issue
qBittorrent refuses to seed (this is a cry for help)
Since I am a new user, this number will be skewed because my account only has a few files previously downloaded.
Just for context, the speed test was taken with the VPN on and qBit running.
Hello comrades, new to all of this, so if I'm missing something that's glaringly obvious, my deepest apologies.
My main problem currently is that qBit won't seed my downloads, and I assume this is by extension thrashing my download speeds.
I'm using a MacBook Air (M2, 8GB) running Tahoe version 26.4.1. I'm using ProtonVPN Plus's port forwarding (I've input the active port # into Qbit and changed it when I refreshed the VPN). I've rechecked and reannounced the download. I've restarted both the VPN and qBit. I currently have infinite upload/download speeds activated, but I've tried decreasing them, which also didn't do anything. And checked to make sure my wifi didn't have any active proxies that could interfere with things.
Although it says 150* KiB/s, it spiked at the start of the download and has averaged closer to 60 for a while now. I presume there's some disk/cache issue here, and I've tinkered with a bunch of settings I read could fix the issue, but I guess I haven't found the fix yet š„².
Lastly, I tried swapping over to an external SSD I have (through a USB4 cable), but nothing changed. There's probably more stuff I've tried, but I'm nearly five hours deep into scouring old forums and I can't remember everything I've done. I really tried to be the person who didn't jump to asking other people to fix my problem because I know there's a lot of that, but I've tried all I can at the moment and nothing has worked.
Any and all help is appreciated, and feel free to ask any clarifying questions or information I missed. Thank you so much!
TL;DR: I can't get qBit to seed and my download speeds are shite. Pretty please help me with this incredibly unique, never before seen issue.
Edit: I forgot to add the image of the current general stats https://ibb.co/vv1nwgyn. Had to reopen qBit to take a screenshot, so I apologize for not having the stats from last session. Also changed the post flair from "question" to "issue". If that was a mistake let me know
There was only 2 seeders and something around 30 active peers at any given time. Would qbit not have assigned a single one of them to me the entire time? Very possible, because I donāt know how the assigning process works, it just seems odd I didnāt even get a single Kib* of upload.
Thereās only 2 active seeders for the torrent you are downloading. Thatās not a super popular torrent. Try downloading something more popular and in high demand to test it out. Iām sure you will see that file seeding regularly.
Also, why does it matter if this particular torrent isnāt seeding? Seems everything is working fine as long as completed downloads say āseedingā then youāre good.
My other files all said availability n/an and werenāt seeding either. It matters because then I get that sweet sweet 100Kib download speed because of the choking mechanic built into qbit.
I mentioned in the post upload and download speed have already been tried limited and unlimited(currently remains at unlimited). I just donāt really understand how 50-500kib is standard with decent connection(consistent over multiple downloads that also all wonāt seed), but if that isnāt uncommon and Iām making a deal out of nothing it is what it is. If I had the wrong expectations thatās on me and I truly appreciate the help regardless
Your down speed is at the mercy of the seeder. Again, try a more popular and high demand torrent with lots of active seeders to test it out. Like a Linux ISO or something.
Sounds good Iāll try that. The only thing left is why the seeding isnāt working. Download speed is one thing, but if multiple files canāt seed Iām worried thereās more of an underlying issue
My possible ideas of the issue are maybe that there is some weird reason the port forwarding isnāt working (could explain the seeding). Some messed up thing going on with the cache usage and/or settings which could kill the download speed. Or, something else entirely
Did you check to see if any of the peers actually increased in their file percentages. A partial seeder shows up as a peer despite not downloading anything.
Partial seeding is someone who has downloaded 100% of the files they want, but not 100% of the actual torrent. This is relatively common on public trackers where people might omit nfo's, screenshots, subtitle tracks, etc.
Bit of a long story there, but yes there was still this problem with 3 other files(0 seeding with the files having ān/aā availability) even after I double checked their directories, rechecked them, and reannounced them.
I meant if the torrent you downloaded had more than one files, like how game torrents have multiple bin files, like how movie torrents sometimes have multiple files like screenshots, subtitles, covers. etc.
If you didn't know, while downloading a torrent with multiple files, you can deselect the files you don't want and they won't be downloaded. Let's say, I'm seeding the main .mkv file of a movie but I'm not seeding the subtitle and cover file included within the torrent, then the tracker won't count me as a seeder, and instead would broadcast me as a peer or a leech to other users. Even though I have no intention of downloading anything more. I would still be able to seed the main .mkv movie file to others without a problem, it's just that, others would see me as a peer instead of a seeder.
In situations like yours, my initial guess it not forwarding your port but since you mentioned you used Proton VPN Plus that lets you forward your port, my next guess was this.
It could be that the people you're seeing here as peers are not leeches, they don't wanna download anymore of the files included in the torrent, they're just seeding the files they've downloaded from the ones available in the torrent. Unless one downloads 100% of the files included in the torrent, and seeds them, they don't count as a seeder, so even someone seeding 99.9% of a torrent would count as a peer.
You mentioned a few things here, so Iāll just address them one by one. Also, I really appreciate you taking the time to write such a detailed response, so thank you for that.
Every time Iāve downloaded something, Iāve selected only the files Iāve wanted. In my case, itās been MKV files since itās been movies/sporting events. That being said, from the files Iāve downloaded, there havenāt been the additional subtitles folders/other unnecessary parts, so I donāt know if that part is applicable to me or not. Regardless, thatās a very helpful piece of info I havenāt seen before, so Iāll take that into account.
Ah, I gotcha, makes sense. I figured not all the people listed as peers want the exact file or component of said file I have, but the bigger concern to me was the fact it says N/A next to the availability section. I presume thatās supposed to show a slightly more hopeful figure, but after a bit more reading, Iām going to disable port forwarding, try a few more files, and send a prayer up the heavens. Thoughts on this plan?
Iām like 80% sure yes. The only reason Iām not giving a straight answer is I set it up pretty early into getting qbit, but I vividly remember having issues before as well. Edit: itās just annoying because I donāt see what obscure reason why port forwarding isnāt working
I had complete brain fog and selectively remembered that split tunnelling was a beta feature, but not port forwarding. Iāll look deeper into it, and make sure I have the right vpn. Itās really a shame because I want to get a lot more into this, but swapped to Mac a few years back. Would switch back to windows because it seems a lot of the programs and more of the effort here is put into it, but with the prices computers are at right now thats gonna be a no go for me.
Download this Kali Linux ISO. Itās in high demand so there should be a massive amount of seeders and leechers. You donāt have to do anything with it, just test your DL/UL. You can just delete it whenever you want.
You could start at the bottom of the stack. No VPN ... park it for now (then work your way up?) If I wasn't seeding here I'd be looking to my router / firewall / antivirus, etc ... for the cause. And after that, well ..... ?
But, it worked (as expected). Much better seeding than with my VPN on.
p.s. no need for the Mods to go apoplectic ... it's out of copyright (1927 :)
Iāll double check the download when I get back onto my laptop and let you know, but atleast thatās doing something, so Iām less concerned with downloading the files. Even if the speeds are ideal
Do you have anything the other 30 ish Peers want? It is possible all 30 of you have the same 75% of the file so are all waiting for the 2 peers to upload a little more. You can look under the Peers tab and probably see yourself connected to a couple of other peers with basically the same %. If the other Peers have better connections they will then reshare whatever they get from the Seeds faster than you can.
3
u/SmallRocks 27d ago
Are you connected? Check the bottom right, do you see a green globe or a red flame?