qBittorrent - file sharing client

Submit portable freeware that you find here. It helps if you include information like description, extraction instruction, Unicode support, whether it writes to the registry, and so on.
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webfork
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Re: qBittorrent

#61 Post by webfork »

Userfriendly wrote:Maybe? Maybe not? I'm not even sure if relative file paths is necessary unless users run qbittorrent and save files on the same USB drive and plan to seed it later on a different computer.
It's no biggie. We have a policy to give primary status to natively portable programs but if this item is in flux, I don't mind waiting for the dust to settle.

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giulia
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Re: qBittorrent

#62 Post by giulia »

stisev wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2017 2:43 am For the love of all that's holy at Portable Freeware, REMOVE this app. It is NOT portable. When it associates with magnet files it spreads its crap all over the computer. Legions of users have begged the author to institute true portable mode, but he's demanding money.

It's ironic. Portable & freeware... two of which are features not inherent to this problem.

I along with many other users have reverted to uTorrent 2.2.1 until this dev stops being such an ass to its loyal base.
hi
may i know what kind files does it spread?
This app should be reported and removed from PF as it constantly spreads its files all over my computer after magnet links are associated.
&
I gave qbittorrent an honest try. I can't get magnet links to associate with the portable version anymore. I even tried running it in Sandboxie and manually installing a reg entry.
and does somebody deeply tested it ?
does it spread files ?
thanks

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Userfriendly
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Re: qBittorrent

#63 Post by Userfriendly »

giulia wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2018 3:03 am and does somebody deeply tested it ?
does it spread files ?
thanks
He means it will still use standard windows AppData directories for settings when you associate and open torrent files and magnet links. At least thats how it should work if not in portable mode. But In my case, it actually decided to leave settings in my portable Firefox app folder and in System32! Since qBittorrent requires command line switch or environment variable to have its settings "portable", having portable settings and file and magnet link association isn't possible at the moment because of how portable mode works.

https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7769 Using the Env Var QBT_PROFILE or QBT_PORTABLE should help keep qBittorrent using portable settings without command line switches through shortcuts or launchers so you can open associated torrent files and magnet links directly and settings stay portable. But it just doesn't work as it should.

qBittorrent should be able to automatically be able to go portable mode if it recognizes settings files in executable directory like any other well done portable apps do. None of this cmd args or custom launchers should be necessary. Its why I still use utorrent as my primary torrent app for opening torrent files and magnet links since it can still have windows recognize it as my default app for opening that stuff and still keeps its settings working portably.

All that disussion and work to make it work portable natively and they somehow manage to do a janky implementation of it boggles me. I understand that file association isn't normally what you would thing you would be using with portable apps in mind but a lot of portable apps out there work well with it otherwise. Not the case with qBittorrent. It's either full install mode or whatever the developer thinks portable mode is limited to. https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7236

Other related portable mode issue https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7765

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giulia
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Re: qBittorrent

#64 Post by giulia »

Userfriendly wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2018 8:38 am
He means it will still use standard windows AppData directories for settings when you associate and open torrent files and magnet links. At least thats how it should work if not in portable mode. But In my case, it actually decided to leave settings in
hi
thank you so much , i was worried after reading
. Seriously, if you think this is an opinion go read the issues forum. as ransom for portable mode, he's demanding people give him money. You really can't make this sh##t up.

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webfork
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Re: qBittorrent

#65 Post by webfork »

User loin2kolpotoru noted in comments
It now supports --portable parameter.
Anyone have any idea on how to use that or should we leave the extract instructions as-is?

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Userfriendly
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Re: qBittorrent

#66 Post by Userfriendly »

webfork wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:36 pm User loin2kolpotoru noted in comments
It now supports --portable parameter.
Anyone have any idea on how to use that or should we leave the extract instructions as-is?
Well yeah its supported that for awhile now. loin2kolpotoru a little late on that news. The issue with --portable still exists. I/O errors after saving files in same drive as qbittorrent executable and restarting client. Still preferable to use --profile=profile to avoid it. See https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7765

Other portable related issue associating .torrent files with QBT_PROFILE or QBT_PORTABLE env variables. Its not standard practice to use env variables to configure portable mode for apps but its an option for qbittorrent to force where it reads/saves its settings. See https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7770 and https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7769

Probably still better to keep using portable launcher. Just easier for most users. The current portable implementation is not perfect and it still requires using shortcut link, batch file, env variable or some other launcher to use the command line parameter. It seems to be a low priority issue. Wouldn't hold out hope for it to be improved upon anytime soon.

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Userfriendly
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Re: qBittorrent

#67 Post by Userfriendly »

V4.2.1 finally adds painless way to enable portable mode. Simply needs a folder named "profile" to reside next to the executable. No more command line or env variable nonsense needed. Also seems to behave properly with .torrent and magnet associations now while in portable mode. Github issue for reference: https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/pull/11614
Wednesday December 18th 2019 - qBittorrent v4.2.1 release

FEATURE: Enable portable mode if "profile" directory exists (Tester798)
FEATURE: Enable "Apply rate limit to peers on LAN" option by default (Chocobo1)
BUGFIX: Sync translations from Transifex and run lupdate (sledgehammer999)
BUGFIX: Don't unnecessarily delete OS files in folders (sledgehammer999)
BUGFIX: Use the incomplete folder where appropriate (sledgehammer999)
BUGFIX: Align Properties tab bar correctly on window resize (Prince Gupta)
BUGFIX: Rework the listening IP/interface selection code (sledgehammer999)
BUGFIX: Fix inconsistent icon for deleting torrent (Chocobo1)
BUGFIX: Show torrent error message in transfer list (Chocobo1)
BUGFIX: Fix stuck in wrong torrent state (Chocobo1)
BUGFIX: Expand single-item folders in torrent content (warren)
WEBUI: Bump Web API version (sledgehammer999)
WEBUI: Add ability to rename torrent files from the WebUI (Thomas Piccirello)
WEBUI: Mention lack of HTTPS in WebUI magnet link warning (nl6720)
WEBUI: Fix HTML elements size in search tab (Chocobo1)
SEARCH: Fix incorrect translation displayed after language change (Chocobo1)
SEARCH: Fix missing translations in search plugins dialog (Chocobo1)
WINDOWS: Update russian translation of the installer (Andrei Stepanov)

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Midas
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Re: qBittorrent

#68 Post by Midas »

Great news. Maybe it will propel qBittorrent to wider adoption now -- and thus enhancing the prospect of revenue for the developer. 8)

billon
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Re: qBittorrent

#69 Post by billon »

Should we change the entry to the native version?

olliebean
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Re: qBittorrent

#70 Post by olliebean »

One glitch with this new version - the first time I ran it without the command line, it moved all the files from my existing torrents into the profile folder, even though the settings still had a different directory set to save files in. Had to move them back by right-clicking to "Set location". New torrents seem to save correctly in the folders I have it set up to use.

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Midas
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Re: qBittorrent

#71 Post by Midas »

billon wrote: Should we change the entry to the native version?

I say we should, it's been our policy to point as close to home as possible.

olliebean
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Re: qBittorrent

#72 Post by olliebean »

The "glitch" is worse than I thought; basically the bug with portable mode breaking file paths on the same drive letter - as detailed on the previous page: viewtopic.php?p=88484#p88484 - still exists; if the "profile" directory is present, portable mode is automatically enabled and the file paths are broken. The workaround is still to use the --profile option, but to make sure the profile directory is not called "profile"; for example, --profile=userprofile. Unfortunately, if you run the new version before making this change, as I did, the file paths are broken and you will have to delete, re-add, and force recheck to repair them.

So to summarise: Before you run the new version, rename your "profile" folder to something else, and change the --profile option in your shortcut to reference the new profile folder name.

Since the same shenanigans are necessary as before to get it working correctly, perhaps the entry shouldn't be changed after all...

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Userfriendly
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Re: qBittorrent

#73 Post by Userfriendly »

olliebean wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:37 am The "glitch" is worse than I thought; basically the bug with portable mode breaking file paths on the same drive letter - as detailed on the previous page: viewtopic.php?p=88484#p88484 - still exists
You're right the bug is still there. I don't usually save torrent files in the same drive as my apps but the I/O error happens and it can't resume the torrent. Though I didn't have to change my profile folder name for the --profile switch to keep things working as I want it.

But at least torrent and magnet file associations kinda work but only if qbittorrent is already running with --profile switch. Otherwise, if qbittorrent is closed and you run it via clicking on a .torrent file or magnet link then it gets run with --portable mode and the --relative-fastresume same drive I/O error bug happens.

Not even sure what the purpose of --relative-fastresume is for portable mode. According to --help its to "Hack into libtorrent fastresume files and make file paths relative to the profile directory". Can't wrap my head around this feature. I guess when you move qbittorrent around in a usb drive on different computers and drive letters change? But if its on the same drive as qbittorrent say D:\ drive and torrents are in D:\Torrents\ then with the --relative-fastresume bug it turns the savepath into ../../../../Torrents ???

If we wanted file paths to be relative we should just be able to set it manually in the settings like how some portable apps do it. Instead of having it hardcoded at launch, we can just type in some relative path in the Default Save Path setting like "./Torrents/" would mean to save file in a "Torrents" folder in the same location as qbittorrent.exe.

I Guess some of these issues still persist.
https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7765
https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7770
https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7769
https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/7236

For my use case, I just wanted to be able to click on magnet links and .torrent files so that now works sorta but if i wanted to save files on the same drive as qbittorrent I would need to have the app open with --profile before adding torrents that way.

Why can't they get this done properly? Seems so easy yet so hard. So close yet so far. This wheel has been invented already but somehow have to reinvent it.

olliebean
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Re: qBittorrent

#74 Post by olliebean »

It seems my mistake was running the new qBittorrent executable with no command line, thinking it would detect my "profile" folder and work as before. This meant the --relative-fastresume bug kicked in, my profile was corrupted, and subsequently it didn't work even with --profile=profile. But if --profile=profile is always used, then nothing is corrupted and everything works as before.

I'm still inclined to use a different name for my profile folder, to avoid the risk of accidentally running the executable directly rather than via my shortcut and having it corrupt everything again (which wouldn't have happened with previous versions - it would just have created a new non-portable profile folder in AppData/Local).

Crucially, though, --portable mode, whether enabled by command line or by the program detecting the presence of the "profile" folder in its directory, is still unfit for purpose in many scenarios, so my vote would be to keep the entry pointing to the PortableApps version.

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Midas
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Re: qBittorrent

#75 Post by Midas »

Thanks for the valuable input. As I have no experience with qBittorrent and both olliebean and userfriendly are upgraders, how do you think this issue would affect new users, i.e., those more likely to download and create a 'profile' folder to achieve portability? :|

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