Bubba's Winmx & Monitor's Idiots Guide to Trading!

Contributed to the forum on January 31, 2006 by a guest poster: Bubba.
Just want to say thanks to them for posting this and say that although we are unaware who the original author is of this one, there are many guides similar to this one floating around WinMX, this is a well done one. Great Job to the poster and author.

Posted by Bubba follows:
I got this from a guy in WinMX and I thought it might be of use. Naturally each person's own needs dictate the way they use WinMX and how they prefer to set it up, anyway I did find these tips valuable. Enjoy.


INTRODUCTION:

WinMX is a powerful P2P tool, one that allows its users a degree of options rarely seen in other P2P applications, something that becomes all the more true with the use of its excellent companion, MX Monitor. The good side of this is that people can set WinMX up to do things pretty much the way they need and want; the bad is that inexperienced or foolhardy users will quickly be overflooded by settings and options they don't understand, leading to much confusion and misunderstandings in the WinMX network between users.

This is a simple, basic configuration guide based on my own experiences over the years with using WinMX and its companion tool MX Monitor for the purpose of file trading, which hopefully will help you to sort out your difficulties and make your WinMX experience a better one (it may also get you off people's ban lists for a change Razz ).


WINMX SETTINGS -> QUEUING:

-Before anything else, turn the "When there are (...) change reported speed" option OFF. This is a vital step. Why ? Because if you let WinMX change your reported speed like this, your client will be considered by such tools as MXMonitor as a different user, and you will lose any trades in process with other people, likely ending up on their ignore lists as well.

-"Max Downloads per user": set it to 1 or 2 at most, depending on your specific needs. I would recommend 1 nevertheless. Why ? Because a) there's only so much bandwidth you can get from a user, and multiple transfers will only divide that bandwidth up and increase the overhead, as well as the chances of time outs and disconnections. And b) some people will ignore your username by default if you try to queue more than a few files simultaneously, others if the reported speed is "unknown". Finally, c) MXMonitor works on a file by file basis - more on that below.


MXMONITOR SETTINGS:

-"General" -> "Clear old ULs": set it to a number lower than 100. Why ? Because only if your queue is smaller than 100, will regular WinMX clients be able to enter it automatically, i.e. without the need for the user to be there and do it manually. This is crucial if, say, trading a series of smaller files via MXMonitor.

-Auto-UL: ENABLE "Auto-UL for trade", "while DL and RQ" (people whose queue you're on or who started you, will be started automatically) and "Unlimited UL 1 by 1 while DL". The latter is arguably the strong point of using MXMonitor. It will effectively enable you to trade any number of files sequentially with a user, each new files starting automatically after the previous one completed and dispensing with the need for you and the user on the other side to be there watching all the time. It also has the advantage of allowing a second chance for transfers which timed out. That's how P2P is supposed to work in the first place; the software does its job while the user is allowed to carry on with his life and come back by the end of the day to collect his files with a minimum hassle. If trust is an issue, keep reading.

-"Cancel UL unless DL gets started": I advise something between 30s up to 1-2 minutes, just enough time to allow the client on the other side to start you (automatically or manually) after you started him. If it doesn't, the transfer will be automatically stopped to avoid leeching.

- ..."And Ignore": DON'T use this. Why ? Because shit happens, transfers time out, people fuck up accidentally, and using ignore here will only cut off the chance of a successful trade after the first failure. Don't worry, if someone is trying to leech they'll give up after being automatically stopped 1 or 2 times by the previous option.

-"Auto-disconnect UL when DL is disconnected in trading": another useful security measure to avoid someone trying to rip you off. Anyone stopping your download after a trade has started will also be stopped automatically. One disadvantage is that a transfer which is interrupted simply because the file isn't complete at its source also triggers this option if enabled. Your call, coming down to circumstance and your specific needs.

-"Auto-disconnect by downloading/uploading speed": DON'T use this - it sucks. It may sound promising, but in the real world there are just too many factors making transfer speeds fluctuate, even if occasionally, which tends to ruin too many good trades simply because the speed became irregular for a brief moment.


GENERAL TIPS:

- DON'T use QuickMX. Not only this tool conflicts with MXMonitor and other tools, it also has a tremendously negative impact on the WinMX network as a whole due to the high amounts of stress it puts on primary servers with the bandwidth it steals on overhead and needless packet acknowledgement sends and receives with all those searches. The more than relative benefits of using this tool, if any, certainly don't even begin to make up for the trouble it causes. DON'T use it.

- Sometimes transfers time out when trying to start in WinMX, and get "stuck" when you retry the same file. One way around this that has often proven successful is to simply pick a different file and start it, wait for it to complete or cancel it, after which the original file should now start normally.

- Some people have experienced MXMonitor failing to do its thing on occasion, usually after long uninterrupted periods (days) of active usage and lots of settings fiddling. It often works simply to open the MXMonitor window (from the tray icon), click on the bolt button in the upper left corner to disable it and then click on it a second time to re-enable. This should effectively restart MXMonitor functions without having to restart the program itself.


FINAL NOTES:

Remember, WinMX is arguably the best P2P system out there, and packed together with MX Monitor it can truly deliver some impressive results. Like all versatile and complex systems, however, it wouldn't be of any use without a user inclined to use his intelligence and common sense to do things the logical way. I humbly hope this small text will be of help to achieve that goal. Welcome to the vast world of WinMX.