Tracker status is all FUBAR

[guymandude]

Ive been using Utorrent for a better part af a year and I have been quite happy with its performance.......Until this latest version that is. ever since I updated it, whenever I go to download any torrent whatsoever it says an invalid argument was supplied in the tracker status which in turn stops me from downloading anything at all. WTF? I figure if I don't get some help on this I'm either going to have to search for an older version that works just fine or switch programs,(I don't want to I like utorrents layout etc.etc.)

Help help help!

A thousand thanks

D

[jewelisheaven]

... you running any security software including firewall, resident scanner, worm/internet protection, or suite?

Whatever it is is mucking with your packets. If following steps through the How-To for configuration doesn't resolve it you can post a HiJackThis logfile below

[spacemunky]

Yeah me too. It only happened a few days back. I went from 1.7.5 or .6 (I can't remember) to 1.7.7 and it suddenly stopped working.

I've spent ages going through forums and Googling but all I see is stuff about firewalls and port forwarding that doesn't help, and then flame wars about how crap Zone Alarm is, which I don't use.

Here is my scenario

- Everything was seriously working a-ok until a few days back, then everything stopped working.

- When I run uTorrent I always get DHT status "0 nodes (Login)" and Tracker Status "unable to contact". Always.

- I've tried reinstallations, downgrading to older versions, deleting all files in %appwhatever%/utorrent, disabling DHT, disabling uPnP, and changing port numbers.

- Nothing I've tried has helped. It's like something's blocking all traffic to uTorrent but why would this suddenly happen.

- I haven't tried other clients. I don't want to. uTorrent is great, when it's working. I'd rather troubleshoot.

- I weird thing I notice is if I click on update, I get a pop up window saying "unable to connect to uTorrent server". Not sure if this has anything to do with my prob.

- I have a modem/router and no firewall, which why I've never had any problems with Azureus and then uTorrent. Port-forwarding is and has never been a problem for me so I can definitely rule that out.

- I recall seeing something about patching a windows system file but I'm a little hesitant about this.

- I also saw someone suggesting to reinstall Windows - WTF!!! Since when do you solve an application-specific problem by reinstalling an entire OS!!!

>> ... you running any security software including firewall, resident scanner, worm/internet protection, or suite?

I'm running Kaspersky Internet Security, and I've tried turning off all protection but it didn't help. Someone's bound to tell me to uninstall it but I reckon that's a bit drastic and don't see how that's gonna help anyway.

>> If following steps through the How-To for configuration doesn't resolve it you can post a HiJackThis logfile below

A what?

[DreadWingKnight]

I'm running Kaspersky Internet Security, and I've tried turning off all protection but it didn't help. Someone's bound to tell me to uninstall it but I reckon that's a bit drastic and don't see how that's gonna help anyway.

Uninstalling will actually remove the hooks that KIS has placed in your operating system that are NOT disabled when you turn off the protection.

[scott805]

It sounds to me that a lot of people myself included are having major problems with this new version. I'm having tracker problems also and got no help here expect finding other people who are ready to switch to a different program. I've used utorrent for about two years and never even noticed the "upgrade" :now 1.77 is a big problem that needs bug fixes now!!!

[jewelisheaven]

There are no problems with the vanilla client. I should know. I don't run useless bloatware "security software". Upgrading from 1.7.5 -> 1.7.6 and 1.7.6 -> 1.7.7 came with no resulting hiccups. Change your program if you want, but I bet you'll have a similar problem due to incorrectly configured or broken software as mentioned above.

[spacemunky]

Ok you guys seem to know what you're talking about so I'll uninstall KIS when I get home from work and see how I go.

Kind of offtopic but what's so useless and boaty about KIS? I understand enough about how you really only need NAT for security instead a firewall, so I've always had my firewall disabled in KIS. I only really use it for its antivirus. What security software do you use and recommend?

[jewelisheaven]

The problem I can see (having not tried any "security suite" since NSW 02) is that "disabled" doesn't mean "not-running" as DWKnight says. The uninstall procedure is the easiest and surest way to be sure the user is not using a program suspected to be at the root of the problem. If however the problem persists AFTER the program is uninstalled, more testing needs to be done before reinstallation. I can understand having to remove software which was previously working seems counterintuitive, but consider it part of the process of troubleshooting oh hey, and you're helping make uT a better program, when you include your pertinent program / definition versions for other users to either agree or disagree with the peaceful coexistence of uT.

[spacemunky]

Holy crap it worked!

I will never question you guys again!

>> I can understand having to remove software which was previously working seems counterintuitive

I still don't get why I had to uninstall KIS. I don't understand "hooks". If I did, I guess we wouldn't have had this conversation in the first place.

Now I need to figure out why so many people recommend disabling DHT.

Thanks for your help fellas :-)

[jewelisheaven]

GREAT to hear! It's always nice to get rid of a problem. If you want to poke at KIS yourself I'd advise checking through documentation or posting on their forum about "exception" rules or "per-program" rules you can create. Hey, you learned something and that's not nothing.

Hooking is basically what you call it when a program wants to interact with another program without knowing anything about that other program. For ex: the reason most malware is nigh IMPOSSIBLE to remove without being in safe mode is that it hooks into MANY critical system processes, and for the lay person to try to remove the hooks it's simply just easier to boot into safe mode where windows doesn't load your existing configuration, but instead a subset of minimal functions which allows you to run without said hooks in place

As far as DHT... if by people you mean tracker(s) administrators then it's due to thier inability to require / verify the private key in torrents, and their desire to not implement their own connection filtering of invalid clients. Many users disable DHT due to problems with their specific setup. This can include sub-par hardware, low linespeed (DHT kills most connections < 128 Kbps speedtest, and buggy network drivers. Any other questions?

[spacemunky]

No more questions - thanks for addressing them :-)

Interesting to learn about about hooks. I'm a bit of a control freak so if it was my way there'd be no hooking around on my PC, though I suppose it's necessary for certain apps like security software.

I have decided to keep my DHT enabled after going through some posts in the forum about it. In sum, I learnt what you have previously described. There's no need to disable DHT for most people with "normal" systems and connections.

Cheers :-D

[eboris]

I've already started another thread, but just wanted to point out here that I don't have any of that security stuff even installed in XP Pro. And yet I started having the tracker problems with 1.7.7. What should I uninstall and reinstall to fix it? Oh, and I've always had DHT disabled.

I should clarify that the trackers start out fine, but then turn red later with an "actively refused" message. The downloads and uploads, however, continue without the tracker. This is happening to all trackers at various points in time, but this never happened before now.

Well, I'll look to my other thread, but I just wanted to point out that security suites may not be the whole answer.

[jewelisheaven]

~40 trackers, 6 stable builds. Zero tracker error. Oh yeah and I don't run any security software either.