I've seen soulseek and nicotine+ recommended a lot, however is there how to use them tutorial? Or is it so simple that it doesn't need one ?(i opened nicotine+ and couldn't figure out what to do next)

[–] DoiDoi@hexbear.net 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Not sure if there is a guide out there but it's pretty easy and I can help you through it. First you'll need to make an account name and password. I remember it prompting for it the first startup but if not look through the options. Then you'll want to set the path to your music library in preferences -> shares. These are the files that you're making available to people searching and downloading. Then go to preferences -> downloads -> folders. I like to set my download folder as separate from my music library so that I can standardize it to my naming conventions, clean up metadata, and place it directly into my Artist - Album folder hierarchy, but you could probably get by with just setting this to your music library directly if you aren't in to that side of things. You can also set things like upload and queue limits and all that while in the preferences tab. Then just go to the "search files" tab and it's pretty easy to find what you want. I usually just go with "[album title] flac" and that's enough to get it 95% of the time even for obscure stuff. Pick an uploader based on speed / how nicely organized the files are, then just right click the folder name -> download folder and it will move over to the download tab.

Realized right after typing this out that there is a setup assistant at help -> setup assistant. Probably way more helpful than I am but feel free to ask anything else if you need to!

[–] rando@lemmy.ml 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Awesome thanks a lot for explanation, i'll go over this when i'm at computer and let you know if any more doubts.

If i'm just starting with collecting music, how/what do I put for sharing (current collection is empty or at max 20 files). Can I go ahead with empty shared folder and start sharing as I download?

[–] DoiDoi@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Some people will have share requirements but I don't think enough do to make getting started a problem. All of my stuff is totally unrestricted so if you like death metal / jazz I can help you out.

[–] rando@lemmy.ml 1 points 11 months ago

I think I figured it and setup correctly. I'll never say no to jazz or some death metal though. Thanks for walking me through.

[–] Outtatime@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've been trying to use a VPN while using this. Without the VPN, the port test comes up open. However, when using a VPN they're closed. Didn't seem to affect the downloads. Should I have these ports open? I tried to share some stuff, and it seems like it is. I've even configured the port forward thing to what my VPN says is open when I connect and didn't seem to work. You got any ideas?

[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You have to port forward at the VPN level, this is why everyone was pissed at Mullvad for ending it earlier this year. Currently the only VPNs supporting it afaik are ProtonVPN and AirVPN. You can still dl/ul without PF, but you can only connect to people who do have it enabled if you do not (for instance, mullvad stops me from PF now, so we could not connect if you had the VPN, but we could without VPN if it says "open.")

[–] Outtatime@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Okay.

Yes I'm using proton. And when I enable it it gives me a different port every time. So, then I'm supposed to put that number into the settings part? Like where exactly? Maybe you can shoot me a DM if you want to. There's like a place to specify port numbers.

[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, use that number in the settings part, where it says port. Iirc since it has a range you do the port on one and then one number higher on the other, i.e "port 666 - port 667."

[–] Outtatime@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

Ah okay!! I'll give that a shot! Thank you!