If you have some time to read...:happy:
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Explanation of original rar-releases
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Why share original rar-releases and how does it work?
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Releases are ripps of movies and software by organisations specialized in ripping,
also called releasegroups. Examples of such are FLT, FLiX, VcdVault, Dominion etc.
The advantage by downloading these ripps/releases is that you know what you get,
compared to downloading *.avi's or *.mpg's from all over and end up with a "newbie"
ripp, which may be good but in most cases crap. Not everybody knows the tricks and
understands how to make an excellent rip. Releases sometimes comes as an image,
most often as *.bin and *.cue).
It's an image of a complete CD which can be burned using i.e. Nero or read with
Daemon Tools. This goes for SVCD, games and software releases.
In most movie releases the *.avi file is usually rar-ed directly. To lighten the
load on the downloaders and by tradition the releasegroups allways rar's their
releases and then split them into smaller sized files. This is the standard for how
the releasegroups do their releases.
Within the release there are also a *.sfv and a *.nfo file. The *.sfv file is a
checksum file to ensure that all the other files have the correct checksum after
you've downloaded them. This way you can check/control for yourselves that all
files are received correctly. The *.nfo file contains information about the release,
which format, resolution, etc (for movies).
The advantages of this should be obvious:
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1. You allways have a checksum-file (SFV) to check if the file is corrupt. DC++ does
this automatickly when downloading, and if you loose your connection there is no
risc that the file you downloaded is somehow unusable because of the sfv-file
check... should something go wrong the file will be downloaded once more.
2. If a file is corrupt you only have to redownload 15, 20 or 50 MB instead of 700 or
4.5GB.
3. You can que the same original release from 5 users and download some files from
each user until you've got them all... and in this way maximize your downloadspeed
-> less time to download.
4. The files are identical with all users, so there's no doubt which file to resume.
5. We won't have these unneccesary questions in mainchat.. "What codec do I use for
mib2.avi ??" "What movie is fastnfurious.avi?"..... The nfo-file says it all!
6. Not to mention it's way too easy faking a large share with 4.5 GB -img-files...
7. Anyone who uses DC will gain from this as it is an excellent, if not the best way,
to share movies and software on DC.
As you can see there are numerous advantages by downloading this way therefore we hope
you will all use this format in the future, that is if you're not already using it.
How a release is built, how to use checksum and unpacking:
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A release is a directory and a number of subdirectories. It can look something like this:
Darkness.Falls.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-UTi (Maindirectory)
CD1 (Subdirectory) The rar-archives for cd1
CD2 (Subdirectory) The rar-archives for cd2
Sample (Subdirectory) A small sample/preview
uti-df-xvid.nfo (file) Previously explained
darkness.falls.dvdrip.xvid-uti.sfv (file) Previously explained
In the CD1 directory you'll find the files which unpackes directly to a *.avi file or a
*.bin and *.cue file, depends on what kind of release it is. In this case the format is
XviD and therefore there is a *.avi file in the archive. Besides there is a *.sfv file
which contains checksums for all the rar's in the directory. By using a program to compare
the rar files to the checksums in the *.sfv file you can ensure that all files are intact.
There are several programs that will do this i.e. hkSFV, TotalCommander and if you use DC++
it's built in when you download. (automatic sfv-checking in settings>advanced)
In case there is a corrupt file you only have to redownload that particular file. When all
files have correct checksums you can unpack them. This is easiest performed with WinRAR. The
rar files are usually named *.rar - *.rxx. Start with the *.rar file and extract and WinRAR
will complete the rest. After unpacking you should have a *.avi file which you can play in
you chosen mediaplayer or a *.bin and *.cue file you have to burn onto a CD with i.e. Nero
or open in Daemon Tools or similar applications.
To have a highest possible amount of releases in the hub it's important that you share the
release as it is for others to take advantage the same way you did. This means no renaming
or unpacking. Also do a sfv check on the release before you share it.
How can I check for releases and keep updated?
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There are special sites on the internet where such information is posted, i.e. www.nforce.nl (http://www.nforce.nl).
www.vcdquality.com (http://www.vcdquality.com) is another site where releases can be rated and then choose which one to
download.
It takes up too much space to keep both rar's and the unpacked files!
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I've heard this argument repeatedly when I've tried one of my pro-rar speaches. The
simple solution is to only save the rar's and not the unpacked files. Store all your releases
as rar's on your harddrive and when you want to watch a movie you just unpack it. The whole
procedure takes about 3 minutes and is a lesser con than all the other pros of sharing rar-
releases.
Pros and cons in short:
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The advantages of using this format for sharing movies and software is:
You know you've got a complete and working release of whatever you download, through checksums (CRC-check).
This means that you have an exact copy of the files as the person who made them. Instead of
downloading a *.avi file that have been back and forth over the internet and on numerous
harddrives, and may have been damaged by transfer errors.
This doesn't mean that the file don't work but it may have discoloration and "freeze-frames".
This is somnething many ppl don't understand, they will say things like "rar-files always gets
corrupt when I download them, avi's always work". They seem to belive that the rar "data" is
more likely to get corrupt than the *.avi "data", ofcourse this is not true. It's just that
when *.avi's get corrupted ofted you won't notice it, you will get freeze frames, the quality
of the movie will get worse and worse for each transfer. This will never happen with RAR's,
since you will detect coruppted data immediatly!
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This text can and should be spread around as much as possible, just include source and author.
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Author: Genesis (
[email protected]). English translation by Pirate69.
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