FAQ

General

It crashes / I want to report a bug / I want to request a feature, where do I go?

Go to http://bugs.kde.org/ and report/request it. If you report a bug involving problems with a torrent, include the torrent file, a link to it, or send it in an e-mail.

If you get an error message that the tracker is down, do not report it, this is beyond the developers' control. Most likely somebody else's server is down, or the tracker just isn't there anymore.

How do I get support?

Go to the KTorrent forums or go to the irc channel at #ktorrent on irc.freenode.org.

How can you contact the KTorrent developers?

Go to our forum. Alternatively you can send an e-mail to joris DOT guisson AT gmail DOT com or joris AT ktorrent DOT org.

Installing and Downloading

How do I get the latest code ?

First, make sure you have git installed. (It's probably in your distro's package system, named "git" or "git-core".) Then, execute the following commands (replace localdir with where you want it on your system):

cd localdir
git clone git://anongit.kde.org/libktorrent 
git clone git://anongit.kde.org/ktorrent

This will result in a git repository will all branches and all tags of every release of ktorrent and libktorrent.

You can browse the latest code online at http://gitweb.kde.org/ktorrent.git and http://gitweb.kde.org/libktorrent.git respectively.

How do I compile KTorrent?

To compile KTorrent:

For both ktorrent and libktorrent you need to do this:

cd directory_where_source_code_is
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$(kde4-config --prefix) ..
make
sudo make install

It is important that libktorrent is build first.

From the forum post: [1] And specific to KT 3.3.4 and ubuntu:

tar -xvjf ktorrent-3.3.4.tar.bz2
sudo apt-get build-dep ktorrent
cd ktorrent-3.3.4
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$(kde4-config --prefix)
make
sudo make install

Compile Errors

See the separate page Compile_Errors for how to fix some common problems with CMake.

I want to compile the latest trunk, on what packages does KTorrent depend?

build-essential kdesdk kdelibs5-dev libqca2-dev libgmp3-dev subversion cmake automoc kdebase-workspace-dev libboost-dev kdepimlibs5-dev libtag1-dev python-kde4 kdelibs5-dev libgeoip-dev

Ubuntu

This is how the packages are named under Ubuntu, so they could have another name under your distribution. For APT-based package systems, you can probably pull in what you need with just

apt-get build-dep ktorrent

Additional info from forum thread: [2] , relating to 3.3.4, package dependencies are :

cmake
Qt development packages
KDE development packages
taglib development packages
libgmp development packages
libqca2 development packages
libgcrypt development packages
boost development packages
KDE pim libraries development packages

Mandriva

The Mandriva equivalent commands (urpmi based systems) should be :

urpmi --buildrequires ktorrent

but isn't? See same forum thread above. Mandriva also supports regular RPM commands.

Update: For Mandriva you can install the meta packages "task-kde" and "task-kde4-devel" which should pull in everything needed.

CentOS

CentOS 6.2:

yum install cmake

yum install kdesdk

Installed:

 kdesdk.x86_64 0:4.3.4-4.el6                                                                                        

Dependency Installed:

 kdesdk-libs.x86_64 0:4.3.4-4.el6     kdesdk-utils.x86_64 0:4.3.4-4.el6       kross-python.x86_64 0:4.3.4-5.el6    
 perl-XML-DOM.noarch 0:1.44-7.el6     perl-XML-RegExp.noarch 0:0.03-7.el6    

yum install automoc

How can I get the KDE3 version?

The KDE3 version is no longer being actively developed, it is recommended that you upgrade to the KDE4 version.

To get the code of the KDE3 version, do this:

svn co svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/extragear/kde3/network/ktorrent
cd ktorrent
svn co svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/KDE/3.5/kde-common/admin/
svn cat svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/extragear/kde3/network/Makefile.cvs > Makefile.cvs

To compile it:

make -f Makefile.cvs
./configure
make

Features

Does KTorrent support magnet links?

Yes, magnet links are supported since KTorrent 4.0.

How do I register the magnet protocol with Ubuntu?

Put the following lines in the terminal:

gconftool-2 -t string -s /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/magnet/command "/usr/bin/ktorrent %s"
gconftool-2 -s /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/magnet/needs_terminal false -t bool
gconftool-2 -t bool -s /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/magnet/enabled true

What is a difference between "Stop", "Pause" and "Suspend"?

• "Stop" will cause all peer connections of a torrent to be closed, tracker(s) is told torrent have been stopped. Torrents will be stopped until you manually start them.
• "Pause" will keep all peer connections open and tracker(s) is told nothing, but ktorrent will not download or upload anything. Torrents will be paused until you manually start them or restart ktorrent.
• "Suspend" will stop all running torrents, while "Resume" will start suspended torrents (i.e. if you have put some torrents on stop manually, then resume will not start them).

Problem solving

My network starts out fine, but after running KTorrent for a while my network turn to sludge!

Your torrents are probably taking up all the connection slots in your router.

General solutions

On your router:

• Enable Quality-of-Service (QoS), setting BitTorrent traffic to below-standard rates
• Enable TCP Vegas (assuming your router & firmware support it)

In your router's Connections section set:

• TCP Timeout
  • Time Wait: 45 sec
  • SYN Sent: 120 sec
• UDP Timeout
  • Unreplied: 30 sec

In KTorrent: Settings > Configure KTorrent > Network:

• Maximum connections per torrent: 10

In KTorrent: Settings > Configure KTorrent > BitTorrent:

• Uncheck "Use DHT to get additional peers". (This will sacrifice some peers for more bandwidth.)
• Check "Use protocol encryption"
• Uncheck "Allow unencrypted connections"

Linksys (low-end router) solutions

• Use a firmware replacement such as Tomato or DD-WRT

In KTorrent:

• Cap global connection limit to approx. 200
• Set "maximum downloads" plus "maximum seeds" between 15 and 25
• Set "maximum connections per torrent" to between 8 and 16

Example:

• Maximum downloads: 16
• Maximum seeds: 4
• Maximum connections per torrent: 10 (20 x 10 = 200)

Specific router list for this section:

• Linksys WRT54G/GS/GL