Tomato Torrent - help required with opening file

[fishing]

Hi there,

Firstly, I am using Tomato Torrent only for strictly legal purposes and this is my first post, so please be kind! I am a new to torrent and have never used any other client software - I read a number of posts here and on other forums and thought I'd try Tomato. But I have no idea what I am doing.

I downloaded some .divx files but now cannot open them. When I drag and drop the .torrent file into the Tomato app - the one that says "Download Torrent to here" I get the error message: OS Error [Errno 30] Read-only file system: '/Volumes/Tomato Torrent 1.5.1/

Am I doing totally the wrong thing? When I click on the folder I dl - which is housing the .divx files, all the files are greyed out, and I cannot open the folder or its contents with the Tomato app.

When I click on the big red tomato icon and then click open torrent file, I choose the .torrent and it says "Checking existing download". It finishes but I don't know what to do next.


Any help appreciated!! Thanks.

 

[vandozza]

first issue is that you havnt installed Tomato properly from the .dmg that it was downloaded from. you need to drag and drop the Tomato app from the disk image (mounted on your desktop below your HDD?) to your applications folder.

second issue is that it sounds like the files you are trying to view, arent actually downloaded yet. for example a 30 min tv show is often 180mb and a 1hr show 360mb. it will take some time for tomato to find peers (other users with the file to share) and then to download the data.

on a 1500kpbs line the maximum speed i can download at is 150-165KB/s - a 160mb file is going to take me minimum 20 min to download (longer considering it takes time to ramp up to this maximum speed)

when it says "checking existing download" it's actually veryifying the progress that you have made to date. after this it should be trying to finish the download. you won't be able to watch the divx till it's completely finished, as torrents don't download in order, you receive random pieces along the way.

to summarise it looks as though the downloads are not even starting correctly as Tomato is not installed properly, as Tomato is trying to write to the .dmg file.

- install Tomato properly (drag and drop to your applications folder, and launch from there, if Tomato is in your dock, remove that link and recreate it from your applications folder.)
- drag the .torrent files to Tomato (now in your app folder)
- wait the required time till the download is 100%
- if the divx won't play you may require Perian or VLC.

PM me and ill iChat you with further help if you need.

you could also try the app Transmission, which I find better than Tomato.

 

[fishing]

Hello Vandozza, first just wanted to say thank you for such a speedy reply!

Somehow I have already stuck a copy of TT in my apps folder so then I tried to open my dl folder and it said it finished the dl. I can now view all the files in VLC but don't know how to get the .divx files into a burn programme. When I open iDVD, and browse those divx files they are still greyed out.

OK, I will PM you now. Thanks again.

 

[vandozza]

I think that iDVD can only support file types that Quicktime can play (ie has the correct codecs for.)

Install this - http://perian.org/ (it's a great utility to add almost all required codecs to quicktime.)

Then try the iDVD thing again.

 

[sammich]

iDVD is a program to make proper DVD's for your home movies made with iMovie generally. You know menus and special features and all that. Plus Apple programs like iMovie/iDVD/iTunes only take certain kinds of movies like '.mov'.

If you wanted to burn the movies so you can watch it on your DVD player or whatever, just go to the finder, select 'File > New Burn Folder' from the menu bar, and put all your divx movies into there.

Alternatively if you had other burning programs put the files into there.

 

[fishing]

I think that iDVD can only support file types that Quicktime can play (ie has the correct codecs for.)

Install this - http://perian.org/ (it's a great utility to add almost all required codecs to quicktime.)

Then try the iDVD thing again.

OK will do that now. I clicked on your public profile, but there was no option to send PM..

 

[vandozza]

If you wanted to burn the movies so you can watch it on your DVD player or whatever, just go to the finder, select 'File > New Burn Folder' from the menu bar, and put all your divx movies into there.

though for this to work your DVD player must support the playing of DIVX files. mine doesn't but it's 4-5 years old. check the front panel of the DVD player, they often mention DIVX/WMA support, or the manual.

No good trying this method unless you know the DVD player is capable of playing DIVX directly.

If it's not, you have to convert the DIVX to mpeg and then burn.

 

[fishing]

iDVD is a program to make proper DVD's for your home movies made with iMovie generally. You know menus and special features and all that. Plus Apple programs like iMovie/iDVD/iTunes only take certain kinds of movies like '.mov'.

If you wanted to burn the movies so you can watch it on your DVD player or whatever, just go to the finder, select 'File > New Burn Folder' from the menu bar, and put all your divx movies into there.

Alternatively if you had other burning programs put the files into there.

thanks sammich, but all my files currently just look like blank pages, do i need to convert them at all before I burn? It just doesn't look right, but then, i wouldn't know.

though for this to work your DVD player must support the playing of DIVX files. mine doesn't but it's 4-5 years old. check the front panel of the DVD player, they often mention DIVX/WMA support, or the manual.

No good trying this method unless you know the DVD player is capable of playing DIVX directly.

If it's not, you have to convert the DIVX to mpeg and then burn.

ah right, which is why i need perian to make them mpeg?

 

[vandozza]

perian will allow Quicktime to play/recognise divx files

idvd uses Quicktime as it's "engine", so Perian is required to expand Quicktimes abilities.

however, burning divx to a dvd using idvd is not something that I have tried. there are other drag and drop apps make to streamline this process (easier than idvd.) I'll try to find some links (though most cost.)

just to confirm, the downloaded divx play correctly in VLC? (ie the files are completely downloaded and play in VLC properly?)

ah right, which is why i need perian to make them mpeg?

if your dvd will play divx there is no need to convert at all, and this would be the easiest route.

you would just burn a dvd containing all the divx files, and your dvd player does the conversion for you.

 

[fishing]

Vandozza - all the files play perfectly and in their entirety on VLC.

My DVD player does say DIVX video on the front, along with G code /dolby / DTS / RAM, so that should be OK?

How do I PM you on here - sorry, can't seem to find the option?

 

[vandozza]

Vandozza - all the files play perfectly and in their entirety on VLC.

My DVD player does say DIVX video on the front, along with G code /dolby / DTS / RAM, so that should be OK?

How do I PM you on here - sorry, can't seem to find the option?

the PM option should be available if you click the users name on the left, in a drop down menu.

if your DVD player plays DIVX which it looks like it does, you can follow sammich's suggestion.

- Opposite/right click on your desktop
- Select "new burn folder", rename folder to whatever you want the dvd labelled.
- Drag/Drop the divx's into this folder
- click burn (top right, inside burn folder.
- the divx should play on your dvd player

 

[fishing]

the PM option should be available if you click the users name on the left, in a drop down menu.

if your DVD player plays DIVX which it looks like it does, you can follow sammich's suggestion.

- Opposite/right click on your desktop
- Select "new burn folder", rename folder to whatever you want the dvd labelled.
- Drag/Drop the divx's into this folder
- click burn (top right, inside burn folder.
- the divx should play on your dvd player

No, don't have PM option, maybe because I am new. I get: view public profile, see posts and make buddy (which I did), but couldn't find the option to chat or PM.

OK, will try burning it and see how I go, if it doesn't play i'll go back and try the perian thing. thanks

 

[fishing]

the PM option should be available if you click the users name on the left, in a drop down menu.

I just read the FAQ - I need to be a member for at least a day and to have made 5 posts to send PMs.

 

[fishing]

well, i burnt a DVD of all the divx files but my dvd player can't read them, the display shows "unformat". So I will try perian and see if I can get iDVD to read them.

 

[vandozza]

I can't really help you with this burning issue, it's not something that I've tried to do.

Someone else might have some ideas?

Your DVD players sounds like it should play DIVX, the only other suggestion I can make is to download an app called "Burn", CD/DVD burning software that can burn discs in both Mac/PC formats (maybe OS X is burning an OS X only disc, hence the "unformatted" message you have been getting.)

In burn you can change the type of disc burn in the preferences.

 

[fishing]

I can't really help you with this burning issue, it's not something that I've tried to do.

Someone else might have some ideas?

Your DVD players sounds like it should play DIVX, the only other suggestion I can make is to download an app called "Burn", CD/DVD burning software that can burn discs in both Mac/PC formats (maybe OS X is burning an OS X only disc, hence the "unformatted" message you have been getting.)

In burn you can change the type of disc burn in the preferences.

no problem, I'm sure I'll be able to find info on the burn issue, otherwise I'll start another thread. I'll do a search later on formats and burners. It was more the torrent thing I was concerned about initially, and I was really struggling to find discussions and help guides, for obvious reasons. You've been a lot of help, thanks!

 

[vandozza]

yes there seems to be plenty of older threads regarding the conversion of divx to dvd, visualhub and toast seem to come up as good options quite frequently.

i would also recommend you switch your torrent app to transmission, i think it's a better client than tomato.

 

[fishing]

just switched to transmission, see how i go. so far so smooth.

 

[SHADO]

Personally I use Azureus because of all the options, such as being able to pick which files in a torrent you want to download. As far as playing movies goes, are you trying to play them on a TV? Because if you are not, then I would recommend getting VLC. It plays everything, and I mean everything: .divx, .avi, .mkv, etc.
If you want to find a tutorial on Azureus (or Transmission), just search youtube. There's a bunch there. Good Luck.

 

[vandozza]

Personally I use Azureus because of all the options, such as being able to pick which files in a torrent you want to download.

FYI this is also possible on Transmission. The only thing that I miss from Azureus, that Transmission doesn't do, is schedule shows via RSS.

 

[fishing]

Personally I use Azureus because of all the options, such as being able to pick which files in a torrent you want to download. As far as playing movies goes, are you trying to play them on a TV? Because if you are not, then I would recommend getting VLC. It plays everything, and I mean everything: .divx, .avi, .mkv, etc.
If you want to find a tutorial on Azureus (or Transmission), just search youtube. There's a bunch there. Good Luck.

Thanks shado, but I've just read Azureus is a bit of a drain on resources, so I'd rather stick with the simpler, basic clients - also more suitable for my level of expertise atm I'm not going to be using that often either. Yes, I want to play on a dvd player and watch on a TV monitor. I have VLC so am watching it on there for now.