Download stuck at 99.x%

[torrent_user]

I just started to use utorrent. I am on 1.6 build 474. I noticed a few downloads stuck at 99.x%. The down speed show 0 kb/s for hours while the up speed still shows going. The download file does not have !ut appended anymore. I was wondering if the download has actually completed and I can use the file. Some files are data file rather than program , I have no way to tell if I got it all.

I am new to this. I am hoping that someone can point me to the right direction as to what I did worng or how I can do some diagnostic to get closer to the problem.

[Ultima]

What is the availability for these torrents?

[torrent_user]

Sorry, I am so new to this that I don't know how to determine that. Perhaps you can point me to some doc on how to read the screens of uTorrent and what do they mean. I like to do some home work before asking questions.

[Ultima]

Avail. column.

[torrent_user]

An example of a file that was stuck at 99.9% was as follow

name # size done status seeds Peers DwonSpeed Upspeed .... upload Ratio Avail. .....

Myfile 1 163M 99.9% Downloading 0(0) 1(18) 0.0kB/s 2kB/s .... 239M 1.458 0.998....

[Ultima]

You might have to wait for the seed to come back then.

[Nefarious]

in the files tab there isnt somethen like a thumbs.db file right?

[torrent_user]

No, there is no thumbs.db.

Does seed 0(0) means the file is no longer available ? So I have to wait for someone who have that file to beome the seed ? Please excuse my ignorance, I am starting to learn about how all these works.

Another one that got stuck shows seed 0(4), what does the (4) mean ?

[Ultima]

Yeah, it likely means the torrent is dead, but you might be lucky if you continue to wait -- a seed might come back.

(4) means there are 4 seeds in the swarm.

[vanDivX]

I have typically several torrents hanging there at 99.x % for days and weeks, they cycle in and out of active tab depending if some new people come on line that create demand (leach)... most of us here know that scenario

simple answer is the lack of seeds, I suppose the way this situation happens is that there was initially one person that was downloading from seed(s) and got to 99.x% (or whatever %) and then all seeds went away and he left the torrent hanging there hoping seed(s) will come back but they never do, instead new people start the torrent and leach off him and gradually they get to those 99.x% that he got and their numbers grow with time and the seed never comes back again

I usually leave such stuck torrents hang in there because I know how my seeding goes (I have never been primary or starting seed yet). I have allowed certain limited number of active torrents and those torrents I have downloaded and like them I either set them on some high, typically several hundred % seeding ratio or if I like them a lot and think everybody should have them, I put them on forced start which means they will seed indefinitely (I got some at ration ~20) and that in turn means some torrents will hardly ever get to become active seeding torrents, they just sit there and they don't get opportunity due to my filled active torrent allowed number by those forced start seeds...

I hope I am not misusing that way the forced start command but it works like if you set infinite seeding % for a torrent (which you can't but you can force start finished torrents to get that result)

I suppose what people should sometimes do when they got stuck on some % is to look for that proverbial beam in their own eye first LOL, that is they should go and check their own torrents listed as either finished or qued up seeds and check if there is not out there a whole bunch of unhappy leaches all stuck at some high % waiting desperately for a seed and if so, one should put that torrent to forced start to help them out of their misery, usually it would take just few hours to get some of them completed, maybe later on others might do the same thing when one gets stuck like that in turn

its that old christian proverb that goes something like this - look first for faults with yourself before you start complaining about other's faults

or put other way, it is lame to complain when one doesn't do what one would like others have do

not saying people here are complaining (they apparently are just starting out with torrents and are not guilty yet of not seeding themselves) but this might help them understand what actually goes on when these things happen

BTW I am not christian

since I know I don't actually do that, I am not complaining LOL and when I get to periodic fits of cleanups I delete those stuck torrents and get done with them that way

vanDivX

[schnurlos]

If you have a D-Link or other router with DMZ or got a lot of hashfails, don't forget this: http://www.utorrent.com/faq.php#I_get_tons_of_hashfails_on_my_torrents_and_the_torrent_never_finishes