thanks for that. sorry that i interrupted the thread.

i think that you should not get too far off the topic.

trapjaw, or anyone else. I read that in order to do successful pushes, you have to "forward your NAT". What is this? How can I do it?

LW 2.9.11. I'm a UP. Mac G4 DP 1.25 Ghz. OSX.2.6. Cable modem on this computer connected to a 2wire router.

What brand router? The router needs to allow Port 6346 ("mapped"/"forwarded"), at least. Do other computers connect to the modem too?
Then there's the OSX firewall (System Preferences->Sharing->Firewall->Other->Gnutella/Limewire (6346)--or risk leaving it off altogether.
Then there's the Limewire Prefs->Advanced->Firewalls->Force IP [add the external static IP assigned by your ISP, not the internal IP of your Local Area Network].

[edit: the following is no longer relevant: If your ISP connects you with an IP that changes (DHCP--dynamic host connection protocol), you'll have to find a way to check what IP the outside world sees every time you connect. This is something that is difficult to describe from here--perhaps your ISP can help you to find what your external IP is and how often it changes. If you connect via DHCP, you're better off forgetting about using the "forced IP" setting. ]

Running LW 2.9.11, OS 10.2.6, and with "FORCE IP" checked, whenever I crank up this puppy, LW autoloads the new IP that my ISP is dishing out. I'm on a RoadRunner cable and using DHCP: they change the router evertime I power down/up. Same thing when I land line dialup (after changing some settings, of course) with Earthlink.

I go to "http://www.whatismyip.com" and that way, I know what my true IP is, looking from the outside, in. LW makes the change for me automatically, when I have Force IP checked, and it is always right. However, I might know just enough to get myself in trouble. I've learned to leave LW running several hours, not just power on for a little while. I've also learned to "remove" some connections in the connections screen, if nothing much is happening in sufficient time, and new ones will be assigned. Hope this helps.

Thanks NoKaOi for pointing out that LW now implements the auto-enter IP feature. Acq. has been doing this for many versions. Do you just check the option to force IP and leave the IP entry box blank? I'm on a static IP.

Stief, the brand router is a "2wire" router called a Homeportal 100S. I already had the firewall disabled for gnutella ports. Yes, other people connect via the router (which is HPNA, if that matters) to the internet, but not to LW. Do I need some sort of utility to "map" the Gnutella port is the router?

It should be also noted that I force my IP and LW auto enters the correct IP address even if it changes, as I do connect via DHCP. But it should also be noted that my computer usually stays on for days before a restart. And my cable modem, which is assigned the IP, never goes off. So although the IP isn't a static IP persay, I never turn it off, so more or less it functions as a static IP.

Looks like your 2Wire is configured through a browser.
According to http://www.2wire.com/home/hp_index.html#installation
Somewhere you should see something to do with port mapping.
I'm way out of my league here--but hopes this helps you get started.

Sweet! I found those homeportal settings, and told it to allow the gnutella ports through to my computer. Before, about 1/3 to 1/2 of all my ULs were not successful, but now, all of them have been (there've been about a dozen since I fixed my settings) successful. This is fantastic. Thank you very much.

Once I had downloaded LimeWire, I started dowloading songs. But once a song was dowloaded, and I tried to play it, it wouldn't play. It will only let me play one song. How do I get it so that I can hear every song.