Need howto or document on using this module please

I think it's really time for a little howto :) I was actually planning on writing one myself seeing as I just got the thing working tonight (i think) but i'm buggered if I can work out how to use it :P. What I _thought_ the module provided was the ability for a user to:

1. Upload a file, for example an image or zip file of some sort.
2. Have the server create the .torrent file for the attached image or zip or whatever.
3. Have that file seeded by the server (at the administrators discretion).

OR

1. Upload a .torrent AND/OR image/zip/whatever and have the server act as tracker and web seed.

I think I am not 100% certain on bittorrent technology and certainly not 100% up to speed on how this module is supposed to function!

For example, today after I got the module to work properly (i think) I created a new torrent node called "city lights" and uploaded City_lights.jpg, it said everything went fine and the resulting node included a link to a .torrent file, but it doesn't work! Azureus says:

"'/tmp/City_lights_in_motion-2.torrent' could not be opened:

Error reading torrent file '/home/mrintegrity/.azureus/torrents/City_lights_in_motion.torrent - Error reading torrent: BDecoder: top level isn't a Map"

So, I thought perhaps that I have to upload a .torrent file only. Therefore I create a .torrent of the same image in azureus and uploaded the .torrent, created the node and the .torrent I uploaded opens fine in azureus with the problem here being that, as there are no seeds, there is no way to download the file!

Not sure if I should open a separate issue for this so for now will just post it here.

Please help, thanks!

There are currently two scenarios when using the bittorrent module:

1. Upload a .torrent module: When you upload a .torrent file (I recommend creating them with Azureus) it adds it to the system and applies the appropriate changes including replacing the announce url (if configured). Depending on the scope setting of the tracker it will also add a passkey to the announce URL (at the time the torrent file is requested for download as these are unique to each user). Following the upload the module will track all users who are running the torrent on their computer. To act as a seeder, open the torrent file (I suggest pulling it down from the website instead of using the uploaded one) and tell it the location where the file you created the torrent from exists. Your client should detect it and start seeding after comparing SHA1 values. You might have to wait until your next announce to the tracker before showing up as a seeder.
2. Upload a file (through FTP or some other method) to your server into your web seed directory and note the path. In your web browser go to the create content page and select torrent. Enter the path on your server to the file and Drupal will automatically generate the torrent for all files under that path. Download the torrent and start seeding as per the directions above.

Please feel free to let me know if I need to clarify more. If I can get a decent set of directions together I will include those in the module.

Did you download the torrent file from the site after uploading it? It adds your passkey to the announce URL when you download it from the site (the passkey varies per user).

The tracker information is added at download time the file within default/files is not being sent to the user. When you are viewing a torrent node a link should be displayed to get the torrent, that will pull down the correct file.

the document "install.txt" is OK
but after install this modules , i still don't know how to configure to make it work

could you please so kind to make a video or a screencast?

http://drupal.org/node/508044

I'm having this same problem. It seems as though I've created my node properly, but the torrent does not show up accurately. I'll happily provide any information needed to resolve this issue.

re-saving display fields (it was already set properly) helped fix install, thanks sdk and mitylite