dejavuzxy

rdebath I got this working and i'll explain how and why i am sorry for the inconvenience i caused. To everyone else as well, my problem was still my router. It turns out (since it's a new one and i'm not that familliar with it) it needs a restart after applying open ports to the settings list (why in the hell, i'll never know). So, as a last step in troubleshooting, i decided to restart my router, all the connections went down, lost my TV's for a few minutes, a lot of hassle came along with it (as i have many webservices running with custom configuration etc), but it works at least, the files synced immediately. I now feel like the person who has gone through everything troubleshooting his non-working PC and then figures out he has to turn the damn thing on. Anyway thanks to everybody and special thanks to rdebath! Hopefully eventually we can set up our own BTSync servers (the ones that store the hashes etc) where the client connects and also to customise a portable installation with custom conf file with custom everything.

Ok, just in case, i'll describe my situation: I have PC A and PC B. I start by shutting down the client on PC B and create the shared folder on PC A, then untick ALL the options in "General" tab and leave only the "Predefined hosts" ticked and i fill in the correct host info and port to PC B. I then shut down PC A BTSync client. I now proceed to PC B and i'll add the new shared folder with the secret key i got from PC A. When the folder is ready, i untick ALL the options under "General" tab, as they are not needed there (correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think PC B needs to connect to itself and all the other options are not needed as well, since i wwant to use predefined hosts). I save the settings and double-check if i have my PC B client listening on the correct port, yes it is. I now shut down the PC B BTSync client and start it up again. I now go to my PC A where i start up BTSync client and add some random mp3 files into the shared folder. PC A BTSync client successfully recognizes and indexes the files. I am now looking at PC B to see if these files sync to that and they DO NOT. Just in case i have both TCP AND UDP ports open in my router. I have double-checked to see if my router has UPnP enabled and as well as BTSync client. Port forwarding can't be the issue here, as i have other services running and i am accessible to the WAN. Which is weird though, is that when using a service like CanYouSeeMe(dot)org which checks for open ports, it says the port is closed on my BTSync client, should it say that? So can anyone else use the EXACT step-by-step guide to test if the predefined host method is working for them or not. Also to make sure NO OTHER shared folders are there in the "Shared Folders" list. It is also CRUCIALLY important to SHUT DOWN the other BTSync client, as if you test this on LAN or anywhere else and have the default options ticked, the clients exchange information and find themselves, so when you test with predefined hosts without shutting the clients down, they will see each other and the method "seems to be working" even though it is not (for me at least).

To: rdebath, Tracker: BTSync sends the info hash of the share (basically the hash of the secret) to t.usyncapp.com. That host keeps a list of the IP:port pairs that have contacted it with that hash and gives them out to everyone interested. So basically when that central server is down, nothing works anymore? Taking in account that there are no LAN shares and DHT is disabled etc? Also, isn't there too much processing done on the server side and shouldn't the server get overloaded easily? I have tried to get "Use predefined hosts" to work under windows, but i can't get it to work. As far as i understand, every other option can be disabled and only the predefined host has to have the host name and the port and everything should work. Which i have and i have enabled the same port in the router, firewall and made the client listen on that port on the other machine and no syncing seems to be happening. Anyway, about the main topic, so basically there still is a central server and this application isn't that much of a miracle?

So that's the question, How do the machines find each other simply via the secret? What is that magic that makes these wheels go round? If there is no central server that holds the hashes pulled from the secrets and then matches the hashes if it finds another one like it, i have no clue how it works. These hashes have to be somewhere and that somewhere, i believe, has to have a pretty powerful "database" of sorts, the world is gigantic, a lot of hashes, a lot of shares etc. Whatever way, there are too many hashes to go through via one client, it seems impossible without a central server. Anyone in here to be able to explain this to me?

I'm thinking about something along these lines: 1) To have both install and portable versions. 2) Configuration files like under linux, should be under windows as well. Ability to opt-out all the built in trackers etc and choose our own etc. 3) Ability to run BTSync as service. Yes, this is possible with TaskScheduler as well, but to have an option under the client itself to install the service or create the task would be nice. 4) Dropbox like ability to share single files/folders already WITHIN a share, read only, read and write and why not to have the ability to set the "time-out" feature as well (also to edit the expiration time). Useful if a person has a huge share and does not or can't move/copy files to another location and create a whole new share. 5) Have the ability to edit the time in what intervals BTSync scans the shares. 6) Have the management of .SyncTrash built into the main client WITH several options. Like the expiration time when the files in the trash are going to be deleted. The "depth" of how many versions to keep from one file. Ability to view the files etc. 7) Have the management of .SyncIgnore built into the main client WITH options to configure it. 8) Ability to generate longer secret keys than 32 characters, also not only letters and numbers, but other random symbols as well. This should also be built into the main clients key generator. Anyway a great piece of software already. It's in alpha stage and already quite stable. The entire concept of this application is just great. Keep up the good work!