OTRnap - Team Mousetrap - - practical internet skills instruction and custom internet programming

So how does Napster work?
Users run a client (like the Napster client or clones like, AudioGnome, WinMX, etc) which logs into a centralized server. The server keeps track of who has what files and plays matchmaker between users. No files ever pass through the server -- it is all user to user, or "peer to peer" (p2p) as it is known.
More info on the process:

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Where do I get a Napster-like client so I can connect to OTRnap?
See the list of clones.
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How do I set up Napigator?

Download napigator and install it, rebooting your machine as instructed. That's it.

About OTRnap

What is OTRnap?
OTRnap is a private OpenNap network for trading Old Time Radio (OTR). The recordings of these shows are usually not copyrighted.
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Why is OTRnap private?
It helps protect the network from non-OTR people, who might accidentally or intentionally share copyrighted files. That situation could attract unwanted attention from lawyers.
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Why don't your servers show up in Napigator?
OTRnap does not report to Napigator because that would attract unwanted non-OTR users.
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How do I email the admin for help?
It's a two-step process:

Read the FAQ to make sure your question is not already answered
If you read the FAQ and it did not address your question, email the admin at this address.

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Why doesn't the admin answer my chat?
The OTRnap server, Audiognome and Napster clients all run unattended 24/7. It is highly unlikely that I will be looking at that the monitor of that particular machine on my network when you initiate a chat session.
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Registering

Why do I have to register?
Prior registration keeps people from wandering in accidentally and sharing music or other non-public-domain files. Yes, it's a little bit of a pain, but it's better than getting sued out of existence and losing the admin's feed.
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How do I register?
Check out the Acceptable Use page for guidance on registration. It takes about 30 seconds.
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Then what happens?
The admin[s] will add your info to the server configuration and you're in like Flynn.
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Why do you need my email?
It's part of the OpenNap server software process for registering a new user.OTRnap will not use your email except to respond to any specific questions you have about your account, etc. The email (and user record in general) is private, and won't be shared with anyone else. Note that if we ever get linked servers, the account databases will need to be duplicated across both servers.
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Connecting

How do I connect with Napster?
Napster does not support non-Napster servers natively. You can use Napigator to get Napster to connect to the server you want. Note that you will almost certainly have to use your Napster user/pass for OTRnap as well. I know of no way around that.
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How do I connect with Napigator and Napster?

Install napigator as described above.
In newer versions of Napigator you can go to the Napigator tab in Napster or, as with older 'Gators, pull up the separate napigator app.
New client style: File Bookmarks | Add Bookmark: The server name is OTRnap01, or any other nickname you want to give. The Hostname is otrnap01.mousetrap.net. The Port is 8888. The network name is OTRnap.
Click the bottom tab for bookmarks
Click on the OTRnap server entry, and you should be in. I do not use the napster client or the old Napigator, so I can't tell you how to do that. Anyone can contribute this?

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How do I connect with WinMX?
WinMX: Click "Add Server" at the main screen, and a dialog box should come up. For network, type OTRNap. Address is OTRnap01.mousetrap.net Port 8888. Enter your login name, password, and email address

OTRNap should be added to the main server list, looking something like this...
[OTRNap] OTRnap01.mousetrap.net:8888

Double click on that, or click on it once then click connect.

That should do it. cag
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How do I connect with a Mac?
I have no personal experience, but several mac clients are available:

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How do I connect with AudioGnome?

Add the new server: rightclick in the bottom panel of the AG screen -- this should get you a big popup menu. Choose Add New Server to Database. The domain name and port info is as at the top of this webpage. The Type or Affiliation is OTRnap. This will add the OTRnap network server list to the top left panel.
Click on OTRnap in the upper left window.The server will show up in the upper-right panel
Rightclick on the new server and choose Connect to server.
If your OTRnap password is the same as your default AudioGnome pass then you're in. If you have a different OTRnap user/pass then you'll get an error of some kind ("closed server"). If so, rightclick on the server in the bottom window and set the custom user/pass to your correct info.

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How do I connect with other clients?
I don't now, as I don't use them. If anyone wants to submit connection instructions for other clients please feel free.
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Can you walk me through it step by step?
No. That's what the info above is for. There are 500+ of you and one of me. Please leverage the info in this FAQ, and whatever support forums, mailing lists or newsgroups provided by the people that wrote your client.
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Can I call you on the phone?
Only if you want to pay my $100/hr consulting rate. I run this server for free, and expect the users to RTFM and exercise due diligence in operating/configuring their client software. I can't stop working at my job to help an individual get online.
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Logging in

What does Server Full mean?
The server is at its maximum number of connections. When this happens, some servers will boot non-sharing users to make room for new, sharing users.
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What does Registered users only mean?
OTRnap is a private network, and requires registration. See above.
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What does Username [fitb] already registered mean?
Sounds like your client is trying to register the user/pass combination. There is no need to do this, as you've been registered manually. Just connect as with any other server.
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Using OTRnap

How do I search the network?
Enter a phrase that might correspond to a shared filename. If you're looking for '30s-era Amos & Andy, you might search for "1935 Andy" (no quotes). Or just "amos andy". Or if it's a particular show like Andy buys a tractor you might search for "andy tractor". More info on the general search process here.
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Can I browse other users?
Yes, but it's massively inefficient for the server. If everyone browses the collections of other users, megs and megs of data get sent instead of neat, tiny packets of search results. So browse if you must, just keep in mind it's chewing up my upstream bandwidth and probably not helping you find the specific files you need. If you're looking for Lum And Abner then search on "lum" instead of browsing 5000 files and eyeballing it. Remember that the server CPU and bandwidth is being chewed up by the 5000x listing even if you're not looking at all of it.
In some cases, browsing extremely large collections can cause data queues to exist which may cause the server to think your client is not listening. This can result in a connection drop.
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I can't browse the users files.
The user may be sharing no files. Or the user may be sharing files that are blocked by the server for legal reasons.
And see the above entry on browsing where I say that browsing is bad for the server and searching is good.
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How can I ever close my app when people keep downloading?
Disconnect from the server but leave your client running. This way all the current transfers will complete but no one else will be able to find you on the network to start new connections. After everything's completed then shut down your app.
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Is there a limit to how many files I can share?
There is no practical limit. There servers are set to allow really, really large numbers of OTR files.
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Can I share music like on Napster?
No, OTRnap is for the exchange of OTR and other public domain audio files. If you are sharing music, expect to get a lovenote from an admin asking you to removed it from your shared directories. If you do not comply, your login will be removed.
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Troubleshooting

How can a user be offline and still be downloading from me?
Server connections and p2p connections are completely separate and distinct. A person can be offline (ie, not connected to the server) and still have active up/downloads in progress. (and vice versa). Consider: A and B log into a server. A does a search and finds a show on B. A starts the download from B (this is a direct connection between peers - the server is not involved). A logs off the server but the A-B download continues unhampered. This is, in fact, the most graceful way to log off a napsterlike network. In addition, the person may not be really be logged off but the server doesn't realize it yet; this is called a "ghost". The server flushes ghosts every so often.
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Why does it always say "queued"?
There are two different kinds of queues: those constrained by your client (usually just called "queued") and those constrained by the remote client ("remotely queued"). On the former, you already DLing as many files as you have told your own client you want to DL at one time. On the latter, the client on the far end has reached his/her UL limit -- there's a waiting line to get in, and you're at the tail of the line. Sometimes people attempt to download someone else's entire shared library, which can cue up hundreds or thousands of files.
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Why do I get a timeout?
Could be that the other person is having connection weirdness or dropped off the network right before the attempted download began. They could have unshared that file shortly before. If both you and the other person are firewalled it is impossible to download from each other; that's just the nature of the beast.
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My up- or downloads keep getting disconnected!
Up/downloads are a pure peer-to-peer (direct) connection and do not involve the OTRnap server in any way. It is between you and that other user.
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My up- or downloads are slow!
Again, up/downloads are a pure peer-to-peer (direct) connection and do not involve the OTRnap server in any way. It is between you and that other user.
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I give up. I've tried it and it just doesn't work or do what I want.
That's ok. It's an experimental service, and can't possibly meet everyone's needs. I'm glad you tried it out. Maybe you'll come back in the future and see if it meets more of your needs later.
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Why does the server bump me?
It is possible for the server[s] to get confused and think you have logged in multiple times. In that case you will see an error message referring to "ghost" logins or "user already logged in", etc. Although relatively rare, this can happen when the OTRnap servers get unlinked and then find each other again. When they relink it looks like you're on both servers and the servers will kick one of the logins off.

In some cases if the servers are breathing heavy, they will eject users that appear to be sharing very little (like 10 unblocked files or something). Note that this algorithm is imperfect but it does what it has to in order to stay stable.
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The user called [fill in the blank] is a jerk!
One of the joys and frustrations of using a peer-to-peer network is that there is no one to play policeman; all the transactions are peer to peer (hence the term, right?). This means that the admin is here to keep the net technically running, not to mediate between warring parties. Even so, it may be instructive to look at a few common complaints and their possible causes:

[fitb] won't chat with me!
Maybe s/he doesn't chat, or uses a client that doesn't implement chat, or may not even be in front of the computer.
[fitb] won't let me download from him!
It is more likely that there is some connection weirdness or client interoperability issues going on.
[fitb] keeps trying to download from me even though I keep canceling his downloads!
Perhaps the downloading client is unattended and will automatically retry downloads. Many clients have this functionality built in to deal with network and other disruptions. Also, notice how in this and the previous scenario both parties think the other is being intentionally jerky.
[fitb] is not sharing any files but still leeches from me!
Many clients refuse to publish shared/uploading/downloading stats for privacy reasons. In this case it would be impossible to tell if someone was sharing without browsing them.

If you don't like a user then you have several possible courses of action:

figure out how to block the user
live with it
not share on the network

I can't/won't tell you which one is the best course of action for you.
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I can't log onto both servers at the same time.
Right, that's how it works. The servers are linked; you log onto one and your searches cover both servers. There is no benefit to logging onto both servers; it gains you nothing and would consume a slot that someone else could be using. If you try to log onto both one login will get booted.
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Firewalls and Routers

I am behind a firewall.
Firewalls like the freeware ZoneAlarm are a Good Thing. Note that you may have to tell your software firewall to let AudioGnome "act as a server" (ie, listen on a port) to make it work.
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I am behind a router.
Many folks run a Linksys, Netgear, or other SOHO (small office / home office) router between their network and their net feed. This is a good thing, as it lets you run all your network off one external IP (WAN IP). This presents a problem for applications that act like servers, because they can't hear any incoming traffic.

The following example uses AudioGnome and the Linksys router, since that is what I use here and can document. There are three basic ways to go, from easiest to most complex:

show yourself as firewalled
- The Concept: Tells other clients that you can't "hear" requests, so your client will poll for requests when it talks to the server.
- Upside: dead simple, and works.
- Downside: if two clients are both firewalled they cannot communicate with each other. If everyone on the network did this then the network wouldn't work at all. With only a minority firewalled, it runs pretty well. If you need this option, use it. If you don't need it, don't use it.
- The Procedure:
  1. In AudioGnome Options set the data listen port to "0" (no quotes)
  2. Restart AudioGnome.
forward the port through the router
- The Concept: tell the router it can forward traffic on a particular port through to a particular computer on the LAN. The router becomes a proxy for AudioGnome on that specific port.
- Upside: after setup it's transparent to all parties. Sweet.
- Downside: the "pinhole" through the router is open even when you're not running AudioGnome. The router usually has a finite number of ports it can forward, and they can only be forwarded to one machine.
- The Procedure:
  1. Set your AudioGnome machine to a static IP (192.168.1.50 or whatever). Reboot. It has to be a static IP because if you used DHCP and rebooted your machine, it could have a different IP and the traffic would be forwarded to the wrong machine.
  2. log into the Linksys (192.168.1.1), go to the advanced tab, and forward the non-zero Data Listen Port (usually something like 6346 or so; it doesn't matter usually as long as it's not 8888 or 80 or some other port in use on your network) to the static IP you set in the previous step.
  3. In Audiognome, go back to the Options tab and set the Local Domain Name to your WAN IP (whatever IP the router itself is bound to).
use port triggering to forward traffic through only on demand
- The Concept: have the router watch for outgoing traffic on port A (8888, AudioGnome talking to the server) and when that happens forward port B (6346 or whatever, other clients talking to you) to the machine that initiated the port A traffic.
- Upside:The triggered port is closed after a few minutes of no outgoing traffic, so the pinhole only exists while you are using the application.
- Downside: not present in all routers, or firmwares. If two machines on your LAN are both running AudioGnome at the same time, the router can get confused about which machine should get the traffic.
- The Procedure:
  1. Log into the Linksys, go to advanced|forwarding as above, but go to port triggering instead.
    - Application name = "otrnap" or whatever you want
    - trigger port range="8888-8888"
    - Incoming port range="6346" or whatever
  2. Set your Local Domain Name as above.

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Helping out

Can I link my server to yours?
OTRnap welcomes server peers. Note that any linked servers must be private (members only), and only allow OTR. Blockfile configurations will need to mirror OTRnap's blockfile. Linked servers admins will need to monitor their own server's users for AUP compliance.
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How do I build an OpenNap server?
[coming soon]
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Howd to I link my server to OTRnap?

Make sure your server talks on port 8888
edit your "servers" file to include the info for the servers to which you will link.

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How do I register users on my server?
Log into your server as an "elite" user, and "/msg operserv register {nick} {password} {email} [level]".
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Legal issues

What is OTRnaps stance on the legal issues?
OTRnap is designed to share non-copyright material; the server is user/pass protected, and in order to get a user/pass all users have to agree to share only "OTR or other public domain files". OTRnap will respond quickly and appropriately to the input from the holders of legitimate rights to the recordings.
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I hold rights to a file indexed on your server.
If you have copyright or other rights to an audio recording indexed on OTRnap, please contact the admin immediately. In order to take quick and effective action, the admin will need the following information from you:

documentation supporting your claim to copyright (or at least a written claim that you do)
the filenames of the files you claim rights to. These filenames will be used to build workable filters.

This information will be posted so members will know what OTR, if any, is not tradeable.

You may already know this, but this is an important distinction: the OTRnap server has no mp3 files at all. The files are held by users all over the world. All the server does is help users see who has shared what. No file uploads or downloads go through the server. It is strictly peer to peer (p2p).
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Blocked files

Are any files blocked on the server?
The current list of blocked files and the evidence for each is on the homepage. Yes, the evidence is cursory but I am making a good faith effort to not step on the toes of any rights-holders.

You may disagree with my stance on this. My response is that I'm running this "on my own time and on my own dime", and remind you that the OpenNap source is freely available.
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How are files blocked?
Napster, OpenNap, and related technologies block ("filter") files by regular expression, which is a technical term meaning "pattern". A small block configuration might look like this:

d(ragnet|uff.*tavern) l(one ranger|ife of riley)

Note that the server can't magically tell what file contains what OTR; the filename must meet some logical, predictable pattern. This is why it is necessary to know the name of the series the claimant wants blocked; without that information it would be impossible to block the files. In some cases the files are not named with the series name, making the process more difficult.
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This FAQ generated by makefaq.pl (v. 1.5).

jason carr -