you?)

===How do I improve my ratio?===

Read the [[One Stop Ratio Shop]].

==Downloading==

===Why did an active torrent suddenly disappear?===

The most likely reasons are that the uploader deleted it because there was a problem with the release, or an admin/moderator deleted it because it broke the site [[rules]].

===How do I resume a broken download or reseed something?===

Download the original .torrent file from server after that open it in you Bit Torrent client and browse the folder of the torrent you are downloading/reseeding.

===What are these "a piece has failed an hash check" messages?===

Bittorrent clients check the data they receive for integrity. When a piece fails this check it is automatically re-downloaded. Occasional hash fails are a common occurrence, and you shouldn't worry.

Some clients have an (advanced) option/preference to "kick/ban" clients that send you bad data or similar. It should be turned on, since it makes sure that if a peer repeatedly sends you pieces that fail the hash check it will be ignored in the future.

===The torrent is supposed to be 100MB. How come I downloaded 120MB?===

See the hash fails topic. If your client receives bad data it will have to redownload it, therefore the total downloaded may be larger than the torrent size. Make sure the "kick/ban" option is turned on to minimize the extra downloads.

===Why do I get a "rejected by tracker - Port xxxx is blacklisted" error?===

Your client is reporting to the tracker that it uses one of the default bittorrent ports (6881-6889) or any other common p2p port for incoming connections.

The Mixing Bowl does not allow clients to use ports commonly associated with p2p protocols. The reason for this is that it is a common practice for ISPs to throttle those ports (that is, limit the bandwidth, hence the speed).

The blocked ports list include, but is not neccessarily limited to, the following:

BitTorrent : 6881 - 6889

In order to use use our tracker you must configure your client to use any port range that does not contain those ports (a range within the region 49152 through 65535 is preferable, cf. IANA). Notice that some clients, like Azureus 2.0.7.0 or higher, use a single port for all torrents, while most others use one port per open torrent. The size of the range you choose should take this into account (typically less than 10 ports wide. There is no benefit whatsoever in choosing a wide range, and there are possible security implications).

These ports are used for connections between peers, not client to tracker. Therefore this change will not interfere with your ability to use other trackers (in fact it should increase your speed with torrents from any tracker, not just ours). Your client will also still be able to connect to peers that are using the standard ports. If your client does not allow custom ports to be used, you will have to switch to one that does.

Do not ask us, or in the forums, which ports you should choose. The more random the choice is the harder it will be for ISPs to catch on to us and start limiting speeds on the ports we use. If we simply define another range ISPs will start throttling that range also.

Finally, remember to forward the chosen ports in your router and/or open them in your firewall, should you have them.

===What's this "IOError - [Errno13] Permission denied" error?===

If you just want to fix it reboot your computer, it should solve the problem. Otherwise read on.

IOError means Input-Output Error, and that is a file system error, not a tracker one. It shows up when your client is for some reason unable to open the partially downloaded torrent files. The most common cause is two instances of the client to be running simultaneously: the last time the client was closed it somehow didn't really close but kept running in the background, and is therefore still locking the files, making it impossible for the new instance to open them.

A more uncommon occurrence is a corrupted FAT. A crash may result in corruption that makes the partially downloaded files unreadable, and the error ensues. Running scandisk should solve the problem. (Note that this may happen only if you're running Windows 9x - which only support FAT - or NT/2000/XP with FAT formatted hard drives. NTFS is much more robust and should never permit this problem.)

===Why do I get an "Error (You need a better ratio to download megatorrents!) message?===

In order to prevent new members from digging a big hole in their ratio they can't get out of, they are prevented from downloading any torrent over 1GB.

This restriction is lifted once you have downloaded over 1.5GB and have a ratio better than 0.8.

===How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?===

See the [[Azureus]] page for information on how to do this.

==How can I improve my download speed?==

===Do not immediately jump on new torrents===

The download speed mostly depends on the seeder-to-leecher ratio (SLR). Poor download speed is mainly a problem with new and very popular torrents where the SLR is low.

(Proselytising sidenote: make sure you remember that you did not enjoy the low speed. Seed so that others will not endure the same.)

The best speeds will be found around the half-life of a torrent, when the SLR will be at its highest. (The downside is that you will not be able to seed so much. It's up to you to balance the pros and cons of this.)

===Limit your upload speed===

The upload speed affects the download speed in essentially two ways:

*Bittorrent peers tend to favour those other peers that upload to them. This means that if A and B are leeching the same torrent and A is sending data to B at high speed then B will try to reciprocate. So due to this effect high upload speeds lead to high download speeds.
*Due to the way TCP works, when A is downloading something from B it has to keep telling B that it received the data sent to him. (These are called acknowledgements - ACKs -, a sort of "got it!" messages). If A fails to do this then B will stop sending data and wait. If A is uploading at full speed there may be no bandwidth left for the ACKs and they will be delayed. So due to this effect excessively high upload speeds lead to low download speeds.

The full effect is a combination of the two. The upload should be kept as high as possible while allowing the ACKs to get through without delay. '''A good thumb rule is keeping the upload at about 80% of the theoretical upload speed.''' You will have to fine tune yours to find out what works best for you. (Remember that keeping the upload high has the additional benefit of helping with your ratio.)

If you are running more than one instance of a client it is the overall upload speed that you must take into account. Some clients (e.g. [[Azureus]]) limit global upload speed, others (e.g. Shad0w's) do it on a per torrent basis. Know your client. The same applies if you are using your connection for anything else (e.g. browsing or ftp), always think of the overall upload speed.

===Limit the number of simultaneous connections===

Some operating systems (like Windows 9x) do not deal well with a large number of connections, and may even crash. Also some home routers (particularly when running NAT and/or firewall with stateful inspection services) tend to become slow or crash when having to deal with too many connections. There are no fixed values for this, you may try 60 or 100 and experiment with the value. Note that these numbers are additive, if you have two instances of a client running the numbers add up.

===Limit the number of simultaneous uploads===

Isn't this the same as above? No. Connections limit the number of peers your client is talking to and/or downloading from. Uploads limit the number of peers your client is actually uploading to. The ideal number is typically much lower than the number of connections, and highly dependent on your (physical) connection.

===Just give it some time===

As explained above peers favour other peers that upload to them. When you start leeching a new torrent you have nothing to offer to other peers and they will tend to ignore you. This makes the starts slow, in particular if, by change, the peers you are connected to include few or no seeders. The download speed should increase as soon as you have some pieces to share.

===Why is my browsing so slow while leeching?===

Your download speed is always finite. If you are a peer in a fast torrent it will almost certainly saturate your download bandwidth, and your browsing will suffer. There are very few clients that allow you to limit the download speed ([[Azureus]] and [[uTorrent]] can), only the upload. So if your Client does not allow this then you will have to use a third-party solution, such as [http://www.netlimiter.com/ NetLimiter].

Browsing was used just as an example, the same would apply to gaming, IMing, etc...

==My ISP uses a transparent proxy. What should I do?==

===What is a proxy?===

Basically a middleman. When you are browsing a site through a proxy your requests are sent to the proxy and the proxy forwards them to the site instead of you connecting directly to the site. There are several classifications (the terminology is far from standard):

{|class="wikitable"
!align="left" valign="top"|Transparent
|A transparent proxy is one that needs no configuration on the clients. It works by automatically redirecting all port 80 traffic to the proxy. (Sometimes used as synonymous for non-anonymous.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Explicit/Voluntary
|Clients must configure their browsers to use them.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Anonymous
|The proxy sends no client identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR header is not sent; the server does not see your IP.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Highly Anonymous
|The proxy sends no client nor proxy identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR, HTTP_VIA and HTTP_PROXY_CONNECTION headers are not sent; the server doesn't see your IP and doesn't even know you're using a proxy.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Public
|Self explanatory.
|-
|}

A transparent proxy may or may not be anonymous, and there are several levels of anonymity.

===How do I find out if I'm behind a (transparent/anonymous) proxy?===

Try [http://proxyjudge.org/ ProxyJudge]. It lists the HTTP headers that the server where it is running received from you. The relevant ones are HTTP_CLIENT_IP, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR and REMOTE_ADDR.

===Can I bypass my ISP's proxy?===

If your ISP only allows HTTP traffic through port 80 or blocks the usual proxy ports then you would need to use something like [http://www.socks.permeo.com/ socks] and that is outside the scope of this FAQ.

Otherwise you may try the following:

*Choose any public '''non-anonymous''' proxy that does '''not''' use port 80 (e.g. from [http://tools.rosinstrument.com/proxy this], [http://www.proxy4free.com/index.html this] or [http://www.samair.ru/proxy this] list).
*Configure your computer to use that proxy. For Windows XP, do Start, Control Panel, Internet Options, Connections, LAN Settings, Use a Proxy server, Advanced and type in the IP and port of your chosen proxy. Or from Internet Explorer use Tools, Internet Options, ...
*(Facultative) Visit [http://proxyjudge.org/ ProxyJudge]. If you see an HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR in the list followed by your IP then everything should be ok, otherwise choose another proxy and try again.
*Visit TorrentBits. Hopefully the tracker will now pickup your real IP (check your profile to make sure).

Notice that now you will be doing all your browsing through a public proxy, which are typically quite slow. Communications between peers do not use port 80 so their speed will not be affected by this, and should be better than when you were "unconnectable".

===How do I make my bittorrent client use a proxy?===

Just configure Windows XP as above. When you configure a proxy for Internet Explorer you're actually configuring a proxy for all HTTP traffic (thank Microsoft and their "IE as part of the OS policy" ). On the other hand if you use another browser (Opera/Mozilla/Firefox) and configure a proxy there you'll be configuring a proxy just for that browser. We don't know of any BT client that allows a proxy to be specified explicitly.

===Why can't I signup from behind a proxy?===

It is our policy not to allow new accounts to be opened from behind a proxy.

===Does this apply to other torrent sites?===

This section was written for The Mixing Bowl, a closed, port 80-81 tracker. Other trackers may be open or closed, and many listen on e.g. ports 6868 or 6969. The above does not necessarily apply to other trackers.

===Why is my port listed as "---" even though I'm not NAT/Firewalled?===

The TorrentBits tracker is quite smart at finding your real IP, but it does need the proxy to send the HTTP header HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR. If your ISP's proxy does not then what happens is that the tracker will interpret the proxy's IP address as the client's IP address. So when you login and the tracker tries to connect to your client to see if you are NAT/firewalled it will actually try to connect to the proxy on the port your client reports to be using for incoming connections. Naturally the proxy will not be listening on that port, the connection will fail and the tracker will think you are NAT/firewalled.

==Why can't I connect? Is the site blocking me?==

===Maybe my address is blacklisted?===

The site blocks addresses listed in the (former) [http://methlabs.org/ PeerGuardian] database, as well as addresses of banned users. This works at Apache/PHP level, it's just a script that blocks logins from those addresses. It should not stop you from reaching the site. In particular it does not block lower level protocols, you should be able to ping/traceroute the server even if your address is blacklisted. If you cannot then the reason for the problem lies elsewhere.

If somehow your address is indeed blocked in the PG database do not contact us about it, it is not our policy to open ad hoc exceptions. You should clear your IP with the database maintainers instead.

===Your ISP blocks the site's address===

(In first place, it's unlikely your ISP is doing so. DNS name resolution and/or network problems are the usual culprits.)

There's nothing we can do. You should contact your ISP (or get a new one). Note that you can still visit the site via a proxy, follow the instructions in the relevant section. In this case it doesn't matter if the proxy is anonymous or not, or which port it listens to.

Notice that you will always be listed as an "unconnectable" client because the tracker will be unable to check that you're capable of accepting incoming connections.

==What if I can't find the answer to my problem here?==

===You can try these:===

Post in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/forums.php forums], by all means. You'll find they are usually a friendly and helpful place, provided you follow a few basic guidelines:

*Make sure your problem is not really in this FAQ. There's no point in posting just to be sent back here.
*Before posting read the sticky topics (the ones at the top). Many times new information that still hasn't been incorporated in the FAQ can be found there.
*Help us in helping you. Do not just say "it doesn't work!". Provide details so that we don't have to guess or waste time asking. What client do you use? What's your OS? What's your network setup? What's the exact error message you get, if any? What are the torrents you are having problems with? The more you tell the easiest it will be for us, and the more probable your post will get a reply.
*And needless to say: be polite. Demanding help rarely works, asking for it usually does the trick.

FAQ

2007-08-16T10:37:51Z

Sleepy:

{{Policy}}

==Site information==
We intend to be the 1st stop for torrents for: The Essential Mix, The Breezeblock, Kiss FM, XFM, Worldwide, BTTB, One World, Blue Room, The Milk Run, Solid Steel, Annie On One and much more...
Before you do anything here we suggest you have a look at the [[rules]].

===What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files?===

The idea behind [[Bittorrent]] is the SHARING of files. As you download a file you will also upload the parts you already have to help others. Bittorrent only works because other users like you are also sharing the files so please be considerate and leave the files open in your [[:Category:Bittorrent_Client_Guide|bittorrent client]] for as long as you can. The site will keep track of your [[ratio|sharing ratio]], the more you share the more music you have access to.

If you are new to BitTorrent then you will be advised to have a look at the very good [http://www.utorrent.com/beginners-guide.php|Beginners guide to BitTorrent] which explains how BitTorrent works and how to get started.

For a BitTorrent client we recommend using [[Azureus]] or [[uTorrent]]. Both clients keep track of all your torrents for you, making it easier to seed and maintain a decent ratio.

===Where does the donated money go?===

All donated money goes towards hosting the site.

===How does the auto ban/warning system work?===

'''Auto warnings'''

Every day we automatically issue warnings to any account who has downloaded 1.5gb and has a ratio of 0.3 or less. The account then has a warning flag issued recording the date and account statistics when the warning was issued. The following PM is send to the account by the system:

'''WARNING FROM ADMINS - READ OR BE BANNED... wrote:'''

You are receiving this autowarning because you have a VERY poor ratio.
This site is a community that '''requires all members to SHARE'''.
Using bittorrent while you download you also upload.
The easiest way to maintain your ratio is to stay seeding the file after you have
downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.
You now have 30 days to make a significant improvement on your ratio or you will be banned from the site.
If your ratio gets worse you will be banned a lot sooner.
Because you have to increase your ratio you should read idea's for how to do this [http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4171 here].
If you have any questions AFTER READING THE FAQ and EXISTING help threads we have a
support forum you can ask for help in [http://themixingbowl.org/forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=6 here].
Good luck, we hope you are still with us in 30 days.

'''Auto bans'''

Every day we automatically ban any account which has been warned for over 30 days and whose ratio is still 0.3 or worse.

We also monitor the accounts currently flagged with a warning and will ban any one who is trying to download lots before the auto ban or whose ratio has gotten worse since the warning.

Other non-ratio related warnings can be issued by the admin team for abusive behaviour, persistent commercial uploads etc.

===How does your RSS feed work?===

Use the url : http://themixingbowl.org/rss.xml

Basic or cookie authentication can be used or you may supply a username and password like this: http://themixingbowl.org/rss.xml?user=USERNAME&pass=PASSWORD

You can also restrict your feed to particular categories or genres of torrent by adding to the above url. Here are some examples:

Just category 9 ([[Breezeblock]])
&cat=9

Categories 7, 10 and 18 ([[BTTB]], [[Solid Steel]] and [[Annie Mac]])
&cat=1|2|3

Genre 11 ([[Techno]])
&gen=11

For torrents in category 7 or 10 AND genre 11 (Techno aired on BTTB or Solid Steel)
&cat=7|10&gen=11

For torrents in category 7 or 10 OR genre 11 (Techno or BTTB or Solid Steel)
&cat=7|10&gen=11&anor=or - torrents from (cat 1 or 2) OR (gen 3)

Or any combination of. To find out which categories use which numbers hover over the listings on the [http://themixingbowl.org/browse.php torrents page].

See also : [[How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?]]

===How can I contact an admin?===

Use [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Question%20from%20the%20Wiki this link] to send a question to the admin team, this will be answered by any available admin.

If you message an admin you see online directly you may not get a response especially if your question is already covered in the FAQ.

==User information==

===I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!===

You can use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete the account so you can re-register. Note though that if you didn't receive the email the first time it will probably not succeed the second time either so you should really try another email address.

===I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?===

Please use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/recover.php this form] to have the login details mailed back to you.

===Can you rename my account?===

Possibly. Send a message to the admin team explaining why using [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Change%20name%20request this link].

===Can you delete my (confirmed) account?===

You can do it yourself by using [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form].

===So, what's MY ratio?===

You can view your ratio by searching for your username in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/userdetails.php Members page], clicking your name on your [http://themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile page] will also take you to your user details. Your ratio is displayed near the top of the page.

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio just indicates the values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf.", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

===Why is my IP displayed on my details page?===

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

===Help! I cannot login!? (a.k.a. Login of Death)===

This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

===Why is my port number reported as "---"? (And why should I care?)===

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other [[peers]] in the [[swarm]] will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This will slow down ''your'' torrents so it's in your best interests to fix it.

Have a read of the [[How to become connectable]] page or lookup your router on [http://www.portforward.com portforward.com]).

===What are the different user classes?===

{|class="wikitable"
!align="left" valign="top"|User
|The default class of new members.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|User[[Image:star.gif]]
|Has donated money to themixingbowl.org.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:teal"|Uploader
|Allowed to upload torrents. For information on how to become an Uploader please see the uploading section of the FAQ.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Other
|Customised title. Only an Administrator can customize someones title.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:green"|Resident
|User who has contributed to the site. To become a Resident you must meet BOTH the following criteria:
*Have to be registered on the site for more than 3 months
*Have a ratio of 1.0+
And at least ONE of the following criteria:
*Over 200 forum posts
*Uploaded over 20 individual torrents
*Uploaded over 100GB
*Have donated any amount
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:orange"|Moderator
|Can edit and delete any uploaded torrents. Can also moderate usercomments and disable accounts.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:red"|Administrator
|Can do just about anything.
|-
!align="left" valign="top" style="color:red"|SysOp
|coptang (site owner).
|-
|}

===Hey! I've seen a Resident with less than 100GB uploaded!===

Members who make an outstanding contribution to The Mixing Bowl may be promoted to Resident before they meet all the normal criteria.

===How do I add an avatar to my profile?===

You can set your avatar from your [http://www.themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile] page.

You will need to find somewhere to host your avitar as we don not allow members to upload their avatar directly to The Mixing Bowl. Some places where you can host your avatar are [http://photobucket.com/ Photobucket], [http://photobucket.com/ Upload-It!] or [http://www.imageshack.us/ ImageShack].

Please make sure you avatar is safe for work and is less that 100 KB in size.

===Can I become an admin?===

No. I'm afraid getting to be an admin by asking is not possible on themixingbowl.

==Uploading==

===Why can't I upload torrents?===

Only specially authorized users ('''Uploaders''') have permission to upload torrents.

===What criteria must I meet before I can join the Uploader team?===

Any member can become an uploader. In order to join the uploader group [http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=158 you must post in this thread] to signify that you've read the rules about what kind of torrents are allowed ('''no commercial releases!''').

Once you've done this an admin will add you to the uploaders group. This is a manual process so please allow a few days for this to happen. You will be sent a PM to confirm when your account has been upgraded.

===General Uploaders Etiquette (Uploading Guidelines)===

* There are over 2,000 members here with uploading privelidges. '''You are not more important than anyone else'''.
* There are over 15,000 torrents in the database. '''Your upload is not more important than any other'''.
* Don't immediately upload lots of torrents after becoming an uploader; you will probably cock things right up and create a mess. Take it easy and ask in the forums if you get stuck and if your answer isn't covered here.
* Only upload 2 torrents at a time. Wait until they are well seeded by a few other people before you move onto more.
* Name your torrent and folder to be uploaded according the the guidelines.
* Please keep the scsne crap to a minimum. By all means include the nfo with the upload, but don't copy and paste a screen full of indecipherable symbols and shout-outs into the torrent description.

===How to attract more downloaders to your torrents===

* Name/Title your upload clearly & according to our guidelines.
* Provide a good description including your method of capture if you are uploading a radio show or live set.
* If you are uploading a cd learn how to rip with EAC and encode it correctly with the lame setting '-V 2 --vbr-new'.
* Include a Tracklist if at all possible (you can often find them by searching google).
* Use sensible names for the folder and files to be uploaded.
* If possible include a .cue sheet.
* Seed it until there are a few other seeders.

===Common mistakes made by new uploaders===

* SHOUTING IN YOUR TITLES.
* @@>>!!??# or other useless characters in your title (aka ebay idiot syndrome).
* Useless folder title (always include the artist name, mix title and date if it is a radio show or live dj set).
* Useless info in the title, e.g. (OMG GREAT MIX!)
* Including your username in the title, filename or main file tags (comment tag is ok)
* CDs ripped with mediaplayer/itunes or other non gapless compliant applications.
* Uploading a single mp3 instead of uploading inside a clearly named folder.
* Uploading a mix then not seeding for a day (wait to upload if you can't seed for some time).
* If you have 2 parts put them in a folder and upload as one, DO NOT upload 2 separate torrents
* Forgetting to include the site .nfo file.
* Incorrect choice of category or genre.

'''IMPORTANT:'''

* If you have made any of these mistakes and an admin notices it they will ban (remove) your torrent. If any other member thinks your torrent hasn't followed the uploading guidlines they can report [[Image:Rep.gif|Report Button]] it (which will bring it to the attention of the admin team). If you have already had uploads banned the admin may revoke your uploading privileges. It will be harder for you to regain your uploader status as you will have to demonstrate an understanding of the guidelines and a willingness to follow them.
* If you have made these mistakes on any of your uploads don't panic. You can edit your own torrent including any of the details, you can also delete your own torrent. You should only delete your torrent if it can't be edited for example when you didn't upload inside a folder or had a useless filename, in this case you will need to make the corrections and upload again. To edit or delete a torrent view the torrent details (not the forum topic) and click [Edit this torrent].
* If you see a torrent you feel isn't up to scratch you should report it using the link provided in the forum thread [[Image:Rep.gif|Report Button]]. You could tell the uploader in the thread if it is something easily fixable, like incorrect genre or category, but don't start any flaming with abusive comments!

===How should I title my torrent? [torrent naming guidelines]===

Properly naming your torrent is VERY important. It makes the forum and torrent list much easier to view when there is a uniform list of names.

Most importantly it makes it MUCH easier for the admin team to pull out data. For example we will have YYYY - MM - DD drop down selections and separate artist/title fields on the upload page at some stage. If all the torrents were named as below we could automatically pull the information from the titles.

So whilst naming of your files and folders is to some degree down to personal preference we are going to enforce the torrent naming guidelines.

The date must always be in the form YYYY-MM-DD eg 2005-11-21 being the 21st of November 2005. Any other method can lead to confusion with the month and day.

Use a shortened version of the radio name where possible so that the titles fit the forum view. For Example:
EM = Essential Mix
BB = Breezeblock
AOO = Annie On One
ES = Essential Selection
BR = Blue Room
AM = Annie Mac
BTTB = Back To The Basics
KISS = Kiss 100
JP = John Peel / Peel Sessions
OW = One World
SS = Solid Steel
TR = The Residency

'''Radio Shows''' must be named %date%-%month%-%day% - %show title% - %artist%[ - %title][, %comment%]
For example:
2006-03-11 - EM - Pete Tong and Col Hamilton, Live at Lush Northern Ireland

'''Live sets''' must be named %artist% - %title% - %date%-%month%-%day%
For example:
Sander Kleinenberg - Live at Villa, Lima, Peru - 2006-02-22

'''Studio/Promo, Video and misc'''. Mixes must be named %artist% - %title%
For example:
Kutski - Back To The Oldskool

'''Readers mixes''' must be named %artist% - %title% (use your username as artist if you want people to remember what it was after downloading).
For example:
Wicked Lizard - Keep Prepared fo the Breaks Part II

For a '''megapack''' we either want the artist or radio show name followed by a usefull title.
For example:
Essential Mix - 2004 The Complete Year
Solid Steel 1999
DJ Yoda - Mixtape Collection

===Why have I been demoted back to a user from uploader status?===

There are a number of reasons you might have been demoted to user from uploader or resident. These include (but are not limited to):

*Uploading commercial releases
*Uploading stream rips
*Persistently uploading poorly classified torrents
*Uploads not following the naming guidelines

===What will happen if I ignore any of the uploading guidelines?===

The upload will be deleted, and if you do it persistently you will be demoted. If you persistently upload commercial releases or argue with an admin you will probably be banned as well.

===Can I upload the new blahblahblah music video?===

No, music video's are treated the same as single songs and are not allowed. vj mixes, mashups etc are normally ok, if you are in any doubt at all [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Can%20I%20upload%20this%3F ask] before uploading.

===Can I upload a stream rip?===

See the [[Internet Radios]] page for rules about uploading internet radio streams.

===Can I upload your torrents to other trackers and/or share them with my friends?===

No. Each torrent you download from here contains a unique ID linking it to your account. If other people try to download using the same torrent they will mess up your stats, which could result in you getting banned.

However, the files you download from us are yours to do as you please. You can always create another torrent, pointing to some other tracker, and upload it to the site of your choice. We only ask that you include themixingbowl.org .nfo file to spread the word.

===How do I create a torrent?===

See the [[:Category:Bittorrent_Client_Guide|Bittorrent client guide]] page for guides on how to create torrents.

==Stats==

===Most common reason for stats not updating===

*The user is cheating. (a.k.a. "Summary Ban")
*The server is overloaded and unresponsive. Just try to keep the session open until the server responds again. (Flooding the server with consecutive manual updates is not recommended.)
*You are using a faulty client. If you want to use an experimental or CVS version you do it at your own risk.

===Best practices===

*If a torrent you are currently leeching/seeding is not listed on your profile, just wait or force a manual update.
*Make sure you exit your client properly, so that the tracker receives "event=completed".
*If the tracker is down, do not stop seeding. As long as the tracker is back up before you exit the client the stats should update properly.

===May I use any bittorrent client?===

NO. Some clients have been banned (for various reasons). If you attempt to use a banned client you will receive an error response from the tracker. The following clients are recommended:

*[[Azureus]]
*[[Utorrent]]

Because some reasons may involve security of the site or ratio cheating we will not discuss them so please do not post asking us to change our minds about banned clients or asking why individual clients have been banned. We also highly encourage you to avoid any clients in alpha or beta version, any ratio errors they create will NOT be rectified.

===Why is a torrent I'm leeching/seeding listed several times in my profile?===

If for some reason (e.g. pc crash, or frozen client) your client exits improperly and you restart it, it will have a new peer_id, so it will show as a new torrent. The old one will never receive a "event=completed" or "event=stopped" and will be listed until some tracker timeout. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

Another reason could be that you have given torrents you have downloaded from this site to other people. Each .torrent file you download contains a unique ID that links it to your account. For this reason sharing .torrent files you have downloaded from The Mixing Bowl is forbidden.

===I've finished or cancelled a torrent. Why is it still listed in my profile?===

Some clients, notably TorrentStorm and Nova Torrent, do not report properly to the tracker when cancelling or finishing a torrent. In that case the tracker will keep waiting for some message - and thus listing the torrent as seeding or leeching - until some timeout occurs. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

===Multiple IPs (Can I login from different computers?)===

Yes, the tracker is now capable of following sessions from different IPs for the same user. A torrent is associated with the user when it starts, and only at that moment is the IP relevant. So if you want to seed/leech from computer A and computer B with the same account you should access the site from computer A, start the torrent there, and then repeat both steps from computer B (not limited to two computers or to a single torrent on each, this is just the simplest example). You do not need to login again when closing the torrent.

===How does NAT/ICS change the picture?===

This is a very particular case in that all computers in the LAN will appear to the outside world as having the same IP. We must distinguish between two cases:

#You are the single Mixing Bowl user in the LAN ''You should use the same Mixing Bowl account in all the computers.'' Note also that in the ICS case it is preferable to run the BT client on the ICS gateway. Clients running on the other computers will be unconnectable (their ports will be listed as "---", as explained elsewhere in the FAQ) unless you specify the appropriate services in your ICS configuration (a good explanation of how to do this for Windows XP can be found here). In the NAT case you should configure different ranges for clients on different computers and create appropriate NAT rules in the router. (Details vary widely from router to router and are outside the scope of this FAQ. Check your router documentation and/or support forum.) 
#There are multiple Mixing Bowl users in the LAN ''At present there is no way of making this setup always work properly with The Mixing Bowl.'' Each torrent will be associated with the user who last accessed the site from within the LAN before the torrent was started. Unless there is cooperation between the users mixing of statistics is possible. (User A accesses the site, downloads a .torrent file, but does not start the torrent immediately. Meanwhile, user B accesses the site. User A then starts the torrent. The torrent will count towards user B's statistics, not user A's.) It is your LAN, the responsibility is yours. Do not ask us to ban other users with the same IP, we will not do that. (Why should we ban him instead of you?)

===How do I improve my ratio?===

Read the [[One Stop Ratio Shop]].

==Downloading==

===Why did an active torrent suddenly disappear?===

The most likely reasons are that the uploader deleted it because there was a problem with the release, or an admin/moderator deleted it because it broke the site [[rules]].

===How do I resume a broken download or reseed something?===

Download the original .torrent file from server after that open it in you Bit Torrent client and browse the folder of the torrent you are downloading/reseeding.

===What are these "a piece has failed an hash check" messages?===

Bittorrent clients check the data they receive for integrity. When a piece fails this check it is automatically re-downloaded. Occasional hash fails are a common occurrence, and you shouldn't worry.

Some clients have an (advanced) option/preference to "kick/ban" clients that send you bad data or similar. It should be turned on, since it makes sure that if a peer repeatedly sends you pieces that fail the hash check it will be ignored in the future.

===The torrent is supposed to be 100MB. How come I downloaded 120MB?===

See the hash fails topic. If your client receives bad data it will have to redownload it, therefore the total downloaded may be larger than the torrent size. Make sure the "kick/ban" option is turned on to minimize the extra downloads.

===Why do I get a "rejected by tracker - Port xxxx is blacklisted" error?===

Your client is reporting to the tracker that it uses one of the default bittorrent ports (6881-6889) or any other common p2p port for incoming connections.

The Mixing Bowl does not allow clients to use ports commonly associated with p2p protocols. The reason for this is that it is a common practice for ISPs to throttle those ports (that is, limit the bandwidth, hence the speed).

The blocked ports list include, but is not neccessarily limited to, the following:

BitTorrent : 6881 - 6889

In order to use use our tracker you must configure your client to use any port range that does not contain those ports (a range within the region 49152 through 65535 is preferable, cf. IANA). Notice that some clients, like Azureus 2.0.7.0 or higher, use a single port for all torrents, while most others use one port per open torrent. The size of the range you choose should take this into account (typically less than 10 ports wide. There is no benefit whatsoever in choosing a wide range, and there are possible security implications).

These ports are used for connections between peers, not client to tracker. Therefore this change will not interfere with your ability to use other trackers (in fact it should increase your speed with torrents from any tracker, not just ours). Your client will also still be able to connect to peers that are using the standard ports. If your client does not allow custom ports to be used, you will have to switch to one that does.

Do not ask us, or in the forums, which ports you should choose. The more random the choice is the harder it will be for ISPs to catch on to us and start limiting speeds on the ports we use. If we simply define another range ISPs will start throttling that range also.

Finally, remember to forward the chosen ports in your router and/or open them in your firewall, should you have them.

===What's this "IOError - [Errno13] Permission denied" error?===

If you just want to fix it reboot your computer, it should solve the problem. Otherwise read on.

IOError means Input-Output Error, and that is a file system error, not a tracker one. It shows up when your client is for some reason unable to open the partially downloaded torrent files. The most common cause is two instances of the client to be running simultaneously: the last time the client was closed it somehow didn't really close but kept running in the background, and is therefore still locking the files, making it impossible for the new instance to open them.

A more uncommon occurrence is a corrupted FAT. A crash may result in corruption that makes the partially downloaded files unreadable, and the error ensues. Running scandisk should solve the problem. (Note that this may happen only if you're running Windows 9x - which only support FAT - or NT/2000/XP with FAT formatted hard drives. NTFS is much more robust and should never permit this problem.)

===Why do I get an "Error (You need a better ratio to download megatorrents!) message?===

In order to prevent new members from digging a big hole in their ratio they can't get out of, they are prevented from downloading any torrent over 1GB.

This restriction is lifted once you have downloaded over 1.5GB and have a ratio better than 0.8.

===How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?===

See the [[Azureus]] page for information on how to do this.

==How can I improve my download speed?==

===Do not immediately jump on new torrents===

The download speed mostly depends on the seeder-to-leecher ratio (SLR). Poor download speed is mainly a problem with new and very popular torrents where the SLR is low.

(Proselytising sidenote: make sure you remember that you did not enjoy the low speed. Seed so that others will not endure the same.)

The best speeds will be found around the half-life of a torrent, when the SLR will be at its highest. (The downside is that you will not be able to seed so much. It's up to you to balance the pros and cons of this.)

===Limit your upload speed===

The upload speed affects the download speed in essentially two ways:

*Bittorrent peers tend to favour those other peers that upload to them. This means that if A and B are leeching the same torrent and A is sending data to B at high speed then B will try to reciprocate. So due to this effect high upload speeds lead to high download speeds.
*Due to the way TCP works, when A is downloading something from B it has to keep telling B that it received the data sent to him. (These are called acknowledgements - ACKs -, a sort of "got it!" messages). If A fails to do this then B will stop sending data and wait. If A is uploading at full speed there may be no bandwidth left for the ACKs and they will be delayed. So due to this effect excessively high upload speeds lead to low download speeds.

The full effect is a combination of the two. The upload should be kept as high as possible while allowing the ACKs to get through without delay. '''A good thumb rule is keeping the upload at about 80% of the theoretical upload speed.''' You will have to fine tune yours to find out what works best for you. (Remember that keeping the upload high has the additional benefit of helping with your ratio.)

If you are running more than one instance of a client it is the overall upload speed that you must take into account. Some clients (e.g. [[Azureus]]) limit global upload speed, others (e.g. Shad0w's) do it on a per torrent basis. Know your client. The same applies if you are using your connection for anything else (e.g. browsing or ftp), always think of the overall upload speed.

===Limit the number of simultaneous connections===

Some operating systems (like Windows 9x) do not deal well with a large number of connections, and may even crash. Also some home routers (particularly when running NAT and/or firewall with stateful inspection services) tend to become slow or crash when having to deal with too many connections. There are no fixed values for this, you may try 60 or 100 and experiment with the value. Note that these numbers are additive, if you have two instances of a client running the numbers add up.

===Limit the number of simultaneous uploads===

Isn't this the same as above? No. Connections limit the number of peers your client is talking to and/or downloading from. Uploads limit the number of peers your client is actually uploading to. The ideal number is typically much lower than the number of connections, and highly dependent on your (physical) connection.

===Just give it some time===

As explained above peers favour other peers that upload to them. When you start leeching a new torrent you have nothing to offer to other peers and they will tend to ignore you. This makes the starts slow, in particular if, by change, the peers you are connected to include few or no seeders. The download speed should increase as soon as you have some pieces to share.

===Why is my browsing so slow while leeching?===

Your download speed is always finite. If you are a peer in a fast torrent it will almost certainly saturate your download bandwidth, and your browsing will suffer. There are very few clients that allow you to limit the download speed ([[Azureus]] and [[uTorrent]] can), only the upload. So if your Client does not allow this then you will have to use a third-party solution, such as [http://www.netlimiter.com/ NetLimiter].

Browsing was used just as an example, the same would apply to gaming, IMing, etc...

==My ISP uses a transparent proxy. What should I do?==

===What is a proxy?===

Basically a middleman. When you are browsing a site through a proxy your requests are sent to the proxy and the proxy forwards them to the site instead of you connecting directly to the site. There are several classifications (the terminology is far from standard):

{|class="wikitable"
!align="left" valign="top"|Transparent
|A transparent proxy is one that needs no configuration on the clients. It works by automatically redirecting all port 80 traffic to the proxy. (Sometimes used as synonymous for non-anonymous.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Explicit/Voluntary
|Clients must configure their browsers to use them.
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Anonymous
|The proxy sends no client identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR header is not sent; the server does not see your IP.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Highly Anonymous
|The proxy sends no client nor proxy identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR, HTTP_VIA and HTTP_PROXY_CONNECTION headers are not sent; the server doesn't see your IP and doesn't even know you're using a proxy.)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Public
|Self explanatory.
|-
|}

A transparent proxy may or may not be anonymous, and there are several levels of anonymity.

===How do I find out if I'm behind a (transparent/anonymous) proxy?===

Try [http://proxyjudge.org/ ProxyJudge]. It lists the HTTP headers that the server where it is running received from you. The relevant ones are HTTP_CLIENT_IP, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR and REMOTE_ADDR.

===Can I bypass my ISP's proxy?===

If your ISP only allows HTTP traffic through port 80 or blocks the usual proxy ports then you would need to use something like [http://www.socks.permeo.com/ socks] and that is outside the scope of this FAQ.

Otherwise you may try the following:

*Choose any public '''non-anonymous''' proxy that does '''not''' use port 80 (e.g. from [http://tools.rosinstrument.com/proxy this], [http://www.proxy4free.com/index.html this] or [http://www.samair.ru/proxy this] list).
*Configure your computer to use that proxy. For Windows XP, do Start, Control Panel, Internet Options, Connections, LAN Settings, Use a Proxy server, Advanced and type in the IP and port of your chosen proxy. Or from Internet Explorer use Tools, Internet Options, ...
*(Facultative) Visit [http://proxyjudge.org/ ProxyJudge]. If you see an HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR in the list followed by your IP then everything should be ok, otherwise choose another proxy and try again.
*Visit TorrentBits. Hopefully the tracker will now pickup your real IP (check your profile to make sure).

Notice that now you will be doing all your browsing through a public proxy, which are typically quite slow. Communications between peers do not use port 80 so their speed will not be affected by this, and should be better than when you were "unconnectable".

===How do I make my bittorrent client use a proxy?===

Just configure Windows XP as above. When you configure a proxy for Internet Explorer you're actually configuring a proxy for all HTTP traffic (thank Microsoft and their "IE as part of the OS policy" ). On the other hand if you use another browser (Opera/Mozilla/Firefox) and configure a proxy there you'll be configuring a proxy just for that browser. We don't know of any BT client that allows a proxy to be specified explicitly.

===Why can't I signup from behind a proxy?===

It is our policy not to allow new accounts to be opened from behind a proxy.

===Does this apply to other torrent sites?===

This section was written for The Mixing Bowl, a closed, port 80-81 tracker. Other trackers may be open or closed, and many listen on e.g. ports 6868 or 6969. The above does not necessarily apply to other trackers.

===Why is my port listed as "---" even though I'm not NAT/Firewalled?===

The TorrentBits tracker is quite smart at finding your real IP, but it does need the proxy to send the HTTP header HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR. If your ISP's proxy does not then what happens is that the tracker will interpret the proxy's IP address as the client's IP address. So when you login and the tracker tries to connect to your client to see if you are NAT/firewalled it will actually try to connect to the proxy on the port your client reports to be using for incoming connections. Naturally the proxy will not be listening on that port, the connection will fail and the tracker will think you are NAT/firewalled.

==Why can't I connect? Is the site blocking me?==

===Maybe my address is blacklisted?===

The site blocks addresses listed in the (former) [http://methlabs.org/ PeerGuardian] database, as well as addresses of banned users. This works at Apache/PHP level, it's just a script that blocks logins from those addresses. It should not stop you from reaching the site. In particular it does not block lower level protocols, you should be able to ping/traceroute the server even if your address is blacklisted. If you cannot then the reason for the problem lies elsewhere.

If somehow your address is indeed blocked in the PG database do not contact us about it, it is not our policy to open ad hoc exceptions. You should clear your IP with the database maintainers instead.

===Your ISP blocks the site's address===

(In first place, it's unlikely your ISP is doing so. DNS name resolution and/or network problems are the usual culprits.)

There's nothing we can do. You should contact your ISP (or get a new one). Note that you can still visit the site via a proxy, follow the instructions in the relevant section. In this case it doesn't matter if the proxy is anonymous or not, or which port it listens to.

Notice that you will always be listed as an "unconnectable" client because the tracker will be unable to check that you're capable of accepting incoming connections.

==What if I can't find the answer to my problem here?==

===You can try these:===

Post in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/forums.php forums], by all means. You'll find they are usually a friendly and helpful place, provided you follow a few basic guidelines:

*Make sure your problem is not really in this FAQ. There's no point in posting just to be sent back here.
*Before posting read the sticky topics (the ones at the top). Many times new information that still hasn't been incorporated in the FAQ can be found there.
*Help us in helping you. Do not just say "it doesn't work!". Provide details so that we don't have to guess or waste time asking. What client do you use? What's your OS? What's your network setup? What's the exact error message you get, if any? What are the torrents you are having problems with? The more you tell the easiest it will be for us, and the more probable your post will get a reply.
*And needless to say: be polite. Demanding help rarely works, asking for it usually does the trick.

A State of Trance

2006-04-29T19:21:10Z

Sleepy:

{{Infobox Radio Show|name=A State of Trance
|genre=Trance
|host=Armin van Buuren
|time=Thu 19:00-21:00 UTC
|station=Digitally Imported, many others
|country=Netherlands, worldwide
|url=http://arminvanbuuren.com/}}

'''A State of Trance''' ('''ASOT''' in short) is one of the most popular radio shows in the world and has won several awards such as the Award for ''Best Radio Show'' during the annual Miami Winter Music Conference in both 2005 & 2006. Mixed and produced by the #3 DJ in the world - Armin van Buuren - it gained a good reputation especially in the Trance Community and is now - without any doubt - the most influential and best known Trance Radio Show in the world. More than 240 episodes of the weekly 'A State of Trance' have been broadcasted up to now. "Live" shows as well as guest mixes are quite rare, it is in fact a one-man-show by Armin van Buuren, recorded and mixed in his very own studio.

'''A State of Trance''' started in May 2001 on ID&T radio in The Netherlands, but became a truly world-wide show in March 2005 when it started to be broadcasted by radio stations across the whole world (India, Jordan, Australia, USA, Netherlands...). At the moment of this TMB entry the show is broadcasted by more than 20 FM radio stations worldwide. However, most recognized by fans of the show is the internet broadcast by [[DI.fm|Digitally Imported]] as this allows the fan community to be part of the worldwide ASOT experience without physical boarders between all the countries. "A State of Trance" is broadcasted by many radio stations on Thursday evenings, for example (7pm - 9pm UTC) on [[DI.fm|Digitally Imported]].

==External Links==

*[http://arminvanbuuren.com/ Home of Armin van Buuren and the 'A State of Trance' Radio Show]

*[http://www.di.fm/ The internet FM station broadcasting 'A State of Trance' worldwide]

*[http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/ It is called TranceAddict but "A State of Trance"-Addict it is.]

Main Page

2006-04-01T11:22:40Z

Sleepy: /* External Links */

==Getting started==

Have any questions about [http://themixingbowl.org themixingbowl.org] site or [[Bittorrent]]? '''Try the [[FAQ]] first'''.

==TMB Audio Formats==

[[MP2]], [[MP3]] ([[LAME]]), [[FLAC]], [[AAC|AAC/MP4/M4A]], [[Ogg Vorbis]].

==TMB Radio Shows==

[[Essential Mix]], [[Breezeblock]], [[BTTB|Back To The Basics]], [[GPWW|Gilles Peterson Worldwide]], [[Essential Selection]], [[Solid Steel]].

A list of all TMB-related [[Radio shows|radio shows]]

==Bit Torrent Client Guide==
===Linux/Unix===
:*[[HOWTO TorrentFlux]]
===Windows===
:*[[Azureus]]
:*[[µTorrent]]

===Mac===

==External Links==
[http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide Wiki User's Guide] - How to use this wiki.

[http://www.trainspotted.org/index.php Trainspotted.] - An ongoing collaborative tracklisting resource for non commercial mixes (Including various Essential mixes) with cue sheets available occasionally.

MP2

2006-03-26T16:31:48Z

Sleepy:

'''MP2''' (sometimes also called Musicam) is short for '''MPEG-1 Audio Layer II'''. MP2 files usually have an extension of .mp2 but sometimes .mpa is used instead. MP2 has largely been superseded by [[MP3]] (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) for file sharing and CD ripping, but it remains a dominant standard for audio broadcasting in Europe as part of the [[DAB]] digital radio and [[DVB]] digital television standards.

==Why use MP2?==

MP3 should provide superior sound quality to MP2 at the same bitrate so there is no reason to use it for CD ripping or encoding from analogue sources. However since MP2 is the audio format used in DAB and DVB in the UK, the best way to record from these is to use some method to capture the MP2 audio stream straight to disk (e.g. using PCI DVB card). An MP2 created like this will provide a ''perfect'' copy of the original broadcast.

==Playback==

===Software playback===

The MPEG-1 specifications say that a MP3 decoder must be able to decode Layer I & II too, so any MP3 player should play MP2 files. MP2 support is probably even wider then MP3 support since it is the audio format used in .mpg files too.

===Hardware playback===

In theory all hardware MP3 players should be able to play MP2, but in practice this does not always seem to be the case. Some have no problems playing MP2 files (even if this isn't mentioned anywhere in the players specifications), some will only play them if you give it an .mp3 extension, and others won't play them at all.

If your hardware player only plays MP2 files with an .mp3 extension it might be worth asking the manufacturer if this could be fixed with a firmware update. Try to remember to rename it back to .mp2 before sharing it again, as there are some technical differences between MP2 and MP3 that mean things like ReplayGain only work with real MP3 files. Using a double extension like (e.g. radio_mix.mp2.mp3) might help you remember.

===Tagging===

MP2 files can be tagged like MP3 files.

==Conversion==

===Converting to MP3===

A guide to converting to MP3 can be found here:

http://www.rocketknight.com/alexp/?page_id=9

Remember that converting from MP2 to MP3 (or any other lossy format) will always result in a (small) loss of quality, so it's best to only convert when you have a really good reason to do so.

[[:Category:Audio Formats]]

Main Page

2006-03-18T18:14:37Z

Sleepy:

==Getting started==

Have a question about [http://themixingbowl.org the site] or [[Bittorrent]]? '''Try the [[FAQ]] first'''.

== Audio Formats ==

[[MP3]], [[FLAC]], [[AAC]], [[Ogg Vorbis]].

All [[Audio Formats|audio formats]]

== Radio Shows ==

[[Essential Mix]], [[Breezeblock]], [[BTTB|Back To The Basics]], [[GPWW|Gilles Peterson Worldwide]], [[Essential Selection]], [[Solid Steel]].

A list of all [[Radio shows|radio shows]]

==External Links==
[http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide Wiki User's Guide] - How to use this wiki.

Radio shows

2006-03-18T18:10:55Z

Sleepy:

list

FAQ

2006-03-18T17:55:58Z

Sleepy: /* How does your RSS feed work? */

'''The Mixing Bowl FAQ'''

=Site information=

== What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files? ==

The idea behind BitTorrent is the SHARING of files and while you download you also upload. From this you get a sharing ratio and we ask that you stay seeding the file after you have downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.

If you are new to BitTorrent then you will be advised to have a look at [http://dessent.net/btfaq The BitTorrent FAQ] which explains how BitTorrent works especially [http://dessent.net/btfaq/#terms this section] on the meaning of certain words. [http://www.bamber.org/wiki The BitTorrent Wiki] is another very good site for information.

For a BitTorrent client we recommend using [http://azureus.sourceforge.net Azureus] or [http://www.utorrent.com/ uTorrent]. Both clients keep track of all your torrents for you, making it easier to seed and maintain a decent ratio.

== Where does the donated money go? ==

All donated money goes towards hosting the site.

== How does the auto ban/warning system work? ==

'''Auto warnings'''

Every day we automatically issue warnings to any account who has downloaded 1.5gb and has a ratio of 0.3 or less. The account then has a warning flag issued recording the date and account statistics when the warning was issued. The following PM is send to the account by the system:

'''WARNING FROM ADMINS - READ OR BE BANNED... wrote:'''

You are receiving this autowarning because you have a VERY poor ratio.
This site is a community that '''requires all members to SHARE'''.
Using bittorrent while you download you also upload.
The easiest way to maintain your ratio is to stay seeding the file after you have
downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.
You now have 30 days to make a significant improvement on your ratio or you will be banned from the site.
If your ratio gets worse you will be banned a lot sooner.
Because you have to increase your ratio you should read idea's for how to do this [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4171 here].
If you have any questions AFTER READING THE FAQ and EXISTING help threads we have a
support forum you can ask for help in [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=6 here].
Good luck, we hope you are still with us in 30 days.

'''Auto bans'''

Every day we automatically ban any account which has been warned for over 30 days and whose ratio is still 0.3 or worse.

We also monitor the accounts currently flagged with a warning and will ban any one who is trying to download lots before the auto ban or whose ratio has gotten worse since the warning.

Other non-ratio related warnings can be issued by the admin team for abusive behaviour, persistent commercial uploads etc.

== How does your RSS feed work? ==

Use the url : http://themixingbowl.org/rss.php?user=username&pass=password

Substitute your own username and password for the username and password above.

See also : [[How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?]]

== How can I contact an admin? ==

Use [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Question%20from%20the%20FAQ this link] to send a question to the admin team, this will be answered by any available admin.

If you message an admin you see online directly you may not get a response especially if your question is already covered in the FAQ.

=User information=

==I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!==

You can use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete the account so you can re-register. Note though that if you didn't receive the email the first time it will probably not succeed the second time either so you should really try another email address.

==I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?==

Please use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/recover.php this form] to have the login details mailed back to you.

==Can you rename my account?==

We do not rename accounts. Please create a new one. (Use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete your present account.)

==Can you delete my (confirmed) account?==

You can do it yourself by using [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form].

==So, what's MY ratio?==

You can view your ratio by searching for your username in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/userdetails.php Members page], clicking your name on your [http://themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile page] will also take you to your user details. Your ratio is displayed next to your forum posts as well.

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio takes into account those values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf.", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

==Why is my IP displayed on my details page?==

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

==Help! I cannot login!? (a.k.a. Login of Death)==

This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

==Why is my port number reported as "---"? (And why should I care?)==

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other peers in the swarm will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This has obviously a detrimental effect on the overall speed.

The way to solve the problem involves opening the ports used for incoming connections (the same range you defined in your client) on the firewall and/or configuring your NAT server to use a basic form of NAT for that range instead of NAPT (the actual process differs widely between different router models. Check your router documentation and/or support forum. You will also find lots of information on the subject at [http://www.portforward.com PortForward]).

FAQ

2006-03-18T17:53:03Z

Sleepy: /* How does your RSS feed work? */

'''The Mixing Bowl FAQ'''

=Site information=

== What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files? ==

The idea behind BitTorrent is the SHARING of files and while you download you also upload. From this you get a sharing ratio and we ask that you stay seeding the file after you have downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.

If you are new to BitTorrent then you will be advised to have a look at [http://dessent.net/btfaq The BitTorrent FAQ] which explains how BitTorrent works especially [http://dessent.net/btfaq/#terms this section] on the meaning of certain words. [http://www.bamber.org/wiki The BitTorrent Wiki] is another very good site for information.

For a BitTorrent client we recommend using [http://azureus.sourceforge.net Azureus] or [http://www.utorrent.com/ uTorrent]. Both clients keep track of all your torrents for you, making it easier to seed and maintain a decent ratio.

== Where does the donated money go? ==

All donated money goes towards hosting the site.

== How does the auto ban/warning system work? ==

'''Auto warnings'''

Every day we automatically issue warnings to any account who has downloaded 1.5gb and has a ratio of 0.3 or less. The account then has a warning flag issued recording the date and account statistics when the warning was issued. The following PM is send to the account by the system:

'''WARNING FROM ADMINS - READ OR BE BANNED... wrote:'''

You are receiving this autowarning because you have a VERY poor ratio.
This site is a community that '''requires all members to SHARE'''.
Using bittorrent while you download you also upload.
The easiest way to maintain your ratio is to stay seeding the file after you have
downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.
You now have 30 days to make a significant improvement on your ratio or you will be banned from the site.
If your ratio gets worse you will be banned a lot sooner.
Because you have to increase your ratio you should read idea's for how to do this [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4171 here].
If you have any questions AFTER READING THE FAQ and EXISTING help threads we have a
support forum you can ask for help in [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=6 here].
Good luck, we hope you are still with us in 30 days.

'''Auto bans'''

Every day we automatically ban any account which has been warned for over 30 days and whose ratio is still 0.3 or worse.

We also monitor the accounts currently flagged with a warning and will ban any one who is trying to download lots before the auto ban or whose ratio has gotten worse since the warning.

Other non-ratio related warnings can be issued by the admin team for abusive behaviour, persistent commercial uploads etc.

== How does your RSS feed work? ==

Use the url : http://themixingbowl.org/rss.php?user=username&pass=password

Substitute your own username and password for the username and password above.

See also : [[Az_RSS|How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?]]

== How can I contact an admin? ==

Use [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Question%20from%20the%20FAQ this link] to send a question to the admin team, this will be answered by any available admin.

If you message an admin you see online directly you may not get a response especially if your question is already covered in the FAQ.

=User information=

==I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!==

You can use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete the account so you can re-register. Note though that if you didn't receive the email the first time it will probably not succeed the second time either so you should really try another email address.

==I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?==

Please use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/recover.php this form] to have the login details mailed back to you.

==Can you rename my account?==

We do not rename accounts. Please create a new one. (Use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete your present account.)

==Can you delete my (confirmed) account?==

You can do it yourself by using [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form].

==So, what's MY ratio?==

You can view your ratio by searching for your username in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/userdetails.php Members page], clicking your name on your [http://themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile page] will also take you to your user details. Your ratio is displayed next to your forum posts as well.

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio takes into account those values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf.", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

==Why is my IP displayed on my details page?==

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

==Help! I cannot login!? (a.k.a. Login of Death)==

This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

==Why is my port number reported as "---"? (And why should I care?)==

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other peers in the swarm will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This has obviously a detrimental effect on the overall speed.

The way to solve the problem involves opening the ports used for incoming connections (the same range you defined in your client) on the firewall and/or configuring your NAT server to use a basic form of NAT for that range instead of NAPT (the actual process differs widely between different router models. Check your router documentation and/or support forum. You will also find lots of information on the subject at [http://www.portforward.com PortForward]).

FAQ

2006-03-18T17:52:04Z

Sleepy:

'''The Mixing Bowl FAQ'''

=Site information=

== What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files? ==

The idea behind BitTorrent is the SHARING of files and while you download you also upload. From this you get a sharing ratio and we ask that you stay seeding the file after you have downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.

If you are new to BitTorrent then you will be advised to have a look at [http://dessent.net/btfaq The BitTorrent FAQ] which explains how BitTorrent works especially [http://dessent.net/btfaq/#terms this section] on the meaning of certain words. [http://www.bamber.org/wiki The BitTorrent Wiki] is another very good site for information.

For a BitTorrent client we recommend using [http://azureus.sourceforge.net Azureus] or [http://www.utorrent.com/ uTorrent]. Both clients keep track of all your torrents for you, making it easier to seed and maintain a decent ratio.

== Where does the donated money go? ==

All donated money goes towards hosting the site.

== How does the auto ban/warning system work? ==

'''Auto warnings'''

Every day we automatically issue warnings to any account who has downloaded 1.5gb and has a ratio of 0.3 or less. The account then has a warning flag issued recording the date and account statistics when the warning was issued. The following PM is send to the account by the system:

'''WARNING FROM ADMINS - READ OR BE BANNED... wrote:'''

You are receiving this autowarning because you have a VERY poor ratio.
This site is a community that '''requires all members to SHARE'''.
Using bittorrent while you download you also upload.
The easiest way to maintain your ratio is to stay seeding the file after you have
downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.
You now have 30 days to make a significant improvement on your ratio or you will be banned from the site.
If your ratio gets worse you will be banned a lot sooner.
Because you have to increase your ratio you should read idea's for how to do this [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4171 here].
If you have any questions AFTER READING THE FAQ and EXISTING help threads we have a
support forum you can ask for help in [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=6 here].
Good luck, we hope you are still with us in 30 days.

'''Auto bans'''

Every day we automatically ban any account which has been warned for over 30 days and whose ratio is still 0.3 or worse.

We also monitor the accounts currently flagged with a warning and will ban any one who is trying to download lots before the auto ban or whose ratio has gotten worse since the warning.

Other non-ratio related warnings can be issued by the admin team for abusive behaviour, persistent commercial uploads etc.

== How does your RSS feed work? ==

Use the url : http://themixingbowl.org/rss.php?user=username&pass=password

Substitute your own username and password for the username and password above.

See also : How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?

== How can I contact an admin? ==

Use [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Question%20from%20the%20FAQ this link] to send a question to the admin team, this will be answered by any available admin.

If you message an admin you see online directly you may not get a response especially if your question is already covered in the FAQ.

=User information=

==I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!==

You can use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete the account so you can re-register. Note though that if you didn't receive the email the first time it will probably not succeed the second time either so you should really try another email address.

==I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?==

Please use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/recover.php this form] to have the login details mailed back to you.

==Can you rename my account?==

We do not rename accounts. Please create a new one. (Use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete your present account.)

==Can you delete my (confirmed) account?==

You can do it yourself by using [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form].

==So, what's MY ratio?==

You can view your ratio by searching for your username in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/userdetails.php Members page], clicking your name on your [http://themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile page] will also take you to your user details. Your ratio is displayed next to your forum posts as well.

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio takes into account those values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf.", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

==Why is my IP displayed on my details page?==

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

==Help! I cannot login!? (a.k.a. Login of Death)==

This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

==Why is my port number reported as "---"? (And why should I care?)==

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other peers in the swarm will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This has obviously a detrimental effect on the overall speed.

The way to solve the problem involves opening the ports used for incoming connections (the same range you defined in your client) on the firewall and/or configuring your NAT server to use a basic form of NAT for that range instead of NAPT (the actual process differs widely between different router models. Check your router documentation and/or support forum. You will also find lots of information on the subject at [http://www.portforward.com PortForward]).

FAQ

2006-03-18T17:50:22Z

Sleepy:

'''The Mixing Bowl FAQ'''

=Site information=

== What is this BitTorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files? ==

The idea behind BitTorrent is the SHARING of files and while you download you also upload. From this you get a sharing ratio and we ask that you stay seeding the file after you have downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.

If you are new to BitTorrent then you will be advised to have a look at [http://dessent.net/btfaq The BitTorrent FAQ] which explains how BitTorrent works especially [http://dessent.net/btfaq/#terms this section] on the meaning of certain words. [http://www.bamber.org/wiki The BitTorrent Wiki] is another very good site for information.

For a BitTorrent client we recommend using [http://azureus.sourceforge.net Azureus] or [http://www.utorrent.com/ uTorrent]. Both clients keep track of all your torrents for you, making it easier to seed and maintain a decent ratio.

== Where does the donated money go? ==

All donated money goes towards hosting the site.

== How does the auto ban/warning system work? ==

'''Auto warnings'''

Every day we automatically issue warnings to any account who has downloaded 1.5gb and has a ratio of 0.3 or less. The account then has a warning flag issued recording the date and account statistics when the warning was issued. The following PM is send to the account by the system:

'''WARNING FROM ADMINS - READ OR BE BANNED... wrote:'''

You are receiving this autowarning because you have a VERY poor ratio.
This site is a community that '''requires all members to SHARE'''.
Using bittorrent while you download you also upload.
The easiest way to maintain your ratio is to stay seeding the file after you have
downloaded it until you have at least a ratio of 1.
You now have 30 days to make a significant improvement on your ratio or you will be banned from the site.
If your ratio gets worse you will be banned a lot sooner.
Because you have to increase your ratio you should read idea's for how to do this [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=4171 here].
If you have any questions AFTER READING THE FAQ and EXISTING help threads we have a
support forum you can ask for help in [http://www.themixingbowl.org/redir.php?url=http://themixingbowl.org/forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=6 here].
Good luck, we hope you are still with us in 30 days.

'''Auto bans'''

Every day we automatically ban any account which has been warned for over 30 days and whose ratio is still 0.3 or worse.

We also monitor the accounts currently flagged with a warning and will ban any one who is trying to download lots before the auto ban or whose ratio has gotten worse since the warning.

Other non-ratio related warnings can be issued by the admin team for abusive behaviour, persistent commercial uploads etc.

== How does your RSS feed work? ==

Use the url : http://themixingbowl.org/rss.php?user=username&pass=password

Substitute your own username and password for the username and password above.

See also : How do I set up Azureus to auto download torrents?

== How can I contact an admin? ==

Use [http://themixingbowl.org/messageadmin.php?subject=Question%20from%20the%20FAQ this link] to send a question to the admin team, this will be answered by any available admin.

If you message an admin you see online directly you may not get a response especially if your question is already covered in the FAQ.

=User information=

==I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!==

You can use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete the account so you can re-register. Note though that if you didn't receive the email the first time it will probably not succeed the second time either so you should really try another email address.

==I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?==

Please use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/recover.php this form] to have the login details mailed back to you.

==Can you rename my account?==

We do not rename accounts. Please create a new one. (Use [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form] to delete your present account.)

==Can you delete my (confirmed) account?==

You can do it yourself by using [http://www.themixingbowl.org/delacct.php this form].

==So, what's MY ratio?==

You can view your ratio by searching for your username in the [http://www.themixingbowl.org/userdetails.php Members page], clicking your name on your [http://themixingbowl.org/my.php Profile page] will also take you to your user deatails. Your ratio is displayed next to your forum posts as well.

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio takes into account those values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf.", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

==Why is my IP displayed on my details page?==

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

==Help! I cannot login!? (a.k.a. Login of Death)==

This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

==Why is my port number reported as "---"? (And why should I care?)==

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections. This means that other peers in the swarm will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This has obviously a detrimental effect on the overall speed.

The way to solve the problem involves opening the ports used for incoming connections (the same range you defined in your client) on the firewall and/or configuring your NAT server to use a basic form of NAT for that range instead of NAPT (the actual process differs widely between different router models. Check your router documentation and/or support forum. You will also find lots of information on the subject at [http://www.portforward.com PortForward]).

MP3

2006-03-18T14:13:05Z

Sleepy:

=MP3: MPEG 1 Audio Layer 3=
The MP3 algorithm development started in 1987, with a joint cooperation of [http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/ Fraunhofer IIS-A] and the University of Erlangen. It is standardised as ISO-MPEG Audio Layer-3 (IS 11172-3 and IS 13818-3).

It soon became the de facto standard for lossy audio encoding, due to the high compression rates (1/11 of the original size, still retaining considerable quality), the high availability of decoders and the low CPU requirements for playback. (486 DX2-100 is enough for real-time decoding)

It supports multichannel files (Although there's no implementation yet), sampling rates from 16kHz to 24kHz (MPEG2 Layer 3) and 32kHz to 48kHz (MPEG1 Layer 3)

Formal and informal listening tests have shown that MP3 at the 160-224 kbps range provide encoded results undistinguishable from the original materials in most of the cases.

=LAME=
*[http://www.mp3dev.org/ LAME Homepage]
LAME (Lame Ain't* an MP3 Encoder) is the recommended encoder. It has been developed by the open-source community since 1998, and has become the highest quality [[MP3]] encoder for most purposes.

Some benefits for using LAME:
* Highly optimised presets
* Fast encoding
* [[CBR]], [[ABR]] and [[VBR]] encoding methods
* [[Gapless]] playback with LAME-header compliant decoders
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] and [[CDex]] support

_*_LAME ''is'' an MP3 encoder, it just wasn't at the very beginning of it's life

=MP3 Creation With The LAME Encoder=

To save yourself reading & researching a lot of information, just know that with the following applications you can make the best mp3 possible for free (Audiophile geeks have tested these applications for months & years, so you know it's going to be the best advice. Also, the TMB admin also use and/or recommend them):

* 3.97 beta 2 is the LAME version you need > [http://www.rarewares.org/mp3.html download the LAME 3.97 beta 2 bundle from this page]

* Use the '-V 2 --vbr-new' switch

* The BEST way to rip CDs to mp3 is with [http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ EAC].
* The following three [http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ EAC] guides are very good:
[http://users.pandora.be/satcp/eac-qs-en.htm Guide 1 - The Coaster Factory]
[http://www.teqnilogik.com/tutorials/eac.htm Guide 2 - Teqnilogik]
[http://home.tiscali-business.be/~tpm54044/index.htm Guide 3 - Essential Ripping Guide]

* The easiest way to convert WAVs to MP3 is with: [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/all2lame.htm ALL2LAME] or [http://rarewares.org/mp3.html LameDropXPd v2]

=Further Reading=

[http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] have officially announced a successor to their previoulsy recommended LAME mp3 encoder version 3.90.3.

The recommended version is now 3.97 beta 2.

See [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=37574 this] post for details on the 3.97 beta [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] recommendation.

See [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=28124 this] post for the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] recommended LAME settings.

See [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=28125 this] post for a high level overview of the LAME versions.

=Hydrogenaudio=
[http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] are widely regarded as THE digital audiophile site on the web. Most of the audio codec developers are members of the forum, and the information detailed there in stickies & posts, in our opinion, is the best available anywhere on the internet.

vv take our to put in mp2 encoding vv
** for converting mp2 files to mp3, you'll need to use the [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alex.pheysey/files/lame3.97b2exe-fixed.zip lame3.97b2exe-fixed.zip] compile,
as it correctly accepts mp2 input for decoding.

MP3

2006-03-18T14:05:21Z

Sleepy: /* MP3: MPEG 1 Layer 3 */

=MP3: MPEG 1 Audio Layer 3=
The MP3 algorithm development started in 1987, with a joint cooperation of [http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/ Fraunhofer IIS-A] and the University of Erlangen. It is standardized as ISO-MPEG Audio Layer-3 (IS 11172-3 and IS 13818-3).

It soon became the de facto standard for lossy audio encoding, due to the high compression rates (1/11 of the original size, still retaining considerable quality), the high availability of decoders and the low CPU requirements for playback. (486 DX2-100 is enough for real-time decoding)

It supports multichannel files (Although there's no implementation yet), sampling rates from 16kHz to 24kHz (MPEG2 Layer 3) and 32kHz to 48kHz (MPEG1 Layer 3)

Formal and informal listening tests have shown that MP3 at the 160-224 kbps range provide encoded results undistinguishable from the original materials in most of the cases.

=LAME=
*[http://www.mp3dev.org/ LAME Homepage]
LAME (Lame Ain't* an MP3 Encoder) is the recommended encoder. It has been developed by the open-source community since 1998, and has become the highest quality [[MP3]] encoder for most purposes.

Some benefits for using LAME:
* Highly optimised presets
* Fast encoding
* [[CBR]], [[ABR]] and [[VBR]] encoding methods
* [[Gapless]] playback with LAME-header compliant decoders
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] and [[CDex]] support

_*_LAME is an MP3 encoder, it just wasn't at the very beginning of it's life

=MP3 Creation With The LAME Encoder=

To save yourself reading & researching a lot of information, just know that with the following applications you can make the best mp3 possible for free (Audiophile geeks have tested these applications for months & years, so you know it's going to be the best advice. Also, the TMB admin also use and/or recommend them):

* 3.97 beta 2 is the LAME version you need > [http://www.rarewares.org/mp3.html download the LAME 3.97 beta 2 bundle from this page]

* Use the '-V 2 --vbr-new' switch

* The BEST way to rip CDs to mp3 is with [http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ EAC].
* The following three [http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ EAC] guides are very good:
[http://users.pandora.be/satcp/eac-qs-en.htm Guide 1 - The Coaster Factory]
[http://www.teqnilogik.com/tutorials/eac.htm Guide 2 - Teqnilogik]
[http://home.tiscali-business.be/~tpm54044/index.htm Guide 3 - Essential Ripping Guide]

* The easiest way to convert WAVs to MP3 is with: [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/all2lame.htm ALL2LAME] or [http://rarewares.org/mp3.html LameDropXPd v2]

=Further Reading=

[http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] have officially announced a successor to their previoulsy recommended LAME mp3 encoder version 3.90.3.

The recommended version is now 3.97 beta 2.

See [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=37574 this] post for details on the 3.97 beta [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] recommendation.

See [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=28124 this] post for the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] recommended LAME settings.

See [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=28125 this] post for a high level overview of the LAME versions.

=Hydrogenaudio=
[http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ Hydrogenaudio] are widely regarded as THE digital audiophile site on the web. Most of the audio codec developers are members of the forum, and the information detailed there in stickies & posts, in our opinion, is the best available anywhere on the internet.

vv take our to put in mp2 encoding vv
** for converting mp2 files to mp3, you'll need to use the [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alex.pheysey/files/lame3.97b2exe-fixed.zip lame3.97b2exe-fixed.zip] compile,
as it correctly accepts mp2 input for decoding.

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:47:34Z

Sleepy:

'''MediaWiki has been successfully installed.'''

Consult the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Configuration_settings configuration settings list] and the [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide User's Guide] for information on customising and using the wiki software.

== '''sleepy woz ere!''' ==
wot no text?

[[Bittorrent]] <- Yay! I made a linky!

== '''so was bukkkkaa!!''' ==
but he smellz!!!111!1! ;-P

== Radio Shows ==

[[Essential Mix]]

[[Breezeblock]]

[[BTTB,'Back To The Basics']] <- Damnit! I can't make this show Back To The Basics but link to BTTB. Stupid wiki! :(

[[GPWW]],'Gilles Person Worldwide' <- Same tossing problem.

[[Essential Selection]]

[[Solid Steel]]

etc...

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:44:53Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:44:04Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:43:37Z

Sleepy:

'''MediaWiki has been successfully installed.'''

Consult the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Configuration_settings configuration settings list] and the [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide User's Guide] for information on customising and using the wiki software.

== '''sleepy woz ere!''' ==
wot no text?

[[Bittorrent]] <- Yay! I made a linky!

== '''so was bukkkkaa!!''' ==
but he smellz!!!111!1! ;-P

== Radio Shows ==

[[Essential Mix]]

[[Breezeblock]]

[[BTTB]Back To The Basics] <- Damnit! I can't make this show Back To The Basics but link to BTTB. Stupid wiki! :(

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:43:17Z

Sleepy:

'''MediaWiki has been successfully installed.'''

Consult the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Configuration_settings configuration settings list] and the [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide User's Guide] for information on customising and using the wiki software.

== '''sleepy woz ere!''' ==
wot no text?

[[Bittorrent]] <- Yay! I made a linky!

== '''so was bukkkkaa!!''' ==
but he smellz!!!111!1! ;-P

== Radio Shows ==

[[Essential Mix]]

[[Breezeblock]]

[[BTTB,Back To The Basics]] <- Damnit! I can't make this show Back To The Basics but link to BTTB. Stupid wiki! :(

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:42:20Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:41:36Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:41:05Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:40:46Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:36:58Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:36:44Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T19:34:32Z

Sleepy: /* '''so was bukkkkaa!!''' */

Essential Mix

2006-03-15T19:25:37Z

Sleepy:

The Essential Mix is a long running show on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. Hosted by Pete Tong with a different guest DJ/artist each week, it started in October 1993 and has aired virtually every Saturday night/Sunday morning since.

==External Links==

*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/dance/essentialmix/ BBC - Radio 1 - Essential Mix Homepage]

*[http://www.tracklistings.net tracklistings.net - Essential Mix and Kiss 100 Tracklistings Archive]

*[http://www.essentialmix.nu essentialmix.nu - Essential Mix Tracklistings Archive]

Essential Mix

2006-03-15T19:19:37Z

Sleepy:

blah blah

==External Links==

*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/dance/essentialmix/ BBC - Radio 1 - Essential Mix Homepage]

*[http://www.tracklistings.net tracklistings.net - Essential Mix and Kiss 100 Tracklistings Archive]

*[http://www.essentialmix.nu essentialmix.nu - Essential Mix Tracklistings Archive]

Main Page

2006-03-15T18:49:16Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T18:48:56Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-15T14:29:37Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-14T23:07:11Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-14T23:06:07Z

Sleepy:

Main Page

2006-03-14T22:49:15Z

Sleepy: