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A Residents Guide to DC++

 
A Residents Guide to DC++
By KEN MWAWASI, MACINSIDERS
Introduction
Most incoming first year students who will be living on residence have probably already heard that torrents and their favourite file sharing programs such as Limewire are put on a low priority queue on the network, meaning that download speeds might not be as high as they are at home. Fortunately, residence students can benefit from a better alternative to torrents or limewire: DC++.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, DC++ is a peer-to-peer file sharing program used by several University and College residences. The most famous advantage of DC++ over its traditional counterparts is speed: DC++ downloads/uploads can range anywhere from 1.00 MB/s to 13 Mb/s (megabits per second). How is it so fast? DC++ is run by students on a LAN (local area network), meaning only McMaster residence users can connect to it. Essentially, DC++ users are all on the same network, and communication between users on the same hardwired network is much faster than communication between users over the internet. Like traditional file sharing programs, you’ll be able to search for audio, video, text, executable and image files, and you’ll even be able to look through directories (folders) as well. Another big advantage of DC++ is the fact that it doesn’t count towards your internet bandwidth limit: residence users are given a 2 Gigabytes per day bandwidth limit for internet sites. Exceeding this amount (by either downloading a few large files, several small files, streaming sites like Youtube or all of the above) limits your internet speed for the following day for 24 hours. With DC++, you’re not technically downloading from the internet, but rather from peers on the same network as you, and thus it does not count towards the bandwidth limit. Finally, DC++ has a chatroom feature, we’re you’ll occasionally find a game of trivia going on or students complaining about their midterms.

Installation and Setup
To download DC++, Windows users should visit this site and Mac users should go here. Install the client onto your computer, and once the installation is complete, you’ll need to do some configuring here and there to get on the mac hub (colloquial name for the DC++ network).

1. With DC++ loaded and running, click on the settings icon (third from the right on the top). When the Settings window pops up, go to personal information and choose a nickname (one that will be displayed to the other users), an email (doesn’t need to be real) and an optional description (one that will appear next to your nickname; people usually put their residence here).


2. Go to the Downloads tab and choose a directory for your complete and incomplete download files to be stored in (the default is in the DC++ folder wherever you originally installed it to).


3. Go to the Sharing tab and click on ‘Add Folder’ to add the folders you want to share. In previous years, you needed at least 500 Mb of files to share in order to connect to the mac hub (the aggregate file size of your shared folder(s) is shown). Click ‘Ok’ to save the changes and close the Settings window.

4. Back at the main DC++ window, click on the gold star on the top toolbar (fourth from the left). This brings up your ‘favourite hubs’ window. Click on the ‘New’ tab in the middle and the favourite hub properties window should pop up. Type McMaster hub under name, and for address put machub.dyndns.org (see the note at bottom with regards to the hub address). You can leave the description blank and press ‘Ok’ to save the changes.
You’re now all set up to start sharing files.




Miscellaneous Notes and Tips
There are a few things to remember when using DC++:
  • You can only connect to the hub from one of the 12 residence buildings on campus
  • Hub address: in the past, it was machub.dyndns.org, but that might change this year (it doesn’t get set up until people start moving into residence). If it does change, this article will be edited accordingly
  • Likewise, the 500 MB sharing requirement isn’t set in stone and might change as well
  • School comes first...just keep that in mind
  • You should always scan anything and everything you download from a peer-to-peer network
  • DC++ is set up and run by students and is no way affiliated with Macinsiders, UTS or the University in general. Enjoy at your own risk
Also check out Mitch's forum post on How To Setup DC++ at McMaster

MacEng, ootaioo, Rycr, samantha__, ThagsanaR all say thanks to Chad for this post.
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Old 08-31-2008 at 03:39 PM   #2
**jewel 03**
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hey I installed it but do I just click "Search" and type in whatever I want and then it will show up? Because I did that but it is taking a long time...
 
Old 08-31-2008 at 05:48 PM   #3
kenneth526
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anitaa View Post
hey I installed it but do I just click "Search" and type in whatever I want and then it will show up? Because I did that but it is taking a long time...
The file probably isn't being shared. People are still getting settled into residence though, so it'll probably be hashed later on.
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Old 08-31-2008 at 09:16 PM   #4
samantha__
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YEEEEE DC++ GREATEST INVENTION EVER. Besides the internet
I'm buying a terabyte harddrive tomorrow so I can download like every show on the planet
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Honours Economics IV & Minor in Business

 


Old 08-31-2008 at 09:18 PM   #5
samantha__
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Sorry double post.. but I swear I downloaded stuff off DC when I was in the Student Centre, connected to the internet using my ethernet cord, not wireless like most people do? Could you double check this?
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Samantha Asare
Honours Economics IV & Minor in Business

 
Old 08-31-2008 at 10:43 PM   #6
mitch
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Anitaa,

Make sure you are pressing enter after you type in your search, and NOT clicking Purge. Any file relating to the words you typed should come up almost immediately. Also, make sure you have it set to the right format. If you're searching for a video, make sure it's set to videos and not audio.
 
Old 08-31-2008 at 11:04 PM   #7
J-Met
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4 episodes of lost in 4 minutes....sweeeeet
 
Old 08-31-2008 at 11:09 PM   #8
J-Met
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Sorry for double post too, but is it good to put you download folder as your sharing folder as well? So if you download something from DC++, you can then share it again on DC++?

Will this speed up downlaod times (like on bittorrent, more seeders=faster), or will it simply add extra useless files when they are already have them in the hub.
 
Old 08-31-2008 at 11:15 PM   #9
mitch
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Most people make their download folder their sharing folder. It just makes things easier. It doesn't speed up downloads per say, but it provides additional files so that there is a greater probability that something one wants will be available. Remember, you can only download stuff when the other person is online. So if more people have the same file, even if one person goes offline, they can download it from another person.
 
Old 09-02-2008 at 01:06 AM   #10
l_madd18
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dc++ for macs
hey guys ive been tryin to download this quite a few times since i moved in but im havin trouble. when i click the download button on that link for macs nothing is happening at all. im just wonderin if anyone else has had this problem or its just me.
thanks
 
Old 09-02-2008 at 07:59 AM   #11
mitch
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The download button to download DC? Make sure your browser is set to allow pop-ups. You can do a search on google for DC++ for Mac computers and see if a different download link will work.
 
Old 09-03-2008 at 12:57 PM   #12
JONAS
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I followed thw dowloading process provided, I added my music folder to the hub and when the hashing completed an error message popped up that reads "error creating magnet registry key". Can anyone help with troubleshooting?
 
Old 09-03-2008 at 09:47 PM   #13
Steph.Lau
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Is there a guide for people using shakespeer? I'm having a bit of trouble...for example, if I double click a file it'll go into the 'downloads' folder, but it won't actually start downloading (the status reads 'queued' and never changes).

Any help would be appreciated
 
Old 09-04-2008 at 01:11 AM   #14
mixed_one
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For some reason i cant connect to the hub
it keeps saying no conncetion could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
any ideas?
 
Old 09-04-2008 at 07:12 AM   #15
MacK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by l_madd18 View Post
hey guys ive been tryin to download this quite a few times since i moved in but im havin trouble. when i click the download button on that link for macs nothing is happening at all. im just wonderin if anyone else has had this problem or its just me.
thanks
Firefox:
Ctrl+K
DC++ OS.X
1st link:
http://shakespeer.bzero.se/
 



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