Red Exclamation Mark of Death, Take 3

[drokkon]

This double post rule is counter-productive. I've already started this topic twice, and now I have to start it again because I can't post after myself. I really hate to have three threads going for the same problem. Talk about clutter.

Thread 1: http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=38460

Thread 2: http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=39954

Basic problem is a REMoD (Red Exclamation Mark of Death) that I can't get to go away. The port is open on my router and my software firewall, and my firewall has the uTorrent executable "allowed." I've quintuple-checked everything, and even disabled the firewall completely.

ANYway. Asking for help previously hasn't solved anything, so I'll try another route and ask some troubleshooting questions:

1) What does the red icon mean, as opposed to the yellow icon?

2) Is the red icon always a user problem or could Comcast somehow be causing it?

3) I've had the same cable modem and router for years with no issue. Could either of these have gone "bad?"

Help!

[Switeck]

Are you using a Belkin known-to-overload-while-file-sharing router?

Have you tried the troubleshooting link in my signature (1st one)?

ComCast *IS* killing connections, and sometimes it may be killing them fast enough that uTorrent thinks it's firewalled. Least it does for me occasionally when running nearly-dead torrent/s.

[drokkon]

Thanks for the fantastic tips. I pored over your links, and here's what I found and tried:

Reset both modem and router to factory settings.

Set up a port in uTorrent and opened it on the router and on the firewall.

Deleted and re-added uTorrent executable to firewall allowed programs.

(Also tried disabling firewall completely)

Turned off all torrents except for one relatively healthy one.

Went through all the troubleshooting steps that changed uTorrent settings.

..and still I have a little red exclamation point. Grrr.

Which router is that? I do have a Belkin, but it worked for three years with three guys fighting over bandwidth and handled our torrents fine, until now. (I'd love to connect my computer to my modem directly, but alas - it's in a P180 case and I still have a 19" CRT, and the modem is downstairs, in my only cable outlet.)

...any other suggestions?

[Switeck]

Motorola Surfboard modems are actually mini-routers with built-in firewalls. They have to be configured too...best in bridge mode and disable all NAT features. Otherwise, they're creepy shit.

Try HijackThis! and Process Explorer again to see if there's anything unwanted running on your computer. It could be hidden as a DLL process affecting uTorrent.

[drokkon]

Thanks again... I checked the modem configuration, but there doesn't seem to be anything that's configurable... again, I used this modem for several years with three people trying to torrent without problems. It's been connected to a wireless router since day one.

I'll try to see if there's anything affecting uTorrent through a DLL...

Please post again; even if it's something useless; I'd like to post here again.

PS - I forgot to add: I also went through all the steps to "patch" my tcpip.sys. Vista 64-bit.

[Switeck]

I'm not sure there is a working half open limit tcpip.sys patch for Vista 64-bit...and even if there is, Microsoft will certainly "fix" it after even minor updates.

Can you test uTorrent on any other computer on your network?

If you can get a green light on another one, we can at least rule out modem issues.