Question . . .

[MtnWomyn]

Is it possible to contact a Limewire 'Host' directly?

[stief]

Sometimes

You can right-click a search result and see if the host has the ability to Chat. There is also a Direct Connect search type, where you enter the IP and the port. To see the IP and port of a host, Browse that host and if they are browseable, the IP and port will show in the search tab.

However, IP and Ports for a host often change, the host can be busy, the user doesn't notice a chat request and firewalls can block such contacts. So, contacting a host is possible, but does not often work.

Cheers

[MtnWomyn]

I can't right click . . . am on a Mac.
I have the IP address shown for the host (if it's the right one), and I think that if I could contact the person, in some way, they would have the one item I'm looking for, as they have others from the same genre.

[stief]

For Macs, right-click is control-click.

If you don't have the port number, try 6346

So, in Direct Connect, try the IP you have. I think the default of 6346 is added automatically. If not, add a colon (to separate the IP from the Port number)and 6346 . so, the direct connect would look something like ###.###.###.#:6346.

Actually, if you are just looking for that one file, try the "Any Type" search, with two keywords and .mp3. So, "artist songname .mp3" should be a better way to go if Direct Connect doesn't work.

If two or three tries with the "any" doesn't work, use the file menu ot disconnect and then reconnect. That will give you new ultrapeers, and your search will then be able to go out to a different part of the network.

[MtnWomyn]

Thanks for your kind assistance, stief . . . but . . . alas . . . have tried all you said to do. Chat wasn't allowed with the host and the "Any Type" search brought up a whole lot of things - not related to music! Disconnecting and reconnecting didn't do the trick either.
I did, however, find what I believe is the "full set" that contains the item I'm looking for . . . just really don't want to repeat all I have on file now for one single mp3 file.
Again, I very much appreciate your help.

[stief]

Oh well--at least you can see why Direct Connect is oftentimes unsuccessful.

btw--when unrelated files show up in searches, mark them as junk by using the trash icon: it's a handy way to weed out the junk that responds to all queries. Proper hosts won't send you results that don't match your searches. Thus the any type searches are a good way to see how closely you may have been connected to a spammer.

Cheers, and happy Easter