i'm not sure if this in the right spot but can someone tell me What is a .torrent file? and how can you open it? thanks

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Asking what a .torrent is (as did) misses that the .torrent is not the file data but a small metadata file in bencoded form. It lists filenames, total size, piece length and piece hashes, one or more tracker "announce" URLs and optional flags (for example a private flag that disables DHT/PEX). A BitTorrent client reads that metadata to find other peers (via trackers, DHT and peer exchange) and then downloads the file in pieces from the swarm.

For the stalled-download case mentioned by , common causes and checks:

  • No active seeders in the swarm (torrent may be "dead"). Look at total availability reported by trackers/DHT.
  • Tracker(s) offline or blocked (private torrents require working trackers).
  • Client cannot accept incoming connections (NAT/firewall/router blocking). Enable UPnP or set a static LAN IP and forward the client's port (both TCP and UDP where required).
  • Local issues: download folder not writable, insufficient disk space, or the torrent is paused/queued.
  • ISP throttling or port filtering (try a different port and enable protocol encryption in the client).

Quick, practical checks (replace 6881 with the configured port and /path/to/downloads accordingly):

ss -lntp | grep 6881      # verify client is listening
df -h                     # check disk space
ls -ld /path/to/downloads  # check write permissions
sudo iptables -L -n | grep 6881

About seed/peer numbers (as asked by ): when clients show something like "Seed: 6(14)" and "Peer: 7(12)", the first number is typically how many peers/seeds are currently connected, and the number in parentheses is how many are known to the swarm (reported by trackers/DHT). Exact labels vary by client, but if the connected count is much lower than the known count it usually means incoming connections are blocked or NAT traversal failed.

Short checklist to resolve most problems: confirm swarm has seeds, enable DHT/PEX (unless torrent is private), allow the client through local firewall, forward the chosen port on the router (or enable UPnP), check disk permissions and space, and inspect client logs for tracker or connection errors. If no seeds exist, the torrent cannot complete.

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I have a torrent file which when i start downloading it never actually starts it sit's theer open just idle and gives no error. I am using Bittorrent and I am behind a firewall; Ieven tried opening the mentioned ports on the firewall but no luck; Please Guide

Thanks.

What the seed and peer in torrent?
What it's mean that show the seed and peer like this

For example:
Seed : 6(14)
Peer: 7(12)

Help to explain
Thanks for explain

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