LimeWire 2.8.5 PRO - things to be sorted out

[webby0407]

I've been using LimeWire 2.8.5 Pro for a few days now and it looks like there are a lot of issues with this version; if somebody has similar experiences or knows a solution to some of the issues, pls. post here to get some pressure to get things fixed.

I'm using a ADSL connection, W2k up to the latest service level, PIII-700MHz with 512 Mb RAM. A few Gb of diskspace available.

1. Very instable downloads AND uploads

The connections seem to get constantly lost. When I start downloading a file (assuming the download starts) the speed drops until it becomes 0, and the status column indicates downloading from 0 hosts. For a number of times, the download will reconnect (at the initial speed) and the whole cycle starts over again. The download host is always the same - i.e. has the same ip address. When there are multiple hosts to download the file, both of them have the same behaviour.

2. Limewire crashes

I've had several occasions the last 2-3 days where the software crashes and LimeWire asks me to send a bug report. It claims it can continue, but at least the GUI seems to hang.
After forwarding one of the bugs to limewire, I get a notification that 2.8.5 is a "buggy version of LimeWire that requires change. Please visit the LimeWire download page and switch to the current version. This may involve a rollback to version 2.7.13" unquote. Note that the pro download pages only contain 2.8.5...

3. Can not move file to library

There are a lot of posts about this problem, and a lot of the files I tried to download are stuck with this problem. It also happens with files that are not completely downloaded yet (so why is it trying to move the software to the library in the first place??). The filenames do not contain 'illegal' characters - as a proof, the same file can happily be copied from a dos-prompt. I guess it has to do with the (incomplete) file still being locked by a download process??

4. Slower downloads

I know from some of the other replies that the last version has a new and improved download capability, but the downloads are a lot slower in the last version. I know that performance is related to the overall state of the network, but statistics start to be on my side if I look at the download performance over the last days...

Looking at these 4 points, and keeping in mind the purpose why the product LimeWire exists, a lot of people could draw the conclusion that it is time to swap p2p software provider. However, some of the latest features are really good and it looks like this piece of software is heading in the right direction in terms of functionality (hence why I became a pro user...), but this kind of issues will have to disappear in the very near future.

If more details are needed about the problems, feel free to drop me a mail or reply to this message.

Werner.

[trap_jaw]

1) is caused by a new feature that should help swarming. As a negative side effect it makes downloading from clients with buggy http11 support (this seems to include LimeWire) almost impossible.

2) Maybe you could post the error message here, so I could tell you what's causing it.

3) It's been a problem for ages and it's caused by illegal characters in the file name. A way to fix this (at least partially) is to add '\' , ';' and whatever characters your OS doesn't like to the ignored keywords list in the options.

4) I don't see slower downloads in general. However download reliability is reduced because of 1)

[Norm]

Werner:

I am also using 2.8.5 Pro on DSL.

I have been struggling with the same issues. especially the disconnects, reconnects and "recoverable" crashes.

I notice the progress screens for uploads and downloads does not refresh until you switch the view to them. This was probably done to save resources but I also notice that the refresh process seems to increase the crashes.

I reported the issues to Limewire and also in the beta area of the forums a couple days ago. Like you after reporting to Limewire I was advised that 2.8.5 is buggy. The strange thing is it is still offered as the current upload.

I am a strong Limewire fan and would not consider switching back to others unless things get a lot worse & even then I would probably just roll back. I have tried several other programs with less success then Limewire. Even my buggy version still functions better then most of the other P2P programs at their best.

I have noticed a couple things -

1. The crashes seem to occur more frequently after a "refresh" of the shared directories or switching between the upload and download screens which creates a refresh of the progress bars.

2. The "can not move to library" errors seem to be related to what Limewire percieves as a corrupt file. I have found, at least in previous versions, that Limewire can not properly determine if a file is corrupt.

3. This version seems to rehash every download on completion with no better success at determining the validity of the file then previous versions.

Personally, I will live with it a couple more days and wait for 2.8.6 to resolve the issues or if it doesn't appear I may roll back to 2.7.13 which was working well for me. When you play with a beta you get burned on occasion. That is part of the process and I will live with it.

Norm

[webby0407]

Thanks for some of the clarifications.

In the meantime, I reverted back to v2.7.3, which I found on a backup from a few weeks ago. This seems to make at least the crashes and download problems go away (if I'm not downloading from somebody with 2.8.5).

Some more info - in case somebody wants to start fixing things

* The can't move to library is definitly not due to invalid characters. It seems that the files are not completly downloaded - when you have the error, go to your partial download folder and click 'resume'. This will bring a new entry in the download screen that continues downloading... After a few 'restarts' with continued download, the file was moved to the library without any problem... (with the same name). Note that the filesize will not change immediatly after resuming the download, it seems that the resume does not start exactly at the last point from the previous download.



I think LimeWire should put a warning in these forums to stop using 2.8.5 and revert back to an older, working version. By trying to save their face (and not putting an official posting), they are harming the whole 'gnutella' community by putting a lot of instable copies out there. Not really professional from a company that tries to shape the future in this area...

Werner.

[rutro]

Originally posted by webby0407
...I think LimeWire should put a warning in these forums to stop using 2.8.5 and revert back to an older, working version. By trying to save their face (and not putting an official posting), they are harming the whole 'gnutella' community by putting a lot of instable copies out there. Not really professional from a company that tries to shape the future in this area...

I agree with you! I truly thought by this time LimeWire would have released 2.8.6 to correct the numerous bugs in 2.8.5, or would have officially directed us to rollback to 2.7.13!

The "could not move to library" bug gave me problems before 2.8.5, but in this latest version, it has basically ensured that I can't download any file over about 15mb. In my case, this is definitely not due to "illegal characters", as none of the countless files that I have attempted to download contain these characters.

I also find that downloads are now generally are slower, and connections are less reliable, not to mention countless "recoverable" software crashes, which I have never seen before in my life.

I'm not about to change my choice of client software, but this is only because choices for OS X are pretty limited, and the alternatives I have tried have seemed a waste of time. (If anyone does know of any viable alternatives for OS X, let me know)

Although I'm sure these are just small kinks that will be ironed out over time, they leave me feeling incredibly frustrated.
Does anyone know where I can get a 2.7-ish installer?