1. Introduction
Thanks to YiQi, we confirmed that tmnet is blocking bittorrent based on user-agents. So if you change the user agent, you will be able to connect to trackers. We can achieve this by using a proxy server which allows use to change the HTTP header.

Sounds complex? Well it isn't really. I went around looking for proxy servers for windows which can do this for free (no need for cracks and shit). I came across PAW, I've tested it and it works THIS WILL NOT SOLVE THE THROTTLING PROBLEM. It only allows you to connect to the tracker, a slow download is better than no download

2. Installation & Setup

2.1 PAW
Perform the following steps

• Download the "paw_release_0.27.zip" zip file. .
  Mirror 1: Rapidshare
  
• unzip it to wherever you like
• run "startServer.bat"

Now you got the proxy server running.


2.2 Proxomitron
Alternatively, you can use another software called proxomitron. To set it up, follow the instructions here. Thanks to newbieockids for the alternative method.

3. Configuration

3.1 Proxy Server
If you want to change the port number, go to "conf/server.xml". You can change the username and password there too (recommended).

For those of you who downloaded paw from sourceforge, you will need to edit a file before it will work. run "startGUI.bat". This will load the admin GUI. Then edit according to the following screenshot:



If editing through the GUI doesn't work for you, go to "conf/headers-request". The file doesn't have an extension, open it with notepad or any text editor. And edit according to the screenshot above.

Here's a list of possible user-agents to use:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent_string#Browsers

3.2 Bittorrent Client
So now to configure your bittorrent client.

server: localhost
port: 8080 (default)

I'll show you a screenshot of utorrent's configuration.


4. Conclusion
And now you should be able to connect to trackers Remember, this DOES NOT improve your download speed, it just enables you to connect to trackers.

5. Problems & Solutions

1. Can't run startServer.bat, it automatically closes!
   Your JAVA version might be outdated or broken. Go download the latest JAVA version and try again.
   
2. Getting error 404 proxy offline
   Try restarting your client. It worked for LEVIATHAN. If you're still getting the error, we'll try to find the problem.
   
3. Getting error 500
   Try downloading the torrent file again. If that doesn't work, set a user-agent instead of leaving it blank. The instructions are given above.

Edit: updated download file, since the attachment is corrupted.
Edit2: Thx to MX510 for putting up a rapidshare link. Also fixed the layout of the first post.

This post has been edited by silverhawk: Jan 21 2007, 08:37 PM

Wow..Sounds promising. Gotta head back home and attempt it. Pray hard it will work.
Thanks silverhawk

This post has been edited by weilik: Jan 18 2007, 01:37 PM

Urm... the zip file is corrupted, "unexpected end of archive".

But nevermind, I downloaded it from sourceforge. It doesn't work. Any settings you changed in PAW?

Thanks Silverhawk,

Any more tips for setting it up, got HTTP error 500

run "startGUI.bat" (server must be running)
in the left panel, click on files -> headers-request

you will see a few "#user-agent: blablabla"
make one of them
"user-agent: ";

this makes it empty, and thus removed from the HTTP request header. You can put anyname you like "user-agent: d3x".

edit: updated the download file. Used my own server instead of LYNs.

This post has been edited by silverhawk: Jan 18 2007, 02:01 PM

Yeah, a solution!! But, I need to go home and try~ BTW, sorry to ask..I can download BT but only from local seeders/peers..so after doing all these, does this mean I can connect to international peers and seeders? If yes, then silverhawk...u r the MAN!! Thanks!!

If I'm not mistaken, you could always connect to international peers/seeders. The block was on the tracker. Since i had a few torrents where i was connected to the peers but not the tracker.

You need to connect to the tracker or you wont be able to get an updated peer/seeder list. This method allows you to connect to the international trackers.

Ah~ Yeah, i understand now! Currently I'm using utorrent n bitcomet to download..my utorrent can connect to trackers n download from local seeders/peers only..whereas for bitcomet...forever connecting to trackers... But it varies, on weekend, everything are ok..Bitcomet doesn't connect to trackers on weekdays only! Why is that,huh?

Nway, i will try it out tonight n give an update here! Thanks for answering my question tho~

Thanks. It works for me without even modifying the files.

Edit: It still not a solution for the bandwidth cap.

This post has been edited by TristanX: Jan 18 2007, 02:32 PM

Nope, your bandwidth is still throttled... but at least you can connect to trackers.

Em, must I run the startServer.bat always?
I don't really understand here.

Hmmm still can't seem to get it to work. I'll try again later when I'm not so busy.

Thanks silverhawk.

Yup, just doubleclick it and your http proxy is up. Follow the instructions on the above.

You can also make a shortcut for it and put it into your Startup group if you want it to start with windows.

This post has been edited by TristanX: Jan 18 2007, 02:41 PM

Yeap. That's the proxy server. If your close it, the proxy server will stop running, and thus you won't be able to connect to the tracker. A little annoying that you have to have a window open for it, but if you want to use your BT... then its an inconvenience you have to get used to.

I still get HTTP error 500 after editing the header-request. Any ideas?

I think people who has problem running it may need Java to be installed.
Just get it from here:

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Everytime I run it, and launch my BitComet, nothing can start? Did I do something wrong? xD


This post has been edited by doinkz_gaara: Jan 18 2007, 02:44 PM

Reconnect to the tracker or re-download the torrent file. That's how I get rid of error 500.

as for me..
yesterday whole afternoon trying to figure why my Utorrent cannot start downloading anymore..
try Utorrent v1.6...still cannot work..

end up install bitcomet v0.7v....finally it downloading 50-60Kbps on my 512kps line...until this morning before go to work...still around 50++Kbps...

not sure about now...working mah...

as for Celcom 3G...no problem...using bitcomet as well but v0.79 modded anytime...

This post has been edited by MakNok: Jan 18 2007, 02:54 PM

What does the tracker status say when you try to connect?

silverhawk thanks man it helps, finally can connect to tracker! thanks alot.

i got
Windows XP WF Status: TCP Port is not opened in Windows Firewall.
Windows XP WF Status: add TCP port in Windows Firewall Succeed.
Windows XP WF Status: UDP Port is not opened in Windows Firewall.
Windows XP WF Status: add UDP port in Windows Firewall Succeed.
Proxy request failed - HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
Proxy request failed - HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found

from bitcomet log... i put localhost and 8080 adi...

How do I know if I cant connect to trackers? I see most of them in my utorrent are working, but some are "not valid in its context" or "HTTP error 403".

I assume you've started the proxy server. Try running "startGUI.bat" to see if the proxy server is really running. If "localhost" doesn't work, try "127.0.0.1". Out of curiosity, are you connected using a modem or router? Not sure if it'll affect anything, but might be worth knowing.

If you can't connect to trackers, your torrents will have a red icon instead of a blue one. If the tracker status says "connection closed by peer", then this would help solve it. If your error is something else, then this solution might not work for you.

This post has been edited by silverhawk: Jan 18 2007, 05:07 PM

WORKS! thanks silverhawk u are the savior of all torrentkind. hehe. fuk tmnet. thanks again.

Thanks!

it connects to tracker faster than before! But speed still slow..

Its ok..thanks for sharing!

GOD bless you! ^^

What are the default user-agents that aare being blocked by tmnut?

i get it too...connect to tracker but still slow of speed.. .at least something is running rather than 0 0 0 0 0 all the time

btw, how to delete the thing. it seems cant be deleted

Copyright 1998. LOL!

such ancient technology needed in this very time

How about Mac OS X? ANy solution?

the software is java based. it should be able to run on your machine

hi what is the default user name n password?

i got the same error message too

tried localhost and 127.0.0.1

btw, i'm behind a router. any settings that need to be tweaked?

@silverhawk: Finally got it running! You're a life saver!

I had to install JRE6 for it to work. Was using JRE509 before. Connecting to tracker is a bit slow now, but at least it connects. Now to see if I can update to the tracker properly.

the speed before & after, is it the same? They show u only tracker connected?

It work's now,

just manually change the appropriate conf file not the gui based

wawawewa
I like

admin/paw
you can change it in the "conf/server.xml" file.

Hmm I'm also behind a router, and no problems on my end. To test if the proxy is working, set up firefox to use your own proxy and try surfing. If sites load means your proxy is working.

I have no idea why you're getting a 404 error though.

i am using it in firefox setting and it runs fine

dunno why it won't work in bitcomet 0.70 though

how to delete the things if don need it later? cos i try to del it. and xp prompt the file was in use even if i closed everything

If XP says the file is still running, open your task manager and kill the process manually. If you don't have any other java apps running, you'll see the process as "java.exe"

Dunno yet, must give it some time. But so far, I'm getting *acceptable* speeds.

I'm more worried abt keeping a good ratio.

Edit: I'm having problems getting a good connection with my favorite tracker. Looks like this proxy doesn't work with that, so it's a no-show for me.

This post has been edited by d3x: Jan 18 2007, 11:28 PM

thanks for sharing..seems to able to connect some of the tracker

bitcomet 0.70 + paw = no dough?

firefox + paw = running well

Sounds interesting... perhaps connection to international peers are also throttled through user agents?

I will give this a try.



Aaaahh... gotta feed my crave for anime....


EDIT:It does work, I can connect to the tracker now.... but of course., not the international peers, the usual connection closed. Btw, I'm getting rapid request for connection lol.

I hope someone could dig up this ancient technology a lot more, and find a way to break free of the destiny tmnet's put upon us.

Anyway, in easier words, I hope this might fix the throttling.

This post has been edited by blindbox: Jan 18 2007, 11:46 PM

It works!

My torrent just died 2 days ago, around the same time Azureus updated. So I thought it was something wrong with the update.

Now finally this makes sense.

First, TM throttled our bandwidth.
Now, they block connections to trackers completely.

This at least gets rid of the new problem.

Somehow, must applaud TM for thinking of multiple approaches to stop us bandwidth abusers.

i wonder y it doesn't work wit bitcomet....utorrent is working

HEYYYYYYYYYYYY.... IT WORKS THANK YOU

I am using BitLord btw.

This post has been edited by Gametaipan: Jan 19 2007, 01:09 AM

Ooooh btw, I think the reason why I can't connect to most of the peers is due to the international link. I used to be able to atleast connect to 1 or 2, and suffer 13 kB/s or less.

Ratatosk, we, bandwidth abusers?

We are simply taking full advantage of what was given to us .

The dumbshit ISP should have done the pay per GB thing right from the start.

Instead, they think its their god-given right to impose terms as they like, and change it randomly to suit their purposes. And that we shouldn't whine when they give us the shaft. Those retards can't even bill us correctly for what is essentially a monopolistic service.

I think its a good idea to pay-per-use. On one hand, we DL people pay more, but on the other, we pay nothing when there are Earthquakes, Floods (forgive me, my friends in affected areas) and Incompetence. From our ISP lah. Dun believe all their crap about blaming God. God is probably gonna punish their candy-asses for all that corruption and blame they heap upon HIM.

Ah, back to topic. Sorry ah!

However, pay-per-use also means that I want super-fast speeds. Something like 10-f***ing-mbps or more. If I am going to be paying, I don't want to be waiting around for the files to DL. Call it arrogance, whatever. I want my goddamn files to be on my PC, chop-chop and I dont have time to piss around waiting for them to DL.

I also think that we should start DL user groups. If I am paying through my ass for the latest CSI season from US, then I would be very interested in splitting the bill with other people who want that too. Why enrich your ISP?

The alternative is for us to band together and get our own pipe. I would be interested in sharing costs if it were possible to set up a proxy. (PM if you have a good alternative with a fair price.)

The way this is going, in the end, we might as well just buy DVDs, Rip+Burn and then take file-sharing back to the days before broadband = Manual Labour lah!

So much for our f***ing Super Corridor thing. We didn't

a) build any good infrastructure
b) develop any serious world-beating technology
c) develop much useful content

(sorry about the profanity, but it seems to be the best way to enunciate one's feelings.)

HEY IT WORKS!!!

Thanks silverhawk!

Although I already get fast connection (20~25kB/s), with this,
manage to increase (maximize) the speed to 30~35kB/s.

BUT IM STILL THROTTLED! 40% of my original 1Mb ScreamyX.



Now the speed constantly around 30~35kB/s! yeah!

Using bitcomet 0.81 and it's still doesn't make any difference . my average speed is still less than 5kb
Is it something wrong with bitcomet?
Maybe I should try another client.

Ummm no, with the speed they're giving out, it doesn't even matter if it is bandwidth limited or not.


Btw, threadstarter, do you know how to activate https, socks 4, socks 5, ftp, etc protocol on this program? I tried accessing addons.mozilla.org, it said not found, because it uses https.

Perhaps the connection to peers are also throttled based on user-agent, reason, plenty of peer connection reset etc etc etc even when on proxy.

I plan to, when I get older(call me crazy, but I'm gonna do it no matter what).

This post has been edited by blindbox: Jan 19 2007, 08:06 AM

woohoo thanks good stuff

Silverhawk, you mentioned something about activating the StartServer and then leaving the window open. My window goes away by itself and my speeds are pathetic. Am I doing something wrong?

(I have javaw.exe running in the background and PAW says that my server is running fine.) However, my utorrents have mostly gone Blue colour icons since using your method. Is it just my torrents?

Hmm the window should be there, but yes, the speed will still be crap, though you can finally connect to trackers.

Waiting for someone who can make the proxy server turn into a https, socks4, socks5 compatible server hehehe(and this might fix the problem).

You said the server is running fine is it? Maybe it is all right for the window to go away then .

Thanks, but my speeds are at 5kB whereas others claim 30kB so I was wondering if I did something wrong. If it means anything, sometimes connections to the US and elsewhere work at low speeds of below 5kB.

I didn't think that TM would turn a blind eye to this for very long. Now its just a matter of waiting for the next development to beat whatever restrictions they have imposed.

thanks.!

but BItspirit also got this fuction.

how to make it works on emule? it say fatal connection when i try to connect to a server.

It seems to work for my UTorrent. While shame about the speed at least the torrent looks healthy now. Thanks Silverhawk!

any solution for azureus?
but i can see the peers after setting up this configuration...

how about tuotu setting ?..

this setup only fixes the 'connection closed by peer' problem, it doesn't help with the speed, i see some of u still say 'my bt still slow'. can dl better than no dl. hehehe.

Tuotu Proxy didn't support for BT, only for HTTP download.

Thanks JiQi and silverhawk for the detective work. Due to your discovery, I found out that this is how TM Net is blocking/limiting iTunes as well (and basically any other program that uses different user agents in its HTTP request):

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...post&p=10059768

TM Net may have a grey area case against blocking BT, but blocking everything else as well smacks of an illegal breach of contract to me.

server is connected but
tracker status = HTTP error 500

This post has been edited by IceBikers: Jan 19 2007, 02:18 PM

This is most arguable since iTunes is a legal service. I recommend you write an official letter of complaint to TMNutz explaining this matter and discovery. We'd like to see how TMNutz respond to this latest mess..

Besides HTTP connections, TMNutz is also screwing up HTTPS (or secure HTTP) connections also. My test program shows ocassional errors on a TCP connection!

Yeah, I'm planning to, but I'm waiting until after the 23rd (when our regular international link gets restored). All this shenanigans could be due to TM Net's current temporary bandwidth provider. So I'll be sitting tight and trying this again next Wednesday.

Start documenting your findings about HTTPS too and we'll see next week how things go. I've been suspecting all this has been happening ever since the start of BT throttling but I've never had solid evidence and no way of reproducing this problem. Now thanks to the PAW proxy, I do.

This post has been edited by fly: Jan 19 2007, 11:28 AM

Already almost an hour into my HTTPS test connection, see the attached pictures. A batch of errors then back to normal again (no errors)!

Note: Test uses random frame sizes to check for dropped packets.

This post has been edited by lex: Jan 19 2007, 11:30 AM


Attached thumbnail(s)

iTunes blocked too ? Aiyoo ... first BT, then eMule (completely 0 downloads some more) and now this ! what is so illegal with iTunes that it deserves to be blocked anyway ? Stupid tmnet !

i wont be surprised if Joost (soon to be released p2p based tv broadcast) wont work with Streamyx too.

hamsap lah like this ........

Hmmm... really? Let me try.

https://addons.mozilla.org

I can access that https website like normal...

Maybe I should rely on that picture, since this is probably not a very accurate test.

This post has been edited by blindbox: Jan 19 2007, 11:41 AM

The difference is I used a program to continuously send and receive data (and not the slow interaction method). Actually there were no errors when starting... but the errors started much later.

im connected to PAW Server but my speed is still 0

Im using BitComet and i got this "Proxy request failed - HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found"

This post has been edited by Carmen: Jan 19 2007, 02:23 PM

yeah me didnt connect to..need to put wat in the paw server and port??
thanks

me using utorrent..
try to connect..getting this

tracker status : working

but speed still 0kb...how?

This post has been edited by lthock: Jan 19 2007, 01:07 PM

i cant fine any java.exe process when i ctrl-alt-del. till now i still can't del the file.

It seems working perfectly for me thanx for the solutions :-)

May the force be with you

tried on my torrent pc which is a pentium machine, had jvm installed..

startgui able to run.. but not able to startserver..

it say

"unable to open jarfile paw-server.jar"

This post has been edited by IceBikers: Jan 19 2007, 02:33 PM

fantastic! finally seeing green instead of red in utorrent, thanks!

I keep getting 'Proxy connect error: offline (timed out)' in the tracker status field of utorrent 1.6. Anybody can guide on what is the likely problem?

hahaha......

now only 218.111 can BT ....

did anyone try to delete the file?

i did, no problem.

can i know how u do it.
cos i try to delete it for last 2 days and windows prompt the file is in use or read-only
when i uncheck (read only), i still can't delete it.

thanks, it works with me... using bitlord...

this should be pinned

i cant seem 2 get it working sorry but im a lil slow in it stuff ><
step 1 : click on startgui.bat
step 2 : starserver.bat
step 3 : run u torrent?
i went thru the forum but i dont know where i went wrong :S sorry guys

here are some of my configs






headers request also done liao
will appreaciate ur help =D
life without music is boring

does this works for utorrent?

Well, looks like lots of people still confuse about what is the program for.
Maybe we should make it clear that:

It help you to overcome the problem of "Connection reset by peer" if you saw it in your Tracker Status.

What it didn't do:

1. Help increasing your download speed
2. Turn your dead Tracker to live

For those you saw '404' '500' '50x' or timeout status, this solution will not help.

Did exactly as you say. Works like a charm. Connect to local peers and getting pretty good speed but overseas peers is another story. Nice, sir and kudos to you.

There is no default strings, they can just simply add as many as they want.
e.g. Azereus, BitTorrent, eMule, LimeWire, MLDonkey, Shareaza, uTorrent.

And what I believe is, they might have a robot program which analyze the package, get a statistic of User-Agent, and block it according to the usage. And of course, will exclude certain well-known browser (e.g. IE, Firefox) to prevent accidently block them. That's why iTunes is blocked due to its popularity and high usage (which they 'forgot' to add into their exclude list).

So, for those who use this solution to change your User-Agent, better change to a common, which looks like a real browser one. Please refer to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent
Maybe append some string like "Screamyx Sucks..."

This post has been edited by YiQi: Jan 19 2007, 06:13 PM

still cant..any "in-dept" step by step...confuse at the paw server pas and host setting...

do we need to make new connetion at the GUI?

Yes, this is accurate for BT, since IIANM the initial request to the tracker is HTTP, but the subsequent data transfer between seeds and peers is throttled as the packet shaper is able to recognize BT packets (which are not HTTP). I might be wrong as I'm not familiar with the BT protocol.

But for the case with iTunes/ITMS, removing the user agent helps the download speed as well (several other people have been able to reproduce this on their systems). Could this probably be due to the download of the podcast/song being done via HTTP as well, and TMNet's shaper can't tell the difference between other HTTP requests due to the user agent string being changed and hence, can't shape it?

This post has been edited by fly: Jan 19 2007, 06:30 PM

when i double click on "startGUI.bat" ..nothing appeared...is there anything wrong?

i am using bit spirit right now...

looks like the upload speed is much more faster than the download speed...

did u guys try to delete it? will it show that it is currently in used?

i try to setup as what silverhawk mentioned....

my bitcomet 0.70 still unable to connect to tracker...

it prompt message it cannot connect to tracker...

btw, there is no java.exe running as well..

i have install jre6....

i start with startserver and then start gui...

but in startgui is says not connected...

everytime i click on STARTGUI.BAT OR STARTSERVER.GUI. the dos screen just fashes and disappear!!! what?!!!!!!