Frequently Asked Questions
From Underground Gamer
Introduction
Welcome to Underground Gamer!
This site is running off a modified version of the torrentbits.org code. Our goal is not to become another mainstream torrent site but a retro videogame specialty tracker. If you have any problems with this site please contact us!
This is a private tracker, and you have to register before you can get full access to the site. Before you do anything here at http://www.underground-gamer.com we suggest you read the rules! There are only a few rules to abide by, and we do enforce them!
Before you go any further you should read the underground-gamer.com user agreement.
This FAQ consists of site-related questions. For other questions please see our Guides & Tutorials section.
- Special Thanks: Redbeard & wyz: the original tracker source code (made freely available under the GPL).
- rightthere: the BrokenStones source code.
- Oink: the request page, upload page, and more.
- MrMister: great tutorial and forum.
- SKORiUS: passkey and more.
- Psor: toolbar and more.
- Drewcifer: time zone.
And many more @ http://www.tbdev.net
Site information
What is Underground Gamer?
Underground Gamer is a torrent site dedicated to the preservation and sharing of classic gaming and game-related media. We're focused on retro gaming from the first 1970's arcade games up to the fifth generation consoles, and some discontinued sixth generation devices. We don't accept new games from any of the current or next generation consoles!
What can I find here?
The primary thing which makes UG unique is that we are a closed community. This means that you'll find high quality, well-tested uploads that are almost guaranteed to be fully seeded. Our game torrents can be pretty much divided into three camps: CD Images of classic games from the 32 and early 128 bit systems, individual and full sets of ROMs for all cart-based platforms up to and including the N64, and PC/DOS rips and CD Images from 8 years ago or older. We also encourage torrents with other game-related media, such as Original Sound Tracks (OSTs) and other Video Game Media (VGM), including magazines and game-inspired video. If it is related to Classic and Retro gaming, we'll have it; and if we don't have it - we want it!
Where does the donated money go?
Underground Gamer is situated on two dedicated servers at a cost of around $410/month. All funds donated through PayPal go directly toward this hosting cost, as well as potential upgrades to our server system. We are consistently upgrading the server back-end to better serve the needs and expectations of the community.
What is this "BitTorrent" all about anyway? How do I get the files?
If you are new to the torrent community, keep reading this FAQ! You might want to pay special attention to the Downloading and Uploading sections.
If you're still curious, check out Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide for a more in-depth discussion of what BitTorrent is.
Where can I get a copy of the source code?
Snapshots of the old torrentbits.net source code and various alternatives are available on TB DEV. Note: UG does not provide any kind of support on any source code -- so please don't bug us about it.
User information
I'm having trouble with my account!
- If you registered for an account, but something went wrong during the confirmation process, you can use the Delete Account form to delete the account so you can re-register. However, you may want to consider using an alternative e-mail address for the registration process.
- If you cannot log in to the site, try clearing your browser's cache (including all cookies).
- If your account seems to no longer exist, it may have been auto-pruned by the system. You might try to register for a new account using the same e-mail address.
Note: Do not attempt to recreate an account which was purposefully disabled or deleted by a moderator.
- If you've lost your user name or password, please use the Account Recovery form to have the login details e-mailed back to you.
- If you want your account renamed you're almost guaranteed to be out of luck. This action is only performed under the most extraordinary of circumstances. If the situation truly warrants such a change, then you will have to make your petition to the Help Desk. You are also welcome to create a new account if you want a new account name badly enough (You should first use the Delete Account form to delete your present account, as it is not possible to create multiple accounts with either the same name or e-mail address).
- If you wish to permanently remove your account for whatever reason, you can do so using the Delete Account form. Please be aware that deleted accounts (and all of their associated statistics) are irretrievably lost.
Why am I listed as not connectable? (And why should I care?)
Being connectable allows you to more easily and widely share files throughout the p2p community. Because connectable users can upload to a wider userbase, they also generally have an easier time maintaining a good ratio.
Please read "A Guide To Becoming Connectable" for more on this subject.
You will also find lots of information on the subject at PortForward.
Why is my IP displayed on my details page?
Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and e-mail for troubleshooting purposes. Regular users cannot see that information.
What are the different user classes?
| Peasant | Probationary class. Peasants have 28 days to correct their ratio before being banned from the site, can download three torrents at a time and are automatically banned if they download more than 10GB after being demoted. Also, Peasants may only use the Help and Site Discussion forums. |
| User | The default class of new members. If you have downloaded less than 5 GB you will only be able leech 3 torrents at a time. After you have downloaded 5 GB and your ratio is above .3 you will be able to leech 5 torrents at a time. |
| Power User | Are able to leech 10 torrents at a time. Access to special forums and extended data mining capabilities. Eligible for invites. Immune to automatic pruning. |
| Elite User | All privileges of Power User with the ability to leech 15 torrents. Customised title. |
| VIP | Able to leech 100 torrents at a time. Given 10 invites at promotion. Immune to automatic demotion to lower classes. |
| Elite VIP | All the privileges of a VIP with a few extras in the works. |
| Honored Member | All the privileges of Elite VIP with a few extras in the works. Access to additional special forums, allowed to double post in forums. |
| Has donated money to Underground Gamer. |
And the Staff classes:
| Torrent Moderator | Watch over the high quality of the torrents, checking if the uploads are safe, sport proper descriptions, or files contained within are in proper formats. |
| Forum Moderator | Moderate all forum activities. They check the forums for any disruptive behaviour and can edit/delete/move any threads or posts which are causing offense. You can also find them on UG's IRC channel quite often. |
| Global Moderator | Global Mods have the power of Torrent Moderators and Forum Moderators, and have access to much more powerful tools that help them run the site efficiently. |
| Tech. Moderator | Similar in experience and powers to Global Moderators but choose to spend more time on smaller coding projects |
| Administrator | Present in all areas of the site, they put their huge experience into use by coordinating the team of Global Moderators, making sure everything is running smoothly |
| Tech. Administrator | Similar in experience to Administrators, they channel their time into Underground Gamer's tech and coding side they also have extensive access to while leading the team of Tech. Moderators |
| Global Administrator | Global Administrators operate the site at the highest level. They have complete access to all areas of Underground Gamer (tracker, Wiki, and IRC) and are responsible for site direction and management. |
How does the promotion/demotion system work?
User class promotions are not instantaneous, but will be automatically applied by the system on the next database update. This may take several hours in some instances, but will usually happen within a day or so. Please be patient. Also please note that POSTS IN THE ATTIC DO NOT COUNT TOWARDS POST REQUIREMENTS.
| Peasant | Users who have downloaded more than 5 GB, and have a ratio below .30 will automatically be demoted to Peasant. Peasants are allowed to download 3 torrents at a time (although they can seed as many as they like). They have 28 days to increase their ratio or their account will be deleted. |
| Power User | Must have been be a member for at least 2 weeks, have uploaded at least 10GB and have a ratio at or above 1.05. The promotion is automatic when these conditions are met. Note that you will be automatically demoted to User status if your ratio drops below 0.95 at any time. |
| Elite User | Must have been be a member for at least 8 weeks, have uploaded at least 50GB, downloaded at least 10GB, have made 10 forum posts, have made 10 torrent comments, and have a ratio at or above 1.25. The promotion is automatic when these conditions are met. Note that you will be automatically demoted from this status if your ratio drops below 1.0 at any time. |
| VIP | Assigned by mods at their discretion to members they feel contribute something special to the site (Anyone begging for VIP status will be automatically disqualified).
Also assigned to all users who have a total donation amount of $20 or more. |
| Elite VIP | This class is automatically given to VIPs who have also met the requirements of the Elite User class. However, this class will be auto-demoted to VIP if the member no longer meets the requirements of the Elite User class. |
| Honored Member | This class is a way of recognizing those who are profoundly beneficial to the community. You can think of them as the VIPs among VIPs. |
|
| Just donate, and send KrazyA1pha - and only KrazyA1pha - the details. |
| Moderator | You don't ask us, we'll ask you! |
The user registration limit has been reached. Can I still become a member?
Absolutely. Although UG has a set user limit below which anyone can sign up, new members can still join the site when the user limit has been reached if they have an invitation from an existing member. The best way to request an invitation is through our IRC channel at irc.underground-gamer.com on channel #invites.
Alternatively, you can continue to revisit the signup page regularly and attempt to register, as accounts are pruned regularly, and slots become available briefly during these times.
How does the invite system work?
| Invites | Min. Ratio | Downloaded |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | .90 | 1-4 GB |
| 2 | .95 | 4-7 GB |
| 3 | 1.0 | 7-10 GB |
| 4 | 1.05 | 10+ GB |
Invites are assigned depending on user status, and increased automatically every 10 days, depending on your ratio and download amount. Invites are only given to Power Users and above.
If an invite is not confirmed within 3 days it is automatically deleted. You also have the option to delete invites by going to your "User details" page and selecting "Given" under "Invites." A table will be generated that displays all the invites you have given. Select "Delete" to delete an unconfirmed invite. All deleted invites will be replaced with an additional invite so do not worry about deleting them.
You can view how many given/available invites by going to your "User details" page and looking at the number next to "Given"/"Available." To invite someone select "Available", or you can use the Invites link on the left navigation bar. Enter an email/message on the following page, and press "Invite!" A confirmation email will be sent to the email address you have entered and the person will be given 3 days to confirm it.
How do I add an avatar to my profile?
First, find an image that you like, and that is within the rules. Next, upload the image into our BitBucket, or webspace of your choice. All that is left to do is copy the URL you were given when uploading it to the avatar field in your profile.
Please do not make a post just to test your avatar. If everything is all right you'll see it in your details page.
When are accounts auto-pruned from the site?
- Unparked accounts are pruned when 60 days have elapsed since the last recorded activity. Please note that torrent traffic does not count as site activity.
- Parked accounts are pruned when 90 days have elapsed since the last recorded activity. Please note that torrent traffic does not count as site activity. Also note that we regularly clean out accounts with very low share ratios.
- Peasant accounts are pruned after 28 days.
- Auto-pruning applies only to the class of User and below.
What's a "passkey"?
A passkey is a 32-character (hex) string associated with your account that uniquely identifies you as a UG user. Your passkey can be found on your user details page. When a .torrent file is downloaded from your account, the passkey is automatically added to the announce URL in the .torrent file. It is this passkey which helps the tracker maintain all of your torrent-related statistics and so spreading the .torrent files you've downloaded from here further outside UG, will surely jeopardise your account. Your passkey may be shown in your torrent client (such as in the Tracker URL at the bottom in uTorrent) or your UG Details page, so be careful about posting screenshots.
How do I reset my passkey?
If you feel your account has been compromised and need a passkey reset please contact the help desk to request an admin reset it for you.
How do I update my e-mail address?
You can update your e-mail address in your profile. Please note that you will be required to confirm the new address as your own, just as you had to when you first signed up.
How do I delete my account?
Firstly, if you have racked up any download amount, you will need to have a ratio greater than or equal to 1.0 to delete your account. This is to stop people with poor ratios simply deleting their account and signing up again to level their ratio. If you don't meet this requirement, and you no longer need your account, then just don't log in any more -- it will be automatically deleted after 60 days. If you meet this requirement, and still wish to delete your account, then go here.
Torrent and Statistical Information
Why does my ratio matter?
Your ratio affects several aspects of the site, including your user class and what areas of the site you will be able to access. Remember, this is not a public download site: this is a community -- and, of course, other members of the community tend to appreciate and value the participation, feedback, and comments of members who are willing to give more than they take. Keeping your ratio well above the 1.0 mark indicates you're a seeder and a member we're happy to have as you're boosting everyone's download speeds; having a ratio significantly below this mark would denote a leecher, which isn't something we take kindly to around these parts, and if your ratio is low enough you risk having your account banned.
So, what is my ratio?
Your ratio is viewable in several places, but the easiest place to look is right at the top of any page while you are logged in!
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).
How do I increase my ratio?
Remember, your site ratio is simply the total amount you've uploaded divided by the total amount you've downloaded. To increase that number, it means you need consistently upload more than you're downloading. This can prove quite difficult without due preparation, given that most internet connections allow for a much faster download than upload speed (see the Torrent Speed Information section for more details on this). However, there are a few considerations to bear in mind:
- Download more popular torrents first -- that is, those with more active leechers. Providing yourself with a more stable basis will ensure that you have ratio to spare later, if some torrent really entices you.
- Upload your own torrents. Creating and uploading your own torrents not only generates spirit points, but it essentially provides unpaid upload credit to your system, because you didn't have to download the file in the first place.
- Try throttling your torrent client's download bandwidth. This will help ensure you don't download files too quickly, sending your ratio spiraling out of control.
- On partially completed torrents, exclude certain files (or pieces) from being downloaded to ensure that currently completed pieces will continue be shared efficiently without lowering your ratio. To see how to accomplish this through your torrent client software, read, check out the article on Boosting Your Ratio. Be aware that partially completed torrents count toward your download cap (see the User classes section for more details).
- Do not overestimate your own capacity for seeding.
- Leave your connection and torrent client open and active as long as possible, and never remove torrents that are still alive on the site. To paraphrase an old maxim: "if you seed it, they will come."
What's this Spirit thing I keep seeing across the site?
Underground Gamer is a closed torrent community which emphasizes community participation, including the uploading and continued seeding of torrents, posting in the forums, commenting on torrents, and even inviting other users to join the community. All of these activities contribute in some manner to your overall "spirit," which is represented by both a number (visible in the user information panel in the top frame) and a semi-random smiley. The only direct benefit of having higher spirit is the personal satistfaction of knowing that your spirit has increased and is higher than "the next guy;" but it's an overall fun and interesting addition to the site which helps encourage and foster community growth. Get out there and start experimenting to find out what the new spirit levels might be!
I've been participating quite a bit, and my spirit level still isn't rising!
Spirit is cached; calculations take place at fixed intervals of time (every 15 minutes) for the entire site. Also, be aware that certain activities, such as posting in any of the forums in the Attic (e.g., Spam) do not contribute to your spirit level.
What is karma and how should it be used?
Karma is a system system which is designed to enable simple community feedback on forum posts. Members can vote forum posts either positive or negative.
The intent of the karma system is to encourage positive contributions through community feedback. Therefore, we encourage the community to focus on positive votes rather than negative votes -- remember, we are encouraging positive contributions.
Why do I have two numbers for my post count?
Posting in the forums is one of the many things which contribute to your overal spirit; but not every post counts. The number appearing under your avatar image is the number of "spirit-participating" posts. Any post which winds up in the section called "The Attic" -- that's the Forum Games, Spam, and Trash Can forums -- does not count toward your overall post count. Additionally, this number is only recalculated during the standard spirit calculation (see the above question for more detail). The number listed on your details page represents your total number of posts on the site, including unfactored and spam-related posts.
What's this Golden Torrent business about?
Golden Torrent status is given to torrents that epitomize everything we would like to see in a torrent - well packed and organized files with a high quality description. They serve as beacons, showing how things should be done. You can filter the download search page to only return golden torrents by changing the appropriate filter. Normally, downloading the Golden Torrents affects your ratio the same as downloading any other torrent. This changes on special occasions when we sponsor statistical boosts on golden torrents.
And what's Golden Torrent Weekend?
As mentioned above, Golden Torrents will occasionally give special boosts. During Golden Torrent Weekends, Golden Torrents count towards 0% of your download and 200% of your upload! Golden Torrent Weekends will be announced by the Staff on the main page of the site. For more information about Golden Torrents and GTW, look here.
How do I make a torrent golden?
Power Users (and higher classes) can nominate individual torrents by choosing the appropriate link in the torrent's description; simply click the "Nominate!" button in the "Nominate" section. After a sufficient number of nominations, the torrent is submitted to staff for approval.
What's the deal with the Featured Torrents?
What are Featured Torrents? Featured Torrent are three torrents randomly selected every week which are free to leech and count as normal on your upload.
How are the torrents selected?
Featured Torrents are selected based on the following criteria:
- Not a Golden Torrent
- Uploaded at least 30 days ago
- Snatched more than 5 times
- Rated at least 10 times with an average rating of at least 4
- Description is at least 300 characters in length and contains at least one image
- Has not been featured in the last month
Where can I find this week's Featured Torrents?
The week's Featured Torrents are displayed at the top of the Browse page. The list is expanded by default but you can set the list to be collapsed by default in your profile.
May I use any bittorrent client?
You may use any client which is not on our banned client list. Clients in alpha, beta, or other experimental versions should also be avoided.
Why are there extra torrents listed in my profile?!
There are several situations in which this occurs naturally:
- If you set a torrent to be partially downloaded, it will continue to remain in your "Currently Leeching" list, and affect the number of subsequent torrents you may download simultaneously.
- A single torrent is listed several times: 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.
- A finished or cancelled torrent is still listed: Some clients, notably TorrentStorm and Nova Torrent, do not report properly to the tracker when canceling 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.
- Your external IP address is shared (NAT/ICS): When a torrent is first downloaded, the tracker uses the IP to identify the user. Therefore the torrent will become associated with the user who last accessed the site from that IP. If you share your IP in some way (you are behind NAT/ICS, or using a proxy), and some of the persons you share it with are also users, you may occasionally see their torrents listed in your profile. (If they start a torrent session from that IP and you were the last one to visit the site the torrent will be associated with you). Note that now torrents listed in your profile will always count towards your total stats.
To make sure your torrents show up in your profile you should visit the site immediately before starting a session.
What do the terms leech, seed, and snatch mean?
These terms are all torrent-specific terms which refer to concepts you no doubt already understand.
- A leech or leecher is a term referring to a person who is currently in the process of receiving torrent data from others in the community (or swarm). Note that people who have stopped downloading and are just uploading what they have are termed as leechers as well. Leechers listed as active are those that are trying to download, while the remainder are seeding what they've got so far. Active leechers are those in brackets, while the number outside the brackets is the total number of leechers.
- A seed or seeder refers to a person who has completely downloaded all of the torrent data for a particular torrent from the community (or swarm), but continues to remain online to share that data with others.
- A snatch is the event which is recorded when a person has fully downloaded a torrent's data. In other words, when you convert from a leecher to a seeder, then you have snatched the torrent.
So don't be a continual leecher. Seed more than you leech, and seed your snatched torrents as often and as long as you can. Then you'll be a highly favored member of the community.
Multiple IPs (Can I login from different computers?)
Provided that you have your login type in your profile set to 'Normal', then the answer is: yes, you may torrent data from up to three locations. The tracker is 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.
However, if you have configured your login type to 'Secure,' you will only be able to torrent from one location: the location from which you logged in to the website.
How does NAT/ICS/DHCP change the picture?
Very little, actually. Because the tracker records both the IP address and the passkey for statistics, multiple users can easily log in from behind the same IP address with little difficulty. Multiple users can even be connectable from the same address, provided they have configured their BitTorrent clients to use different ports.
When are torrents auto-pruned from the site?
Torrents become 'dead' (not normally visible on the browse page) if they have not had a seeder for six consecutive hours. Technically, the torrents are still part of the site; they are simply not listed in the default torrent search (from clicking the Download link). To see "dead" torrents, you must change the search scope on the Download page to include dead torrents. When a torrent is dead, users can still requests a reseed using the appopriate link on the torrent's details page.
Torrents are permanently deleted when there has been no peer activity for fifteen (15) consecutive days.
For those of you who are interested: Anatomy of a torrent session.
Uploading
What kinds of things should I upload?
Consult with the Rules to get a definitive list of what is permitted to be uploaded. However, here are a few additional criteria to consider when preparing to upload a torrent:
- Is the upload something which can only be obtained through payment or registration?
- Am I providing a well-tested, high-quality set of data?
- Did I find the data I am about to torrent enjoyable/useful?
- Am I uploading for some reason other than boosting my own statistics?
If the answer to any of the above questions is "no," then you might want to reconsider the value of both your time and the potential leechers.
How do I upload torrents?
Before continuing, please read the Rules to ensure that your upload is appropriate for this site. Uploading torrents is a three-part process: first, you must prepare the files you wish to seed. Next, you must use your BitTorrent Client to create a .torrent file. Finally, you must upload that .torrent file to the tracker and begin seeding.
Okay, sounds good. So how do I get started?
- The first thing that you should do is determine which file (or set of files) you wish to upload. Review the Rules to ensure that you understand the appropriate preparations you should make to your files. For example, ISOs of games should be compressed, music files should not be.
- Next, determine whether you will be making a single file (by compressing the entire contents of the torrent into a single file) or uploading an entire directory.
- If you are considering a single compressed file, then perform the necessary compression on your files. A number of compressed formats are appropriate: .zip, .rar., .7z are the most common and preferred.
- If you are uploading multiple files, place them all into a single directory. You may, for example, wish to upload a compressed CD image together with its relevant patches and add-ons in a separate compressed file. Or, you may be uploading an OST, in which case the files need to be arranged into a single folder uncompressed.
- Once the files have been appropriately arranged and compressed, make sure the file/folder names are appropriate (these will be the default names that downloaders will be given), and move on to create your .torrent file.
All right. File(s) prepped and ready. Now how do I make the .torrent file?
Creating a .torrent file can be done through a number of common BitTorrent clients. Read the appropriate section below to create your .torrent file:
1) This is a guide explaining how to upload torrents using the BitTorrent client Azureus.
- On the File menu, click "Create a Torrent".
- In the "Announce URL" box, type "http://www.underground-gamer.com/announce.php".
- Click the "Browse" button, find the file/folder you want to share, and then click "Next".
- Name the .torrent file which will be created (this is what users will see in their BitTorrent client when they download the file), and click "Finish".
- Voila, the torrent will be created in the location you specified.
2) This is a guide by startreker explaining how to generate a .torrent file using µTorrent
- On the file menu, click 'Create new torrent' (or press )
- Click on either 'add file' or 'add directory' depending on what you want to upload, then browse to the folder or file.
- Under 'Torrent Properties' in the 'Trackers' window put this tracker: "http://www.underground-gamer.com/announce.php"
- Optionally, add a comment in the 'comment' section.
- Leave the 'Piece Size' at default, make sure the 'start seeding' checkbox is unchecked, and the 'private torrent' checkbox is checked.
- Click the 'Create and save as' button. A progress bar will appear.
- When it is done, it will pop up with a 'Select where to save the .torrent' window. Just name the torrent something that makes sense and click 'Save'.
3) This is a guide by verve explaining how to generate and upload a torrent using the official bittorrent client BitTorrent 3.4.2.
- Go to the menu "File-->Generate Torrent File...".
- In the "Tracker URL:" field, type "http://www.underground-gamer.com/announce.php".
- Drag n' drop the target folder from your Desktop into the little squared window you see over the "Generate..."-button, after that you can see the path of your folder. Make sure the "Make a torrent for each file/folder within this folder..." box is unchecked.
- Click on "Generate..." and select the place and name you want the new torrent file to be saved. Click on "Save". When generating has finished, close the generate window.
Okay, I finished creating the torrent file. How do I upload the torrent to the tracker and begin seeding?
- Login to the site and click on the "Upload" link in the left toolbar.
- In the "Torrent file" area, click the "Browse" button, find the torrent file, and then click "Open".
- In the "Torrent name" box, type a descriptive name. This is the name users will see when browsing the downloads section. Do not tag the torrent description with your name, the release date, compression ratio, or any other information: this information will be automatically appended by the selections from the "Genre" field.
- Select a "Genre" from the drop-down list. Doing so will create a number of additional fields to fill out.
- In the "Description" area, type a thorough description of the torrent. Make sure the description is complete and includes all relevant information, possibly including:
- a brief description of what is cotained in the torrent,
- how to properly use the torrent's contents (including any necessary extraction, installation and configuration instructions),
- external links or quotes of reviews -- possibly even providing one yourself,
- screenshots (which can be uploaded into the BitBucket), and
- links to related torrents.
- Review the fields for correctness; then click the "Do it!" button.
- Finally, and this step is very important: re-download the .torrent file from the site by clicking on the .torrent link. Then, open the newly dowloaded .torrent file in your BitTorrent client exactly as you would any other .torrent file. Specify the location of your original files in the file save dialog box, as if you were going to overwrite them -- don't worry, it won't! Instead, your BitTorrent client should automatically verify the integrity of the files and begin seeding.
Note: You will not be able to seed the torrent created by your BitTorrent client directly, because your passkey needs to be embedded into the .torrent file. You will have to download the .torrent file from the newly created torrent on-site to properly seed.
I followed all of the steps in this FAQ, and I'm still having trouble. What do I do now?
At this point, review the posts in the BitTorrent and Network Help and wiki entries in the Guides & Tutorials, and consider posting if you don't find what you need.
What rules must I follow to retain the privilege of uploading files?
See the Rules - Uploading section for more details.
When in doubt, ask before you upload!
Can I upload your torrents to other trackers?
No. We are a closed, limited-membership community. Only registered users can use the UG Tracker. Posting our torrents on other trackers is useless, since most people who attempt to download them will be unable to connect with us. However, privileged users can post external links to public torrent sites such as Mininova and NewNova through in-site code.
Complaints from other sites' administrative staff about our torrents being posted on their sites will result in the banning of the users responsible. However, the files you download from us are yours to do with as you please. You can always create another torrent, pointing to some other tracker, and upload it to the site of your choice.
Downloading
How do I download the files from this site?
If you are new to the torrent community, welcome! The first thing that you will need is an appropriate BitTorrent client. While there are several good and bad ones available today, UG recommends the latest version of either Azureus or µTorrent. You should download and configure an appropriate client right away. Consult the remainder of this section of the FAQ for more configuration tips and tricks.
How do I use the files I've downloaded?
Check out the Handy Guide to Using the Files You've Downloaded. If you've downloaded a movie file and you're having trouble, consider Video Format Guide instead.
My virus scanner found a virus in something I downloaded!
The most important thing to remember is virus scanners (especially lesser-used ones) can sometimes throw up false positives, so check the number of people who've downloaded the file; if lots of people have grabbed it and there are no comments to the effect of there being a virus, it's safe enough to ignore it. If very few people have downloaded it, post a comment in the torrent or on the forums to see if anyone else has found anything similar. In the event that a torrent is found to contain some kind of malware, it will be removed and appropriate action taken against the uploader.
Why did a torrent suddenly disappear?
There may be three reasons for this:
- The torrent may have been out-of-sync with the site rules.
- The uploader may have deleted it because it was a bad release. A replacement will probably be uploaded to take its place.
- Torrents are automatically deleted after 15 days of inactivity.
If you simply must know what happened to the torrent, you can actually examine the Site Log to determine what happened.
How do I resume a broken download or reseed something?
Simply re-download/re-open the .torrent file. When your client asks you for a location, choose the location of the existing file(s) and it will resume/reseed the torrent.
There aren't any seeds left! How can I download the torrent?
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Why do my downloads sometimes stall at 99%?
The more pieces you have, the harder it becomes to find peers who have pieces you are missing. That is why downloads sometimes slow down or even stall when there are just a few percent remaining. Just be patient and you will, sooner or later, get the remaining pieces.
If, on the other hand, the file permanently (longer than a day) stalls at 99%, it may be an indicator that the download has been corrupted. It may be necessary to restart the download from scratch.
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. In general, this option 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 above. If your client receives bad data it will have to redownload it, therefore the total downloaded may be larger than the torrent size. Also, heavy-traffic torrents sometimes result in two seeders "simultaneously" supplying you with the same file pieces. Although rare, this too contributes to the overall "over-download" of a file.
I'm not downloading anything, why do I get "Sorry, (x) downloading torrents are enough!"?
The reason for this is that your client and the tracker use different methods of determining whether or not you're seeding; your client knows which files you've specified to not download and as such when you've downloaded everything you want from a torrent, it will tick over to "Seeding" status. Unfortunately the tracker has no way of knowing which files you plan on downloading and as such will only count you as properly "Seeding" the torrent if you have 100% of it, so if you've only downloaded certain files from a torrent, the tracker will still class you as downloading it.
Be aware that if you do breach this download limit, any torrents you're partially seeding will remain connected to peers and transferring data to them, but any data transferred will not count towards your total upload figure, as the tracker will reject your client's connection attempt for these torrents. Furthermore, you will not be properly credited for any completed torrents started after you have breached this limit -- you must first take restorative action, and then either restart as many torrents as you are allowed, or wait for the tracker's cleanup script to run (approximately every 30 minutes).
Why does the site say I'm leeching a torrent that I have finished downloading?
See above.
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. Underground Gamer 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). 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 (if either your firewall or your BitTorrent client do not support uPnP), should you have them. See the Why am I listed as not connectable? section and links therein for more information on this. |
Why do I get a "Failure: Error, your login type is 'secure', you must seed/leech from the same location you login from" error?
If you have a dynamic IP address or you frequently leave your home PC running torrents and then connect to the website from elsewhere, you will probably want to change your login type to Normal so that you can connect to the tracker from multiple IPs. You can do this in your profile using the controls right under the list of torrent categories (see the picture to the right).
Which "Download type" should I choose? HTTP or HTTPS?
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is supported by all bittorrent clients. It's a request/response standard between a client and server.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS) is a URI scheme used to indicate a secure HTTP connection and protects data in transit from eavesdropping. A self-signed certificate must be accepted (via your BitTorrent client) before you will be allowed to connect to the tracker. Not every client supports the HTTPS protocol, so please ensure that your client has this feature before choosing this type.
The HTTPS tracker may circumvent ISP throttling. if you have a problem with ISP throttling you probably want to use the HTTPS tracker.
Note, you will have to re-download all of your torrents after switching to the HTTPS tracker since the secure tracker uses a different URL. Any torrents you fail to re-download will still run on the normal (HTTP) tracker.
Do I need to notify the staff I'm using a seedbox or need a special permission to use one?
No. You will need to set your login type to 'normal', which you can do yourself without any need for staff assistance.
I've got a seedbox, but it doesn't download any torrents!
The most likely cause for that is that your login type is set to 'Secure'. See the according section of the FAQ for instructions on how to solve this problem.
Torrent Speed Information
Why do I upload so much slower than I download?
Internet connectivity comes in various mediums, speeds, and duplexes. But the majority of internet users have a download:upload bandwidth ratio of 10:1. Effectively, this means that you will always be able to download up to ten times faster than you can upload. Users new to the torrent community can sometimes be caught off guard by this simple fact, and their ratios can be permanently (sometimes terminally) crippled.
Don't be one of those users: catch the problem before it starts, and have the self-discipline to limit your overall number of downloads or your download bandwidth in order to keep your ratio reasonable.
How do I upload torrents faster?
Many users unfortunately do not realize the 10:1 ratio of most connections until they have dug themselves into a considerable hole, and are now sitting on half a dozen incomplete torrents with little ratio. Unfortunately, bittorrent clients tend to favor those with faster connections, and so simply limiting download speed usually causes a torrent client's upload speed to fall as well. The better solution is to examine the individual files (or, more granularly, the pieces) being downloaded, and exclude a portion of the torrent from being leeched. For more information, check the ratio section above.
Why is my browsing/gaming/IMing/IRC so slow/laggy while torrenting?
Your download speed and upload speeds are always finite. You should consider using either your bittorrent client or NetLimiter to limit your upload/download bandwidth. A general rule of thumb is to utilitize no more than 90% of either your upload or download bandwidth for torrenting.
How do I download torrents faster?
Be aware that downloading from a closed torrent community is almost guaranteed to be slower than downloading from either an open community or a public download site. 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. As you continue to participate in the community, seed so that others will not endure the same.)
There are a couple of things that you can try on your end to improve your speed:
- Do not immediately jump on new torrents: 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.)
- Make yourself connectable: see the Why am I listed as not connectable? (And why should I care?) section for more details.
- Limit your upload speed: as listed above, a good rule of thumb is keeping your upload speed at about 80-90% of its theoretical maximum. 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. 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) onnection.
- 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.
Connectivity Issues
Why can't I connect? Is the site blocking me?
Your failure to connect may be due to several reasons. Keep reading:
Maybe my address is blacklisted?
The site blocks addresses listed in the (former) 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.
My ISP uses a transparent proxy. What should I do?
Caveat: This is a large and complex topic. It is not possible to cover all variations here.
Short reply: change to an ISP that does not force a proxy upon you. If you cannot or do not want to then read on.
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):
| 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.) |
| Explicit/Voluntary | Clients must configure their browsers to use them. |
| 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.) |
| 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.) |
| 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 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.
Why am I listed as not connectable 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.
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 socks and that is outside the scope of this FAQ.
(Not working) The site accepts connections on port 81 besides the usual 80, and using them may be enough to fool some proxies. So the first thing to try should be connecting to :81. Note that even if this works your bt client will still try to connect to port 80 unless you edit the announce url in the .torrent file.
Otherwise you may try the following:
- Choose any public non-anonymous proxy that does not use port 80 (e.g. from this, this or 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 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 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 TorrentBits Tracker, 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.
What if I can't find the answer to my problem here?
Post in the 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.
- The Help Desk is to be used for account-related problems which only staff members can help you with. Any general technical queries posted to the help desk will be ignored; we have no less than four forums for technical support, ask your question 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.
