AMule problems

aMule common problems

by Jacobo221

English | Español | Nederlands | Magyar

I get an "aMule already running: exiting" message on the terminal when starting aMule. Will I be able to start it anyways?

The message is very clear: aMule is already running. But this doesn't refer to the entire system, rather that you (your user account) is already running aMule.

It might seem that there is no instance of aMule running if it crashed on you. However, what sometimes happens is that some processes aren't completly closed keeping them in a state known as zombie or defunct. To find out if this is your problem, run ps u | grep amule and if it shows any output (except the grep output itself), then there's some other aMule process running with your account. To kill it, either close it normally (if you can) or kill it with kill -9 <aMule-PID> or killall -9 amule or logoff and log in again (which, in most cases, will kill all aMule processes, unless you executed aMule with nohup or something similar).

If non of the above suits you, then you can run another instance of aMule as another user (if you can log in with another account, of course). Read Can I run two aMule instances at the same time?.

aMule starts but is never shown but works fine. What's going on?

This commonly happens when you set the type of systray integration, in Preferences -> General -> Misc Options, to Minimize to trayicon which starts aMule minimized.

To be able to recover aMule's GUI, edit ~/.aMule/amule.conf and search for StartupMinimized=1 and once you find it, change that line to StartupMinimized=0. The following script will do that for you:
sed s/StartupMinimized=1/StartupMinimized=0/ ~/.aMule/amule.conf > ~/.aMule/amule.conf.temp && mv -f ~/.aMule/amule.conf.temp ~/.aMule/amule.conf
When you next start aMule set the correct systray integration in Preferences so that you can enable "Start minimized" without having aMule hidden.

If, for some reason, the above didn't work, try changing the Systray integration manually to the default by unchecking the "Enable tray icon option. To do so, set the DesktopMode= value in ~/.aMule/amule.conf to 4. The following script will do that for you:
sed s/DesktopMode=[0-9]/DesktopMode=4/ ~/.aMule/amule.conf > ~/.aMule/amule.conf.temp && mv -f ~/.aMule/amule.conf.temp ~/.aMule/amule.conf
NOTE: On aMule versions previous to 2.0.0rc4, you should set it to 1 instead of 4 since the Preferences storage changed a little.

aMule starts but is never connecting/behaving very weird/crashing almost every few seconds/etc...?

aMule versions up to 2.0.0-rc3 shouldn't be linked against wxWidgets 2.5.x neither GTK2 although some Linux distributions tend to do so. Please make sure your aMule isn't the case. If unsure, paste you backtrace at aMule's Backtraces forum or join aMule's IRC channel #amule at irc.freenode.net

Where are my downloaded files?

By default, aMule stores completed files in ~/.aMule/Incoming but, since ~/.aMule directory is a hidden directory, your file manager might not show it. Make sure you have enabled your file manager to show hidden files.
By default, files being downloaded are placed in ~/.aMule/Temp, so again, this is a hidden directory and the file managed must be configured to show hidden files.

Why is aMule taking so much CPU resources at start-up?

This happens because aMule is hashing new files found on the Shared Directories.
If aMule is always taking a lot of CPU at startup and no new files have been added or modified in any way in the Shared Directories, then something is wrong.

In aMule versions earlier than 2.0.0-rc3 this used to happen when having the Temp, Incoming or any Shared Directory in a FAT32 partition. Since aMule 2.0.0-rc3 this is not happening any more.

Also, in aMule versions earlier than 2.0.0-rc4 filesystems with UTF-8 encoding (known to happen with SuSE 9.1) could present problems when some file or directory in the Shared Directories path contanied a special character. If this is your problem, there's a walkaround (thanks nachbarnebenan): after aMule has hashed all shared files (that is, when it stops taking a lot of your CPU's resources), close aMule and enconde ~/.aMule/known.met into UTF-8 encoding (you can do this with the application recode by running the following command: recode u8 ~/.aMule/known.met). This should be done whenever a files is added or modified in any Shared Directory. So, best option is to upgrade to latest aMule version.

If non of the above helps you, then something went really wrong on known.met file, probably some external program or user broke it. Best option is to delete it, start aMule and let aMule rehash all files again.

So now aMule starts, but why is it displaying this message: "No valid servers to connect in serverlist found"?

That's because you enabled the option "Auto connect to servers the static list only". So, disable it or add some server to the static list.
To disable that option, go to Preferences -> Servers -> "Auto connect to servers the static list only"
To add a server to the static list, go to the Servers window and right-click on the server you want to add to the static list. Then select "Add to static" and do this exact process wit all the servers you want to add to the static list.

aMule connects to server, but it is always given Low-ID. Why? and, can I do something about it?

This can bue due to three reasons:

• Some necessary port is not opened in your firewall. Read this to get to know what to do and check here if the ports are open.
• The server is very busy or maybe badly configured, so it's giving you a Low-ID. There's nothing that can be done in this case other than reconnect or connect to some other server.
• Some ISP forbid the use of p2p applications, such as aMule, by not allowing traffic through popular p2p ports. In these cases, configure aMule to use some other port. It would be even better if it was some popular port used for some other issue. It's been known that on some ISPs it worked with port TCP 25600.

aMule was interrupted while completing a file and it is now never completing it (allthough it's 100% downloaded). How can I complete it?

This one is easy: Close aMule. Now go into the Temp directory (by default, ~/.aMule/Temp) and run the following command:

touch ./*

Finally, run aMule and let it complete the files.

I just lost a download. Is there anyway I can recover it?

This is strange to happen, but it might, although in most cases it is the result of some non-aMule-related stuff going weird (or user's fault).
Two things may have happened. Either *.part.met files were deleted, or *.part files were deleted.
If *.part files have dissapeared, the only solution is to reastart the downloads from the beggining (if *.part.met files are still there, aMule will restart the downloads on next start). However this should never happen unless the user directly deleted them.
If *.part.met files have dissapeared but *.part files are still in the Temp directory, then search if *.part.met.bak are also in the Temp directory. If they are, then just rename *.part.met.bak files to *.part.met just by running:
for file in *.part.met.bak; do mv -f "$file" "${file%.bak}; done
Still, it could happen that, although you have the *.part files, neither *.part.met nor *.part.met.bak files exist any longer. In this case, you would have two ways ways to work out of this:
Either, use MetFileRegenerator (Java needed) to reconstruct the *.part.met files.
Or, search again on aMule for the files you were downloading and rename their part number in the *.part.met files to the ones it used to have. For example, if you ware down loading aMule_1.2.6.tar.gz and that was being downloaded in Temp directory as 008.part, then that file used to have it's corresponding 008.part.met file and, probably, it's 008.part.met.bak file. But this two latter files have misteriously dissapeared. Then search again on aMule for aMule_1.2.6.tar.gz and start downloading it. Close aMule and you'll have this new download as, for example, 011.part file in the Temp directory. Of course, this download will have it's 011.part.met file. Well, rename 011.part.met to 008.part.met and then delete 011.part (and 011.part.met.bak if it existed). Now start aMule and you will have recovered the download from the point it was before the *.part.met files disapeared.

Why does aMule suddendly become unresponsive to the mouse although it's not hanged?

It sometimes happens that you left a dialog window somewhere hidden in the desktop. aMule is waiting for that window to be closed, so it becomes unresponsive untill you click OK, Cancel, or whatever you have to click.
So, make sure there's no aMule dialog left around in any workspace.

Why are some files in my shared folders not shown in the Shared Folders window?

This could happen if you added this files after aMule has been started. Press the "Reload" button on Shared Folders window and it should find the new files and hash them (this may take some CPU time).

However, on some releases it has happened that after restarting aMule, some files dissapear from the Shared Folders window alllthough they are in the shared folders. In such cases, the only way to have them back is to delete ~/.aMule/known.met but, of course, on next aMule start, all shared files will have to be rehashed, and that'll take some time most probably.

I always get a message about addresses.met when I start aMule. What's wrong?

This happens when you enable the option Preferences -> Servers -> "Auto-update serverlist at startup" and you have no serverlists' urls in addresses.dat. You can either add some to addresses.dat by adding them at Preferences -> Servers -> List or just disable Preferences -> Servers -> "Auto-update serverlist at startup" if you don't really need it.

I sometimes get a message on the log about credits being lost. Should I be worried?

No, you don't need to be worried. Credits for a client are deleted after 150 days (more or less 5 months) without "seeing" that client. Also, bad clients might lose their credits too. So those messages are just for debug information, you souldn't worry about them.

What should I do if I lose my cryptkey.dat file?

Losing this files means you lose all of your credits. Sorry. Since you'll need to start building credits up again, you'll need to delete ~/.aMule/preferences.dat or you'll not be able to collect credits on clients who have previously identified you (prior to losing cryptkey.dat).

Why is Upload/Download limit always back to 0 after every restart?

This happened on aMule versions previous to 2.0.0-rc4 when you trying to set a Upload or Download limit value higher than the Upload or Download Capacity value. However, since version 2.0.0-rc4 this is fixed (read What is the real point on setting up Line Capacities in Preferences? Shouldn't aMule only care for the Bandwidth Limits? to understand why) and shouldn't happen anymore.

Why is aMule ignoring the bandwith I set per slot?

The bandwidth set to each slot can be set in Preferences, but it will be ignored if the bandwidth set per slot doesn't allow at least three connections at the same time.
So, the maximum speed allowed per slot is BandwidthLimit/3.
Please do NOT confuse Bandwidth limit with Bandwith Capacity. Read What is the real point on setting up Line Capacities in Preferences? Shouldn't aMule only care for the Bandwidth Limits? since the meaning of the Bandwidth Capacity setting is not intuitive.
Also, if aMule detects that, after having set all the slots for uploading, still some bandwidth is left before getting to the Bandwidth Limit, it will allow another slot and divide all the slot bandwidths to so use the same amount of bandwidth.

Example:
Bandwidth Limit: 7 KBps Slot allocation: 2 KBps When aMule sets the slots to some clients to upload to them, after giving out three slots, it will notice that tehre are no more 2KBps left, since the limit is 7 KBps, but there is still 1 KBps left in the bandwicth before reaching the Bandwidth Limit. So, It will allow another slot to upload to a client and, isntead of giving that last slot a 1 KBps bandwidth connection (and leave the rest with a 2 KBps bandwidth connetcion), it will give all four slots a 1.8 KBps bandwidth connection.

Why can't I set aMule's download limit to more than X?

To keep the ED2K network alive, all ED2K clients have an upload/download limits ratio hardcoded which, depending on the upload limit set, is:

From 0KBps to 3KBps:
DownloadLimit can't be more than UploadLimit*3
From 4KBps to 9KBps:
DownloadLimit can't be more than UploadLimit*4
UploadLimit values over 9KBps:
There's no DownloadLimit limitation.

Be carefull when setting 0KBps as Upload Limit . It might not mean what you think it is. Read I set Upload Limit to 0KBps, but aMule is still transfering. What did I do wrong? to make sure you understand it's meaning.

I set Upload Limit to 0KBps, but aMule is still transfering. What did I do wrong?

Setting Upload limit to 0KBps will not stop transfers, instead, 0 value means unlimited, so, it's right the opossite of you're trying to do. There's no way to stop aMule from uploading files, and that's the same on all ED2K clients (eMule, eDonkey, etc). Allowing people not to upload would bring the ED2K network to it's end.
Even if you don't share any directory, the Temp directory will always be shared, so that files that you are downloading are shared with other clients.

Why am I getting "Too many connections" messages on the terminal?

This happens when you set a very high value at Preferences -> Connections -> "Connection limits" -> "Max connections". If this value is as almost as big as the the amount of connections your system allows you to have, then aMule will fail to establish connections and display those messages (have in mind that other applications may also have some connections established).
On Windows 9x/ME platforms there is a limit of 100 TCP connections so, although you might set aMule to establish more than 100 connections, it will be unable to do so. You can change Windows's TCP connections limit by editting the Windows Register (Start -> Run -> regedit.exe) and setting (you'll most surely have to add the value since in most cases it doesn't exist):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP\MaxConnections (which is a String type and it's value must be a 32-bit number).

My progress bars have lost most of their 3D effect and look more ugly now. Can I turn its look back?

In most aMule versions setting the progress bar style to the most right on Preferences -> "GUI tweaks" is the way to have the progress bar have the best 3D effect. But in versions 2.0.0-rc4 to 2.0.0-rc6 the best 3D effect is given when the style bar is set to the middle. Setting it to the most right would give the progress bar a flat look while setting it to the most left will give it a dark look.

All my downloads suddenly paused and I can't resume them. What's going on?

Check if there's any free space in the filesystem where the Temp directory is placed. If there is any at all, check if there's more free space than the minimum free space set at Preferences -> Files -> "Min disk space".

The minimum free space required for aMule is 9.28MB, since that's what aMule needs to be able to download a part of a file.

Why isn't aMule's Preview working at all with MPlayer?

Since aMule 2.0.0-rc4 Preview command isn't being run in the same terminal as aMule. As a result, your Preview program may fail to start. This is the case of MPlayer. If you need a terminal to run your Preview player, use some command like xterm -e <preview-app> i.e.:
xterm -T "aMule preview" -iconic -e mplayer -idx

After exitting MPlayer on Preview, my aMule keeps locked?

Preview used to lock aMule on purpose until aMule reached version 2.0.0-rc4. As a result of this, people using MPlayer suffered from a bug on MPlayer which remains the main process in background when closing the main MPlayer window. The way to walk around this MPlayer bug on aMule versions previous to 2.0.0-rc4 is to exit MPlayer by pressing the Q key. Any way, it'd be better if you could possibly upgrade aMule to the latest versions.

Why is Transfered a smaller number than Completed?

It's a common mistake to think it should be bigger or, at least, equal.
Please read What is the difference between Transfered and Completed in the Tranfers window? to know more about this.

aMule always slows down my computer when it completes a download. Is this a normal behaviour?

Yes it is. When aMule completes a download it checks it has not been corrupted. Allthough this is already checked while downloading (by checking the chunk's hash values), once the file is completely downloaded aMule hashes all the chunks to check that the chunks which were previously downloaded weren't somehow corrupted by the user or an external application while the rest of the file was being downloaded.

Is there any way to recursively select a whole directory and its contents?

Yes, there is. And it's simple:

• On aMule 2.0.0-rc4 or later, right-click on the icon of the directory you want to recusively select.
• On aMule 1.x and up to 2.0.0-rc3 (included), while clicking on the directory, hold the CTRL key.
  

And that's it.

I downloaded a file and it got corrupted somehow by my hard disk or some external application once completed. Can I avoid redownloading the whole of it?

If you still have the ed2k:// link, start the download again and when a whole chunk (9.28MB) has been downloaded (any chunk), close aMule, rename the corrupted file to the filename the current download has (something like 002.part), touch the corrupted file (i.e.: touch ~/.aMule/Temp/002.part*) and restart aMule.
aMule will detect the completed chunks and the corrupted ones, and will only download the chunks which got corrupted.

What should I be aware of when using NFS mounts with aMule?

When using NFS mounts with aMule, make sure you unmount those NFS mounts (the ones from the computer being shut down) from the computer running aMule because, otherwise, aMule will simply hang until those mounts are back up again. How to notice this? If you leave aMule running at night, and on the next day you go to the stats and see straight lines for Download/Upload/Connections stats (non-zero) and after mounting those NFS mounts, those straight lines drop to zero resuming normal behaviour, that is a sign. Plus, after unmouting the NFS mounts from any computer being shut down, reload aMule's shared files.

I noticed all this from my frustrating experience of countless days with no downloads at nigh ;) ... --PedroAlgarvio 00:25, 15 Jun 2005 (CEST)