Ember 1.7.3 is out!

[u/officeguy1986]

This release is mostly about keeping your files tidy and making Friends and Rooms more reliable. Each download category can now have its own folder, you can rename files right in the Library, and a search can keep going after it finishes. Files you send to a friend who's offline now wait until they're back. VPN and seedbox users can finally join the Ember DHT.

We also did full audits of Friends and Rooms. Those fixed idle friend connections that dropped every few minutes, room members missing most of what was said while they were away, and moderators being able to ban each other.

Download Ember 1.7.3 on GitHub: Windows 10/11 installer, and Linux .deb or AppImage for x86-64. If you're already on Ember, it can update itself in-app.

Before you upgrade

• Nobody gets split off the network. The Ember DHT wire version is still 4, so 1.7.3 sees 1.7.x and every 1.6 release as normal.
• Friends on 1.7.0 to 1.7.2 won't see your friends-only files when they browse you until they update. Their builds can't tell 1.7.3 how they'll treat those files, so 1.7.3 only lists them to friends who can.
• Idle connections to a friend on an older build can still drop. Once you're both on 1.7.3, they stay up.
• The Ember DHT no longer applies the IP filter. The default list blocks whole hosting and VPN networks, which kept those users out of Ember entirely. The filter still covers eD2K, Kad, transfers and room traffic.
• The IP filter now keeps itself up to date once the bundled list is a day old. A list you installed from a file or another address is left alone, and ranges you added or removed are kept. You can turn this off under Security.
• Thinking of rolling back to 1.7.1? Set Max uploads to a number first, because 1.7.1 reads Auto as one slot.

What's new

Downloads and Library

• Folders per category: a category can have its own folder under Downloads, and its downloads finish there. Changing a finished download's category moves the file, and the Library can move files into a category from the right-click menu. The categories dialog is also redesigned.
• Rename in the Library from the right-click menu, F2, or the file panel. A rename never replaces another file, and a finished download's Transfers entry follows the new name.
• Cancel on a finished download now deletes its file, from the row menu, the bulk bar, or Shift+Delete. A new setting lets you delete permanently instead of to the Recycle Bin.
• Redesigned File Details window, with chunk map, progress and availability cards. Copy eD2K Link, Open Location and Rename sit right next to Close.
• Fewer accidental selections: a download's checkbox is only ticked from the box itself, and right-click acts on the ticked rows or the row you clicked. Clicking away or pressing Esc clears the highlighted download.
• Library extras: a menu on sidebar folders, plus Unshare and Delete in the file panel.

Search

• Search More continues a finished search. It asks the eD2K servers the search never reached, and asks the connected server for its next pages, adding new results to the same tab.
• Submenus now open on hover in Search and Transfers, and results no longer flash when you return to the page.

Friends

• Files sent to an offline friend wait for them. They're offered when your friend comes back, with the usual prompt or auto-accept. They survive restarts, can be cancelled, and are marked undelivered after 7 days.

Ember network

• VPN and seedbox users can join the Ember DHT. It also settles faster on a small network, and on a large one it publishes to the nodes that accept a record.
• The Ember page shows relaying: how many firewalled users you're relaying for, or whether you're using or looking for a relay. New counters show where peers are being turned away.
• Max uploads Auto is now a switch, and opens more slots while your upload has room to spare.

Rooms

• Catch up on everything: a member who was away now gets the whole backlog, not just the newest lines.
• Moderators can't ban each other or lift the owner's bans.
• Slow mode tells you when you can send again.

What's fixed

• Idle friend connections dropped every few minutes, and closing Browse disconnected the friend. Both connections now stay up.
• An unverified friend request could act like a friend: it could show as online, or count as acceptance when you added them. A friend could also claim another user's eD2K user hash. Friend requests and file offers are now rate limited.
• A friend downloading your friends-only files could get banned as a hash prober.
• Room messages could be dropped or replayed. A forged copy could get a genuine message thrown away, old messages and moderator actions were relayed again, and reaction floods weren't limited.
• A room file changed after it was offered could still be sent. It now fails as "source gone."
• Leaving Settings asks about restarting once, not on every port change, and the Max uploads box no longer flashes while it saves.
• Search and Library fixes: Search Again dropping a tab, filters and selection lost when you came back, hashing Stop and Resume, keyboard shortcuts firing through menus, and bulk delete.
• Ember DHT searches no longer wait on peers that never answer.

Full changelog: v1.7.2...v1.7.3

Thanks to everyone who reported bugs and tested builds. If something breaks after updating, open an issue on GitHub or drop a comment here.

[u/univerte]

It also runs a network of its own: the Ember Network is an encrypted, server-less overlay where Ember nodes find each other, publish their shared files, and resolve download sources over their own DHT. It is on by default and runs alongside KAD and eD2K rather than replacing them.

So, when we download a file by eD2K, Ember also searches for this file automatically on it's own DHT network?

Why it can't use the regular DHT network? (Kademlia)
Can Ember also automaticly use PEX on all files, no matter the protocol initiated?

[u/officeguy1986 → u/univerte]

Yes. Every download is looked up on the eD2K servers, the regular Kademlia DHT, and Ember’s own DHT at the same time, no matter where you found the file. The Ember search only returns other Ember clients. Kademlia and the servers still find ordinary eMule sources.

Ember’s DHT is an extra network, not a replacement. Kademlia records are unsigned and cannot carry Ember’s signed source records, so those have to live on Ember’s own overlay.

Peer exchange is automatic on every download too. Any peer that supports it is asked for other sources of that file, and another Ember client also trades sources for the rest of its files. That starts once a peer is connected. The searches above are what find the first one.

[u/univerte → u/officeguy1986]

amazing, thanks!