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Direct Connect (RushTrader’s Hub)
Perhaps the fastest and most efficient way to start and build a collection of Rush ROIO is by downloading shows using the “Direct Connect” method. This is a protocol that enables your computer to connect directly with others that are connected to the internet. The first thing that you will do is connect your computer to a central “hub”. This hub does not actually store any files, but rather acts as a conduit that allows you to connect directly with other computers that are also connected to the hub. You can then browse, search for, and download files that are being shared by the other connected computers……and they can download from you. Don’t worry, you specifically define the files that you will be sharing, and other parts of your computer and hard drive are not accessible. There are numerous hubs accessible through the internet, but this tutorial will focus on one that is dedicated specifically to Rush ROIO. Before you read any further, there are a few points that you should consider before you decide to use this method: 1) You must have a reasonably
fast internet connection if you want to use this method. Don’t consider
using this if you only have a dial-up phone connection. All of the files
are quite large, and it will take far too long to download if you have a
slow connection. You would be much better off using snail mail trades if
you are on dial-up (see the B&P and Cascade sections of this site for more
suitable methods). 3) You should have a reasonable amount of hard drive space available to store the shows that you will be downloading/sharing. We would suggest an absolute minimum of about 5 gigabytes of spare hard drive space to work with, and you will see that most people are sharing far more than that. 4) If you are not familiar with downloading and converting music files, you will need to spend a fair bit of time reading up on these topics. This tutorial will give you the basics of getting started, but there is a substantial amount of external information that you will also need to spend time reading. If you are comfortable with the above four points, then the rest of this tutorial will help you to get set up on the RushTrader’s Hub. This will take you step-by-step through the process of setting up your computer, getting connected, downloading and sharing some files, and finally…..listening to some great music! Here is a summary of the main topics that will be discussed: 1) Understanding the rules and registration at the Rush Hub. 2) Setting up your computer for Direct Connect. 3) Connecting to the Rush Hub. 4) Downloading, verifying your files, and sharing. 5) Converting and listening to your music. Note that this tutorial is intended to be a basic introduction about how to get started for Windows users. Once you have gotten connected, or if you run into any technical difficulties while trying to get connected, please refer to the extensive DC FAQ at http://rush.daneck.com (look for the DC FAQ link on the left hand side of the page). This likely will have the answer to any of your questions, so please refer to it before asking for help on the hub. However, if you cannot find an answer after an extensive search through the FAQ, please feel free to ask questions on the hub. People will be very willing to help you out, as long as you have put in some effort beforehand to learn about the system. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Understanding the Rules and Registration at the Rush Hub The first step in this process is to FULLY UNDERSTAND THE RULES and register for a free Rush Hub account. Go to this webpage ( http://www.rushdchub.com ) and read the rules carefully. If you do not understand some of the rules, then read through this tutorial and our FAQ page. Most of your questions should be answered within these pages. Once you understand the rule, then click on the e-mail button at the bottom of the above webpage and write a short note saying that you will abide by the rules and would like to join the Rush Hub. You should be contacted shortly thereafter with further registration instructions. 2. Setting up Your Computer for Direct Connect 2.1 SET UP DEDICATED FOLDERS: The first thing that you should do is set up some dedicated folders on your computer for your Direct Connect activities. Set up a file folder named “Direct Connect” on your hard drive. Next, open the Direct Connect folder and create four new folders as shown below:
2.2 SET UP REQUIRED PROGRAMS: Next you need to download and install some programs. There are two essential programs, one for enabling Direct Connect and one for verifying and converting your music files. 2.2.1 Direct Connect Program (Required) First you will need a Direct Connect program that actually lets you connect to the hub and to other computers. There are a number of these programs available, but this tutorial will describe the use of a free program called “DC++”. Go to this website http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/, click on the ‘Download’ link at the top of the page, then click on the program named “DC++ v0.xxx (Installer)” (xxx is the version number). This will redirect you to a download page, and you can click on the download link beside any of the hosts on this page. Choose “Save” and direct it to save in the “C:\Direct Connect\Program Files” folder that you just set up on your hard drive. In this folder, you should now see a program called “DCPlusPlus-0.xxx.exe” (xxx is the version number of the program). Double click on this program file, and follow the instructions for installation on your computer. 2.2.2 SHN Checking and Conversion Program (Required) You will be downloading music files that are in a format called SHN (stands for “shorten”) which is a “lossless compression” format. Basically this means that the music file has been shrunk down from its original size to enable faster downloading. The term “lossless” means that information is not lost and the sound quality of the music is not degraded during the compression process. MP3 is a compression format that you are probably more aware of, but it is NOT a lossless compression technique. File information is lost and sound quality IS degraded by MP3 compression. This is the reason for the “no MP3” rule on the hub. A full discussion of compression formats will be included on Rushboots.com in the future, but you can find more details about SHN at this website (http://userpages.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnfaq.html). Details about why MP3 is bad (and therefore not tolerated on the hub) can be found at this website (http://rush.daneck.com/bad_mp3.htm). You are going to need a program that checks the integrity of your downloaded SHN files, and that can convert them into WAV format for listening and making CD’s. There are a number of different programs and methods available for working with SHN files, but this tutorial will describe the use of the free “MKW Audio Compression tool (mkwACT)”. Go to the Etree mkwACT page at http://www.etree.org/mkw.html#intro , and follow the excellent step-by-step instructions for installing this application. Note: There are other lossless compression formats (e.g., FLAC and APE) that you may come across, but the majority of files on Rushtrader’s Hub are SHN. These other formats will be discussed in another section of Rushboots.com, but you can easily find further information by doing a Google search. 2.3 DETERMINE YOUR “ACTIVE MODE” SETTINGS: There are two “modes” that you can use when connecting to the hub: Active and Passive. You may want to start out using Passive Mode, because it is more straightforward. If you choose this option, you can skip the rest of this section and move on to Section 4. Just make sure that you select “Passive Mode” when setting up the DC++ settings, as described in Section 4.2. Your hub connections will be limited if you choose to use Passive Mode, because you will not be able to connect with anyone else who is set up in Passive Mode. You should eventually set your computer up to connect using Active Mode, and then you will be able to connect with all other users. This will require some additional information and configuration that will be described in the following sections. 2.3.1 Determine your external IP address by going to this site (http://www.dslreports.com/ip). It will tell you: “The IP that just fetched this page is xx.xx.xxx.xx” (Example: The IP that just fetched this page is 13.12.254.79). Write this number down, it is your external IP address and it will be entered into the DC++ programs settings (see Section 4.2). 2.3.2 Determine your local IP address. If you are running Windows XP or 2000, click START then click RUN then type “cmd /k ipconfig /all” (without the quotation marks). If you are running Windows 9x, click START then click RUN then type “winipcfg” (without the quotation marks). Look for something that says “IP Address……xx.x.xx.xxx” (Example: IP Address…….13.2.47.122). Write this number down, it is your local IP address. If you are using a router, you will input this number into the Port Forwarding settings (see Section 3.3.4). 2.3.3 You need to choose a “port”on your computer to which information from the hub will be sent. Choose any number between 1024 to 65535. This number will be entered into your DC++ program settings (see Section 4.2). If you are using a router, you will also input this number into the Port Forwarding settings (see Section 3.3.4). 2.3.4 If you are using a router or firewall, you will need to set them up appropriately to allow communication with other computers on the hub. For details about configuring a number of different firewalls and routers, refer to the “Connections” section of the DC FAQ described previously (http://rush.daneck.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PostWrap&file=index&page=/faq/index.php). 2.3.5 If you are using Windows XP, you must disable the built-in firewall as shown at this website (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/learnmore/icf.mspx ). If you must use the firewall, then follow the instructions at this website (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308127 ). Follow these step-by-step instructions to configure the DC++ program and connect to the Rush Hub: 3.1 LOAD THE DC++ PROGRAM: Locate the “DCPlusPlus.exe” program file on your hard drive. The default location will be in the folder “C:\Program Files\DC++”, unless you specified otherwise during program installation. You may want to create a shortcut to this program on your desktop, because you will probably be using it very often! (Right click file>Create Shortcut>Drag the shortcut to your desktop). Start the “DCPlusPlus.exe” program by double clicking on the file or the shortcut that you created. You will see the following screen:
3.2 SELECT DC++ SETTINGS: If the Settings box does not appear when you start the program, click Files then Settings in the menu bar. Click through the different setting options (left hand column) and fill in the information as shown in the following pictures. When everything has been filled in as shown, click OK:
3.3 CONFIGURE THE RUSH HUB ADDRESS: Click on the yellow “Favorite Hubs” button that is shaped like a star. Click on the “New” button and fill in the details as shown in the picture below. The address for the Rush Hub is lossless.rushdchub.com, and the Nick and Password boxes should be filled in with the information that was sent in your confirmation e-mail from the registration process above.
3.4 LOGIN TO THE HUB: The Rush Hub name should now appear on your favorite’s list as shown in the picture below. Simply double click on the link, and you should connect to the hub. If you do not connect, go back an double check all of the steps that you went through and consult with the DC FAQ at http://rush.daneck.com . Some simple things to double check: the address, nick, and password that you input in the previous step, the router and/or firewall settings if you are using them (try using Passive Mode setting in the connection settings if you are having problems with Active Mode).
3.5 INTRODUCE YOURSELF: If everything is correctly set up, you should now be connected and see a screen similar to the one below. Labels have been added to the picture to illustrate the different areas on the screen. You will notice in the chat window that ^Cygnus^ will say: “<Your name> has entered the hub with nothing shared. Please start sharing immediately or leave.”. Don’t be alarmed, as this is an automated message and nothing bad is going to happen to you. The first thing that you should do at this point is introduce yourself. Write a short note that says something like this: “Hi there, I’m new to trading and don’t have anything to share yet. I’m just going to download my first show and start sharing it ASAP. Thanks!!”.
4. Downloading, Verifying, and Sharing Shows Now you are ready to download your first show! If you don’t know what show to start with, choose one from the Rushboots.com list of “Suggested Boots for Beginners” (most of these should be available on the hub). 4.1 DOWNLOAD A SHOW: Click on the Search button and the search screen will appear. Enter the date or a portion of the show title in the search box, and press enter (Note: the usual date convention is YEAR-MONTH-DAY, e.g., 2004-04-04). A listing of matches to your search should appear in the right hand window, as shown in the picture below. Look for a folder that has the date and title of your desired show, along with a user who has available upload slots (e.g., if the slots column indicates 0/4, this means that the person allows four people to download from them at once, but there are currently no slots open). When you find the appropriate file, right click and select download. The download should now be indicated at the bottom of your screen.
4.2 DOWNLOAD FROM MULTPLE SOURCES: Usually more than one online user has a copy of the show that you are downloading, so you can download different files of the show from different people. Click on the “Download Queue” button at the top of the screen, and a new window will open. Click on the folder for the show you are downloading, and you will see a list of the separate files that need to be downloaded for this show. Right click on one of these files and click “Search for Alternates”. You will then begin downloading the file from any other person that has this show and an open slot.
· Note that the download speed will be different for every user and it depends on your connection speed as well as that of the person that you are downloading from. It is common to see download speeds in the range between 5 and 30 kB/s. Speeds lower than this are pretty slow, while you should be very happy anything higher speed than this (the fastest that I have seen so far is 130 kB/s….and no, I’m not going to tell you who I was downloading from to achieve this speed :-). The amount of time required to download a show will depend on how many files there are and the download speeds that you can achieve……anywhere from hours to days. Just minimize the DC++ window and let it go. Many users leave their hub connection running 24/7. 4.3 VERIFY DOWNLOAD: The download is complete when the folders disappear from the “Download Queue” screen that you accessed in the last step. Open up the Hub Shared folder that you set up on your hard drive, and it should now contain a new folder that contains your show. The first thing you must do is verify that the download proceeded properly. Open up the folder that you just downloaded, and it should look similar to the picture below.
· All shows on the hub should include an “MD5” file such as the one indicated above (if there is no MD5 file, then DO NOT share the show on the hub). This file contains information about the music files that you downloaded, and it is used to verify that there were no problems encountered during the download process. Double click on this file and the mkwACT program will startup automatically and verify the files that you downloaded (make sure you repeat this step for every MD5 file that is included with the show that you downloaded – usually one per disc).
· When the program has scanned all of the SHN files, it will tell you whether or not the files downloaded properly. Usually there is no problem with the download, and you will receive a message similar to the one shown below (the important parts are circled in red). If you receive this message for all of the MD5 files included with your show, then the download worked properly and you can skip ahead to Section 5.4.
· Occasionally a problem will be identified by the verification program (see example below). If you receive an error message, DO NOT PLACE THIS SHOW IN YOUR SHARED FOLDER. Usually one specific file will be mentioned as having a problem. If this is the case, simply delete the offending file and attempt to download that specific file again. Recheck the MD5 file, and hopefully the problem will be fixed. If there is still a problem, ask someone in the hub chatroom if they can help you out.
4.4 SHARE VERIFIED SHOW: If the mkwACT program verifies that your show is OK, you now want to share it. Simply copy the entire show folder into the Hub Shared folder that you created in Step 3.1 above (leave this folder alone from now on so people can upload it from you without any issues). Now pretend type /REFRESH in the program command line and hit ENTER (Note: the program command line is the same line in which you type chat). This will tell the hub to update your profile, and the Online Users list should now indicate that you are sharing some files. Now you are an official member of the Rush Hub, and you can download and share to your heart’s content! 5. Converting and Listening to Your Music Of course, the final step of this process is listening to the music! 5.1 CONVERT FROM SHN TO WAV: You should now have one copy of your show in your “Hub Shared” folder and another copy in the “Hub Download” folder. Simply drag the copy from the “Hub Download” folder into the “Convert and Listen” folder. Now all you need to do is double click on all of the SHN files, and the mkwACT program will convert them into WAV format. You can also highlight all of the SHN files with your mouse and hit the ENTER button, and all of the files will be converted.
5.2 LISTEN TO THE MUSIC: Now that the files are in WAV format, you can listen to them using whatever program you normally use for listening to music (e.g., WinAmp, Windows Media Player, etc.). Note that there is a plugin for WinAmp that allows you to listen to SHN files without converting them to WAV format. This brings you to the end of the Rushboots.com tutorial on getting connected to the Rush Hub. As previously mentioned, there is much more detailed information available in the DC FAQ at http://rush.daneck.com . You can also find lots of detailed information about the DC++ program in the FAQ at http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/ (click the FAQ link at the top of the page). Please consult these references before you ask questions in the chatroom on the hub. However, people on the hub will be happy to help you if you can’t find the answer you are looking for. GOOD LUCK !!! Hopefully this tutorial has been helpful to someone! Rushboots.com is being designed to be as newbie friendly as possible. If you are new to trading, PLEASE let us know if there is something here that is unclear or if you have any specific questions. We also went through the early days of confusion and frustration in trading, and we are trying to help ease the pain with this site. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, contact us at Rushboots@gmail.com. |
