Hello, I have used limewire for about three years now and it has never given me any major trouble--from time to time it has been slow to connect but eventually it has always behaved just fine. The last time I upgraded was when I first put mac osx onto my computer--that was around july of 2002, so at that time I got whatever version was available for Mac OSX. This week I upgraded my OS to 10.2.3 and decided I should upgrade Limewire as well. As luck would have it, the new version of limewire (3.4.5) appears not to work on my computer. At all. It just won't connect. I have tried leaving it on for hours, opening it over and over and restarting the computer every time, downloading the version both for OSX and for Classic (neither works). It just sits here and scrolls through thousands of IP addresses, saying "Connecting..." and never connects for hours on end. The default port setting is 6346. I'm no computer engineer but I usually can muddle through okay. This has got me stumped. I see no reason for it not to connect. From what I can tell on this help board, many other people are having connection problems too. Maybe this particular version just is not compatible with my computer.

So I'd like to know if anyone out there has any bright ideas about what I might be doing wrong, something that might be off that I could fix to make it work.

I wish I still had the older version that actually worked with my computer, but since I updated, it is gone. I have searched the net but can find no sites with an older OSX version that I could download and try. So if no one has any ideas about what I could do to make this newest version work, does anyone happen to have an older version that works that they could maybe send me?

Or, at absolute worst, does anyone know of another mac-compatible software program I could get that would let me download music files?

I am really at a loss here. Please let me know if you have any ideas

Thanks

I'm just another user like you, but I'm also on a Mac w/OSX (10.2.6) and just upgraded to the newest version of LW and had the same problem you are. Try running a search on this board for "connection problem" or "can't connect." Apparently, lots of folks had the same problem as well. Several fixes are recommended in different threads, but changing my ports like "somekid" did worked for me.

"I found the problem under tools/options - advanced/firewalls and ports. All of the numbers were different for some reason or another..but now my firewall and port numbers are both 6348..."
(see "can't connect" thread started by somekid)

One of the fixes your search turns up should work for you. Good Luck!

P.S. If all else fails, run a search on LW under programs for Acquisition (sorry, Limewire). I have both and AQ seems a wee bit more stable, but searches don't seem to turn up as many results.

You can also turn off the OSX firewall, or at least set it to allow Gnutella/LimeWire

System Preferences->Sharing->Firewall->New->Port Name->Gnutella/LimeWire (6346)

You can also add other ports here, like 6348.

When checking my ISP, I also try port 20300, in case they just block the usual gnutella ports.

Whichever port you use, set the same one in LW Preferences->Advanced->Port and Firewall

(If you use a router, you'll also have to map those ports in the Advanced->Port Mapping or Port Forwarding sections --the details depend on the router but should be covered in a manual or on-line docs)

Cheers

if you need to try the latest LW version, look at http://baghira.han.de/~jum/LimeWire.html for the jum builds that Jens-Uwe Mager has generously made available for OSX users.

Well for one glorious moment I thought it was fixed. First, I tried going to the mac system prefs and setting the firewall to allow the port 6346 (by the way, i'm not actually behind a firewall and never have been--should I be??). That didn't do anything. Then I went to the limewire advanced preferences/firewalls and ports menu and made sure the numbers matched (they did--both 6346). then i decided what the heck, i know that's supposedly the correct default port number but maybe i should just try the one that stief mentioned. so i put in 6348 and for about five glorious seconds it connected to exactly one IP address. then it disconnected again. now it is back to doing nothing on both 6346 and 6348. AAAHHH.

why oh why won't it just work?

maybe next i will try the link stief mentioned....

I have an idea but I'd rather not put it on this pubic board. If you'd like, email me at grafixgirl@knology.net (I swear I'm not some psycho. I just like to help when I can – I hope!). I'd just rather do it privately, if ya don't mind.

Hi laralina
3.4.7 is out--maybe that will help. I had trouuble connecting today too--one ISP is trying to set their software to control p2p apps, and the other said the network is really slow while they sort out some major virus. Have you called your ISP and asked if they allow connections to the gnutella network?

Are you sharing at least a few files? Some people don't allow "freeloaders" to connect.

As for the firewall, I never used one on OS 8.6 or 9, and I usually don't have it on when in OSX. I probably should be more careful, but haven't been burned yet.

There are other p2p apps like poisoner, acquisition, myster, phex and probably others for OSX.

I tried myster long ago, but never went back. I liked and supported Acquisition (http://www.xlife.org/) for the way it used the LW core and gave it an OSX look, but there are problems there too now. One of my kids is using Poisoner, but I haven't . Phex has been recommended too.

Personally I just stick with LW. see http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=21443 or http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=21400
The jum builds for OSX are so easy--just drag to the apps folder, and they are usually pretty current.

Don't give up--the network changes so quickly that one day you have great connections, and sometimes very few. Tracking down the reason is tricky, though, but it sounds like you are working through the steps quite quickly.

Cheers