Sequential file downloads

Feature requests not specific to either the Mac OS X or GTK+ versions of Transmission
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mujimujimuji
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2015 10:03 pm

Sequential file downloads

Post by mujimujimuji »

I know this has been asked about chunks, but, i often end up unticking most files in a torrent and letting a few download at a time.

Simple version: download files alphabetically or by size
Extra credit: custom order I guess? Limit to X files downloading at a time?

Thanks for the great app.
aronstrandberg
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2015 10:22 am

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by aronstrandberg »

I agree, this would be so nice! Much easier to start watching early when downloading entire seasons.
tuxolero
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:05 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by tuxolero »

I think this is similar to Favor finishing files over beginning all files per torrent, except the ordering features you requested.
So, if the developers consider implementing this feature, they could include my request ... :D
hardy8888
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:11 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by hardy8888 »

tuxolero wrote:I think this is similar to Favor finishing files over beginning all files per torrent, except the ordering features you requested.
So, if the developers consider implementing this feature, they could include my request ... :D
put to this? viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12380&p=71968#p71968
tuxolero
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:05 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by tuxolero »

Well ... I'm not so interested in streaming, because I usually watch videos when I have all of a package. E.g. a complete season over a rainy weekend.
What I requested will only make a difference to me when all seeders are gone before downlaod is completed. With "my" feature, I would at least have some complete files instead of all files unusable. Then I could try and get the missing ones from somewhere else. And the fewer they are, the better.

Some background:
I'm a relatively new torrent user, so most of the torrents I'm interested in are quite old. It happens regularly that I have half-downloaded torrents and no seeding peers for several months (record is over a year and still waiting). Sometimes there are some peers that have the same percentage as me and obviously the same available blocks. And I'm running my PC 24/7 to ensure I don't miss a peer when it comes online.
hardy8888
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:11 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by hardy8888 »

Well
yes, streaming placed does it that you want with download not nothing if can not get block file block sequential. Files play start to solid end on incomplete. At least make usable
have some complete files instead of all files unusable
required the step two toggle as it leaves so as to stream some files and not others within a single torrent and also regular individual file priorities are still maintained.
http://sourceforge.net/p/transmissionda ... dc6d/#da45
tuxolero
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:05 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by tuxolero »

I was thinking about it again ... and I think there is one big difference between our requests:
Your request will probably degrade "torrent health" much more than mine.

How and Why ?

When people get the files in sequential order, the first ones are already seeded while the last ones still are downloading. I know that many people stop seeding at some specific ratio, let's say 5:1 or 10:1. Ratio is currently calculated for the whole torrent, not per file. This means you may get your ratio already fulfilled before the last file completes. If you stop seeding based on ratio, the last file is not seeded any more. You have all files, but the people that started after you will never get all files.
Kind of egoistic, isn't it ?
Even if not all people will stop seeding so soon, it is still very tempting to do so and many will.

As I have learned so far, this is the reason why blocks are downloaded in random order. It makes it much more likely that all leechers have different blocks available and in summary, all blocks are available, even when the original seeder disappears.

My request will affect this "torrent health" only very little, because I don't care about the file order. It's OK to start with any random file, but then prefer the blocks that belong to the same file (in any order, even random). This way, still every leecher gets different blocks (because they started with different random files) and in summary, all blocks are available, even when the original seeder and all of the "first generation" peers are gone.

BTW there is one more thing I have learned about streaming in between:
Unless the file format is specially made for streaming, most video players also need the last few KB of a file to start playing. This means, you need a special algorithm for the block order:
The first few blocks, then the last few blocks, then the rest sequentially.
recon
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:53 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by recon »

So far, the sequential order has not been rivaled. Therefore, I am forced to use Qbittorrent. But on my router is Transmission and there is no possibility to replace it. Had he been cursed. google translate.
hardy8888
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:11 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by hardy8888 »

It works https://github.com/cfpp2p/transmission/releases entware be my router by transmission-cfp
Patrick010
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2022 12:48 pm

Re: Sequential file downloads

Post by Patrick010 »

Replying to a 7 y/o topic isnt concidered good netiquette, but after 7 years sequential downloads still hasnt been implemented in Transmission???
Will this ever be done? just about every other torrent client has this (if not all of them)
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