How to Bring Dead Torrents Back to Life

Written by enigmax on October 23, 2008 

Eventually, particularly when trying to download old torrents, most BitTorrent users find themselves with a transfer which stops due to the swarm having no seeds, not enough peers to cover the full release, or the tracker going down. btReAnnouncer is a handy site which could prove vital in reaching that magic 100%.

fixtorrent“I’m stuck at 49.1%, seed please!!” or similar comments are fairly commonplace on BitTorrent sites. Normally the case on older torrents, essentially all the full 100% seeds have gone, leaving people all stuck at the same amount completed. Without a seed reappearing, or many other users that between them have the remaining 50.9%, the download will not complete, which is pretty frustrating.

Of equal annoyance, is a new torrent which the user knows is well seeded, yet for one reason or another it is impossible to connect to the tracker in order to complete the download. Maybe the tracker has gone down or is simply too busy to accept the connection – either way, the download isn’t getting very far without it.

The good news is that with a little perseverance it’s possible to resurrect a seemingly moribund torrent. The key to bringing the torrent back to life is the hope that an identical release is available on another tracker, and in that swarm there are people that have enough data to complete the download. But how is it possible to find the same release on other trackers?

There are manual solutions involving Google, but quick and easy is my preferred method and btReAnnouncer offers just that. The site is really easy to use, so, although it is well seeded, here is a walk-through to find more trackers tracking Michael Moore’s ‘Official’ ‘Slacker Uprising’ torrent – the same technique can be used for any release, especially ones with tracker or seeding issues.

First of all I downloaded the .torrent file from The Pirate Bay onto my PC and uploaded it to btReAnnouncer. Within a few seconds the site displayed the current primary tracker – http://tracker.thepiratebay.org/announce. However, it also displayed a list of 17 other tracker URLs identified as tracking the same torrent – any one or combination of which could help you to complete a stubborn download. Note that it doesn’t make sense to add more than one tracker from the same url (e.g. thepiratebay.org) because they often track the same peers.

At this stage it is possible to select a new primary tracker for the torrent by ticking the checkbox and pushing the ‘ReAnnounce’ button. Then check any of the other trackers in the list to be used as an alternative and click ‘ReAnnounce’ again. To finish up and start downloading the .torrent, download it by clicking on the hyperlinked text underneath ‘Download ReAnnounced Torrent…’ and import it into your favorite client, not forgetting to point it at your previously incomplete download.

btReAnnouncer can also be used to find public sources for otherwise private torrents, just don’t forget to remove any passkeys etc from the announce URL in the torrent. If your BitTorrent client doesn’t allow you to edit or add trackers manually, this can be achieved by using another online service, TorrentEditor.

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39 Responses

1 Oct 23, 2008 at 13:56 by word

cooolios.. i usually just copy the tracker list from torrentz.. that always does the trick.

I will interested to see if this actuley helps me out in a pinch.

2 Oct 23, 2008 at 14:02 by srsly..

who the f*ck is in that picture…

looks like a doctor doin a ‘lean back’.

im startin to wonder where torrentfreak gets some of its pictures sometimes.. remember that incredibly stupid symbol they had for that RIAA website.. looked like a batman symbol with STOP signs in the corners..

3 Oct 23, 2008 at 14:47 by eMule

If a download is stuck on BitTorrent, I search for the file on eMule, and import the data I already have, and after I finish the download on eMule I put the file back on the torrent, so the other leechers can complete that download. And I hope that the torrent will be seeded for a long time.

4 Oct 23, 2008 at 14:48 by Viper007Bond

This has been possible via Mininova for like… ever.

Just click on “Or search for similar torrents.” and it’ll list all torrents on Mininova with the same hash.

5 Oct 23, 2008 at 16:04 by Jim Jones

heck yeah, CPR! Break out the resuscitator! Paddles, Clearr…..

http://www.online-privacy.cz.tc

6 Oct 23, 2008 at 16:09 by Never Forget

10-23-2007 – RIP OiNK

7 Oct 23, 2008 at 16:21 by Crandom

An easier solution – go to:

http://torrentz.com/

Where is the hash code of the torrent. For example, the new Ubuntu intrepid beta release has a has of 8599E88273A4D84A74B21A32770DAA53F39F9D9D. Put this into torrentz and get:

http://torrentz.com/8599E88273A4D84A74B21A32770DAA53F39F9D9D

And you have 2 extra trackers, perhaps with 100% seeds on them! Most torrents have about 8 extra trackers on them.

8 Oct 23, 2008 at 16:29 by pink panther

Does this ReWhatever actually DO ANYTHING? Does it bring bits back out of the bit bucket? Sounds like it’s just a forum post dressed up in new clothes. Surely anyone would search for similar torrents to begin with — only then despair and start begging for reseeds.

9 Oct 23, 2008 at 16:45 by Comeoncomcast

Torrentz

Click here to see the list of compatible utorrent trackers

10 Oct 23, 2008 at 16:53 by Anonymous

If you got your torrent from a metasite, they usually collate the trackers into their torrent anyway.
(Torrentz doesn’t, and even its tracker list tends to be shorter than other sources, which is why I tend not to use it)
Besides which, DHT will usually find peers if they’re not on the same tracker, if it doesn’t there probably aren’t any on other trackers. (unless they’re private ones)

11 Oct 23, 2008 at 16:58 by www.eZee.se

Heh I actually like the doctors pic and i think it kind of fits this post, but thats just me.

I generally use the google option but will check this out, thanks!

Main problem is when something is not that popular (ie only upped to one place) or when you dont have access to the file anymore.
Example, something i really wanted got deleted off demoniod, i am pretty sure it alive via dht but i dont have access to the actual torrent anymore because even clicking on google’s cache is then asking the demoniod program to pass the .torrent to me but it responds by “torrent removed”.

Any ideas from anyone here would be appreciated but I think in this case… its truly dead. As dead as nearly all ideas the RIAA/MAFIAA have :D

Cheers!
http://www.eZee.se

12 Oct 23, 2008 at 17:14 by Ali

I wrote a little PHP script to pull the tracker from both Isohunt and Torrentz:
http://www.diggering.co.uk/hashfind/v2/
Using uTorrent, it’s just a case of pasting in the new list.

13 Oct 23, 2008 at 17:29 by Anonymous

Ali, pretty neat php script!

14 Oct 23, 2008 at 18:48 by dfsfsdfsdfds

don’t people already try to add trackers to the list to build seeds?

Since I have joined private sites. Guess how many unseeded or fake files I have been stuck with.

NONE,,, Public for the lose.

15 Oct 23, 2008 at 19:19 by NdtA

@13 I’m only using public trackers, guess how many unseeded or fake files I’ve been stuck with … NONE! That’s only a problem when you’re a complete idiot without common sense and reading ability (like 70% of the internet)

16 Oct 23, 2008 at 19:37 by Troc Ster

Hmm why bother, if its rare file, you know you are better of starting the dl in (e|a)Mule

17 Oct 23, 2008 at 19:39 by Anonymous

Finding 1,000 trackers would be pointless, if no-one is seeding.

DHT is your friend. Enable it… in your torrents *and* your client.

18 Oct 23, 2008 at 20:45 by loool

ahahaha nice one #14..

although I would have no been so mean.. it is true, people think public is sooo bad..

read comments, check for known uploaders, check file contents, use common sense (No an entire DVD cannot be 100 meg)

19 Oct 23, 2008 at 20:51 by ha

This is one of the advantages of leaving dht enabled.

20 Oct 23, 2008 at 21:01 by Anonymous

@14 and 18

Perhaps you remember when Demonoid went down, and their ‘private’ torrents (read – internally tracked) ceased to function. It wouldn’t matter how many other trackers carry the same torrent file (isohunt, mininova, pirate bay, etc), if the tracker that is actually tracking it goes down.

DHT = trackerless torrents, which allows the client to use torrents that do not have a working tracker.

21 Oct 23, 2008 at 21:57 by ha

Demonoid tracked torrents contunued to work well after the site and tracker went offline. Only private flag torrents would be literaly dead should the tracker stop responding. As that is not a requirement on Demonoid, the majority of their torrents did not carry the private flag and peers were still accessible via dht or the other trackers on those torents. DHT is not only for trackerless torrents but also for connecting peers from different trackers or where there is a tracker but it is unavailable (provided the torrent does not carry the private flag).

22 Oct 23, 2008 at 22:10 by Kos

That’s why it’s important to have dht and peer exhange activated on all torrents. It could really help you out if you’re in a pinch.

23 Oct 23, 2008 at 23:23 by t0rr3ntm4st4

You all suck, PIZZATORRENT.com indexes all of your lame sites. That’s right, you suck!

24 Oct 24, 2008 at 02:39 by NastyBedazzler

I heard the new Max Payne movie sucked so I don’t think I’m going to pay to see it. I did pay to see W. though and was quite surprised by how much I liked it.

#23: I enjoyed the IN YOUR FACE attitude so much I visited your stupid website… hahaha just kidding you suck.

25 Oct 24, 2008 at 06:13 by Anonymous

Stuck torrents may now be a more common problem, since ThePirateBay plans to remove secondary (backup) trackers from torrents.

26 Oct 24, 2008 at 06:50 by benjamin franklin

14 dfsfsdfsdfds: omg i’m on a private tracker!111

gtfo moron

27 Oct 24, 2008 at 07:22 by Kos

t0rr3ntm4st4:
There’s tons on lame indexing sites out there, pizzatorrent is on of them.

28 Oct 24, 2008 at 11:55 by ano2

I’d agree with the some others here. Search for the file on a donkey network instead.

donkey/emule/etc. is a lot slower than bittorent, but files doesn’t disappear as fast there.

29 Oct 24, 2008 at 11:56 by Jasper van Weerd

Assuming this is great, the coutermessures of TBP to get rid of fake trackers is then back to square 1. Since all anti-piracy outfits can register on this kind of sites with their trackers, without me knowing about it.

30 Oct 24, 2008 at 13:18 by utorrent - fuck yeah

DHT usually takes care of that anyway without having to do anything.

31 Oct 24, 2008 at 18:37 by Me

The last step, and as important as the rest, is to seed your now-completed file so that the other schmucks sitting at 49.1% can finally finish it.

32 Oct 25, 2008 at 03:29 by Pipe

I just use torrentz to find the other trackers then manually add them to a torrent.

http://friendshares.org/8

33 Oct 25, 2008 at 05:39 by Anonymous

@ No. 2

the lean back with deffibrillators? (if thats how its spelt)

and the purple hatty thing, is that the old bit torrent icon? lol

34 Oct 25, 2008 at 11:48 by Annoy

simple to way to stop this from happening is use private trackers where you connect to ppl to seed for ages and have proper connections like 100mbit or 1gbit stupid n00b ass public trackers

35 Oct 25, 2008 at 21:20 by Anonymous

ktorrent shows multiple trackers, but when my balls are flapping in the breeze at 99%, no help seems to arrive. then i stumble upon it on rapidshare and realize how much time i’ve wasted.

36 Oct 25, 2008 at 21:21 by dwpbike

oops, didn’t intend to be anonymous in previous post

37 Oct 25, 2008 at 21:25 by dwpbike

@ 36: private trackers don’t carry the shit i listen to, and if i could afford t1 circuit, would i be here?

38 Oct 30, 2008 at 18:02 by web

In other words, you can’t bring it back to life.

39 Jan 20, 2009 at 10:31 by subzero

I think its "toasty" from mortal kombat, he appears everywhere on the internet..

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