April 06, 2008 by sharky
When attempting to troubleshoot BitTorrent problems, there are a zillion factors that need to be considered. Many issues involve the BT client configuration, ports and connectivity. Other errors are rooted in the BT tracker, bad ISP, faulty torrents, or software incompatibility issues. Put all this together and you’ve got endless possibilities for errors, dropped connections and hair-pulling frustration.
Here’s a list of some of the most common BitTorrent error messages, what they mean, and how to fix them.
“Error/Failure (unregistered torrent pass)”
This error message is usually generated by downloading private torrents from a public site. Even if you do have an account at that private tracker, you should always download torrents directly from the private website (i.e. ‘logged in’). This will ensure your passkey is included in the announce for the torrent. In the event that the torrent already exists in your BT client, you’ll either have to re-download the torrent or have your passkey reset. (Advanced - if you’re a torrent uploader (submitter), you’ll likely need to reset the passkey and delete the old torrent. After, create a new torrent with the new announce URL). NOTE: Changes to a passkey may not be reflected to the tracker for upwards of 30 minutes.
“Error: The system cannot find the path specified”
This error message could be caused by:
1. This problem may be caused by a limitation in Windows with path lengths. Windows unfortunately limits the maximum length to 255 characters (which includes the filename). Try saving the torrent to a location closer to the drive’s root, such as C:\utorrent, or modify the pathname when launching the torrent.
2. It’s possible that the torrent is corrupt, or fake. It can also mean that the link is ‘dead’ and the files in the torrent don’t exist.
3. This is a common error message when the torrent is launched from a “quicklink” download button. Try saving the torrent file to your hard drive before adding it to your BT client.
“Unable to load “xxxx.torrent”: Invalid torrent file!”
Either the torrent file is corrupt, damaged or not a valid torrent file. Try re-downloading the torrent, or find another source.
No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
Ordinarily, this is an error message sent out by a private tracker, and signifies that a BitTorrent client is not on their ’supported’ list of clients. Many private sites only allow certain clients (i.e. µTorrent and Azureus - and more often than not: only specific versions of them). Check their FAQ to see if what you’re using is on their “allowable” list - if not, switch.
“connection limit exceeded”
This error could mean that either you’re trying to download from two different locations at the same time, or that the tracker thinks you’re doing it. If it’s the latter - DON’T (it’ll only lead to a ban). If it’s the former, then this problem can be solved by stopping the torrents manually before properly exiting the BitTorrent client (File…Exit). To solve this, you may need to delete the existing torrent (not the data) and re-download it.
“Error: Access Denied”
This is an error within µTorrent, primarily concerning a conflict with other software, such as MSN Desktop. Try downloading the latest version of µTorrent, or disabling MSN. However, this can also signify a problem with Vista users who don’t have ‘administrative rights’ allowing writing to certain drives. Other conflicts can be found at the µTorrent website.
“piece 123 failed hash check”
When a hash check fails on individual pieces of data in a downloading torrent, the BT client will usually discard those failed pieces and re-adds them to the download queue. Typically, the problem fixes itself when the hashes ‘pass’, and the download should complete as normal.
“rejected by tracker - Port xxxx is blacklisted”
Many trackers have banned the use of ports that are traditionally used by P2P filesharing applications, including BitTorrent. Solution — use a port within the good range (49152 through 65535 is ideal) in your BitTorrent client. Be sure to change the settings in your router and/or firewall (if applicable).
“address already in use”
This pertains to a conflict of using the same port numbers in two different applications. Change the port number in your BT client.
“No space left on device”
You’ll get this error when you don’t have enough space on your hard drive for your BT Client to fully allocate the file. Some clients allow you to download on-the-fly (without first allocating the necessary space for the completed files in the torrent), although when this option is selected and you run out of hard drive space during the download, it will obviously halt.
“Not authorized… - READ THE FAQ!”
It’s all about the ratios on private BitTorrent sites. If yours is in bad shape, likely you’ve been “time-limited” and must wait for a certain amount of time in order to download new torrents. Read the site’s FAQ for more information.
“Bad Data from Tracker” or “Bad Tracker Data”
This means the tracker is having problems. Either it is down and returning an error, or is overloaded with requests. Simply leave your client on for a while and see if the problem resolves itself. You can also try to “Update Tracker” and stop/restart the torrent.
“MsgCode:xxxxxxxxx::add_torrent::dead_tracker::395″
The tracker you are trying to use is currently not available, full, or temporarily down for whatever reason. Leave the torrent running in the client and wait and see if it one comes back. You may also try to update the tracker (in µTorrent 
“Upload failed: The tracker that hosted your torrent is listed as ‘dead’!”
The tracker you are trying to use is currently not available, full, or temporarily down for whatever reason. Usually this is due to the tracker being full or temporarily offline/busy.
“IOError - {Errno13} Permission denied”
Sometimes your BitTorrent client is still running in the background from your last session, and if you start more than one instance of the client, it will try to download the same torrent twice, and it will give you permission denied. Open the Task Manager and close down all instances of your client. Start your BT client again and everything should work fine. Restarting your PC will also fix this.
“Error: Access denied”
Typically, Vista “permissions” are to blame for this. First, try and fix this by installing the Vista SP1 update. If this is not possible, or the error message persists, you’ll need to “take ownership” of all the files in the torrent directory. Or, simply move the directory to a drive that has you have “permissions” to, and then change the default download paths to reflect the new drive/directory path.
“Windows cannot find… “C:\Documents and Settings\{YOUR NAME HERE}\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.ie5-6-7…”
It is an error that can sometimes occur in Windows XP. XP starts compressing temporary Internet files once it reaches a certain number of files or 1/2 the allotted drive space, and that’s what causes the error. Solution: Clear out your temporary Internet files in the browser. This will generally resolve the issue.
You can also simply save the torrent file to your hard drive (in Explorer, right-click a torrent, select “Save Target As…” and save). In Firefox, right-click a torrent and select “Save Link As…”. Or, you can also try to open the torrent from the quicklink download button that most sites provide next to an aggregated list of torrents.
“Tracker Sending Invalid Data -NULL-”
This may be happening because of a bogus torrent, especially if you get this error message in the last 90% of completion. This doesn’t mean that the torrent won’t finish - perhaps it’s just that your BitTorrent client is reporting “bad packets” and has, in all likelihood, subsequently banned the sender of those packets. Ignore the error for awhile until the tracker updates the peers list and see if it goes away - if you get stuck at 95% or higher for a long period of time, then it’s time to delete the torrent and move on.
“Invalid Passkey! Re-download the .torrent file…”
AKA — “Unrecognized Host”, “Invalid passkey”, “missing passkey”, or “Unregistered Torrent” errors:
Delete the torrent, and re-download it. You may also have to reset your passkey on the private site first.
1. PRIVATE SITE (Your first torrent) — If this is your first torrent, this may mean you have not configured your Internet / proxy or BT client settings correctly. Try another torrent that other users have been able to download successfully (that has active seeds & peers).
2. You may have inadvertently downloaded a torrent belonging to a private tracker (that you don’t have an account with). For example, mininova.org also indexes private torrents and allows non-registered users to download them. We recommend you avoid those torrents, and get your private torrents from your account on the originating tracker’s website. Below: The “P” represents private torrents on mininova.
— “Requested download is not authorized for use with this tracker” - same as above.
— “Rejected by tracker - Your IP is not registered to use this tracker…” - same as above.
“Failure: share ratio violation; please raise your share ratio up to 0.25 first”
This is an error message sent by a private tracker to accounts that are in arrears in their minimum sharing ratio. In this specific case, you’ll need to raise your ratio to more than 0.25 by seeding existing torrents first. Only then will the tracker allow you to connect to new torrents and peers sharing them.
“connection closed by peer”
Not a lot is known about the specifics of this error message, aside from it being prevalent with users of Windows Vista and XP users alike. It could be a Firewall/security issue, port forwarding problem, or an ISP that throttles BitTorrent traffic.
One possibility is that your ISP has capped your connection, or even blocked ports. Some users have noticed that they generate this “connection closed by peer” error message when downloading torrents that have a port number in the announce URL. (Note the port number “80″, as used by ThePirateBay tracker):
— http://tpb.tracker.thepiratebay.org:80/announce
One solution/workaround for this is to download torrents from trackers that don’t use a pre-defined port (i.e. - this mininova tracker):
— http://tracker.mininova.org/announce
Another possible solution is to make sure that your traffic is encryption-enabled. In µTorrent - go to Options > Speed Guide… and look to the bottom left of that window. Be sure there’s a checkmark where it says “Enable Encryption”. Also, check that DHT is enabled. Go to Options > Preferences… > BitTorrent and make sure these items are checked:
“Failure: access denied, leeching forbidden, you are only allowed to seed”
Again, this is another Tracker Status message to indicate a low sharing ratio on a private tracker. If the ratio is below the minimum level, you will not be able to leech and download. We should note that this message doesn’t only pertain to private trackers - public torrents that use the moviex tracker may also cause this.
Other BitTorrent Issues
HTTP 400/403 Errors in µTorrent
One cause of this error is µTorrent’s incompatibility with Eset’s NOD32 antivirus software (with IMON enabled) in versions prior to 3.0. Upgrade to NOD32 3.x, or add µTorrent to IMON’s exception list. Or, disable IMON altogether. Here’s how:
1. Open ESET Smart Security by clicking the icon in your Windows system tray.
2. Enter the Advanced setup tree (press F5).
3. Navigate to Personal firewall. In the right, change Filtering mode to Interactive mode.
4. Go to Personal firewall > Rules and zones. In the right (at the Trusted zone part) click Setup and choose “Allow sharing”.
5. Navigate to Personal firewall > IDS and Advanced options. Make sure all services are allowed.
6. Confirm with OK.
‘Seed Ratio’ not showing/reporting correctly
This is a common complaint from members of private trackers, and can have drastic consequences on overall ratios (and the account). Here are some common solutions:
1. When exiting the client (computer shutdown, etc.) be sure to stop the torrent, and shut down the client from the menu (File…Exit) instead of just clicking the red X to close. Properly ’stopping’ the torrent prevents any ‘ghost torrents’ (unclosed connections) that may still exist on the tracker, and tells the tracker that you are positively disconnected.
2. Be sure to disable DHT in the client. While most modern private trackers will recognize if DHT is enabled in the client (and automatically disable it for that torrent), not all do. Trackers that don’t turn off DHT automatically for their torrents won’t record stats for data that has been passed among peers in the ‘DHT swarm’.
3. If there are too many allowable ‘global connections’, then the peers in the swarm may be hogging all of the connections and there’s none left for the tracker. Check to see if the tracker is connected (i.e. - not “offline / timed out”). In µTorrent, highlight the torrent in question, and in the general tab, scroll down to Tracker - verify that the tracker is “working” and not “offline (timed out)” next to Tracker Status.
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