Is Bogon Bogus? Help!

[TsoTsi]

My second WinMX run since updating to v4.54b4/patch 1.9 yesterday, delivered some surprising results/problems that i do not know how to interpret, because the first run had gone rather smoothly (except for a lack of primaries to connect to on the WPN, and when the connection is made/refreshed, it's almost inevitably to one in Japan. Can someone please comment on this too please?):

First note: Both PeerGuardian 2 (PG2) and Sygate Personal Firewall (SPF) are installed, running under Windows XP Pro SP2 (XP.SP2).

Second note: booting WinMX, this happen:

1.0 PG2 goes crazy and shows it's blocking Bogon IP's and, WinMX doesn't start up at all. Disabling the bogon filter in PG2 allows WinMX to start but-

2.0 Now SPF kicks in and shouts critical! - at the top of its voice too,  flagging me that an application (i.e. WinMX) is taking place and prompting me to do something (accept or reject) it. i go and check this out (TCPView) and notice that WinMX is connecting to winmxgroup server in de.

At the same time of course, this ruckus makes me go all white knuckled and i shut down everything, even cut the dial-up connection and reboot the PC..

A quiet, serious explanation will do a lot to settle my nerves..

[[\/\//¥\\/\/]The Omega]

Try not using PeerGuardian. I think that your problem is that SkyGate and PeerGuardian are cancelling each other out. That is what it sounds like to me. Give it a shot and see what happens.

[TsoTsi]

Thanks, Omega, what is SkyGate?

Actually, i've not only been using PeerGuardian, but until yesterday i'd also employed Protowall - jointly these two guardians did not infere with my WinMX 3.53/piepatch 2.6 combo at all. To get WinMX to work again, is easy, disabling a few settings but, i am loath to do that until i fully understand the pros and the cons- and i'm still new at this lot..

Do you possible have any other ideas or explanations?

[nylly444]

Actually they work together well - at least for me.
TsoTsi, regarding pg2 not allowing you to connect to winmx: One of the peer caches is in a range that gets blocked by pg2 because it used to belong to someone else before.
To solve this just get the allow list and add it to your pg2.
Regarding SPF: it's ok to connect to winmxgroup.com on starting winmx - that's where the text in the black bar on top (now grey actually) comes from, that way you'll get notified that the patch works or if there's a new version
That site belongs to KM, who wrote the patch and where you can also download it.
Of course winmx will also want to reach one of the peer caches on starting, you need to allow that as well of course for it to work

[Me Here]

Tso

What is happening is Sygate is telling you that a application Hijack has taken place. Now this would be serious IF you had not just made changes to the WinMX.exe file.  Because you have changed it your Sygate rightfully so, is telling you something has changed.  Allow it through the firewall.

The WinMX Group is where the block list is stored for our .dll patch and where its read from I should say, this is why its contacting that site.
All perfectly normal activity.

The Peerguardian is another matter.  I can run my Peerguardian if i so choose and have no problems connecting while running both.  I would however be very curious to know the IP range in the Bogan or Peerguardian 2 that is being used,  the one that your having to disable to get WInMX to connect.

Thanks..

[nylly444]

LOL - forgot to mention that it's not only the bar at the top but the blocklist as well fo course that gets loaded from winmxgroup.com - maybe I should start reading what I post first, hehe...

[TsoTsi]

Thanks to all of you! Y'all jumped in together so quickly with replies (5 stars to everyone here), and as usual i just had to lie down to digest everything first.. fearing a burnout, hehe

I'm up and running again, but plain sailing it is not yet. What happened to all the primary WPN connections out there? Are OpenNap servers the only solution? I get the feeling that i get dumped as soon as soon someone on OpenNAp sees a 56K tortoise crawling along.. where i am , broadband is hideously expensive.

Would anyone care to share his/her comment on my observation, as quoted in my first post? - see below..

<snip> ..except for a lack of primaries to connect to on the WPN, and when the connection is made/refreshed, it's almost inevitably to one in Japan. Can someone please comment on this too please?

Take care and many thanks for a job wel done!

[Me Here]

I cant give you an exact estimate on the number of Primaries running on the WPN at the moment but i can tell you there are plenty, as for the Asian numbers that is no surprise as its was an Asian user that enabled us to get the exact info needed to set up peer caches or get connected.  Thanks again to Drac for this..

The Asian market is HUGE!!!  They Love WinMX and are one of the reasons your here today.  Many of the primaries that where needed to restart this network and make it work again where the Asian primaries that didnt shut down.


I can assure you though from my research that I do, that many of the primaries are not Asian, but it would be safe to say that a majority are.

Im a little confused on your associations with the OpenNap network and  the WPN, as these two entities are separate beasts in the same ocean so to speak,,, if you could clarify that question I would be happy to try to address it better.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the elucidation, me here.

I use mainly OpenNap servers to connect to. There was a time when i had a high(-er) speed connection than 56 K, but not broadband. I was invited to join a huge, "private" OpenNap group (user/password/members only) which only peered in albw's. I was kept so busy that i rarely stepped into the WPN p2p realm.

Now, the OpenNap servers (loaded via NapMX) all seem to offer the same stuff and it is rarely as exciting as before. Enters the WPN, which i am eager to explore to see what it offers. I was just worried about DL speed issues which are prominent if i connect to the Asian primaries. i have to try and optimize everything as far as possible to serve my meagre bandwidth capabilities.

I have yet to see a cable or roadrunner primary connection.

Hope that is the reply you were looking for?

[TsoTsi]

The previous post is mine. I am absolutely ashamed of myself for forgetting to log in - again.. sorrrreeee!

[Me Here]

Well, yes it is the reply I was looking for.

I understand your reasonings however am not sure why the speed differences.  The reason I question this data is the majority, not all, of the flooders seem to love the high speed connections the Asian primaries give.  This said its up to you to decide this, and I do realize that with computer life there are variables that just cant be explained.

So, some folks use a TCP viewer to see what connections, or what primaries they are hooked up to.  This said you may very well be doing this already.  This wont keep you on an american or western primary connection.  That is the luck of the draw, but I am thinking there must be a way for you to block certain asian connections to your system to make your WinMX look for an alternative primary.

Possibly by adding some large asian IP ranges to your peerguardian or Protowall.  This may cause more problems connecting then its worth.. not sure, as I am really just thinking and typing here..

Will think about this an let you know if I can think of anything that would be of any use to you in this....

[TsoTsi]

I use TCPView to observe the connections upon WinMX startup, and hit the refresh button to cycle and search for cable or rr primaries- its not only a speed issue, but also question of longevity/stability of the connection.. The real problem currently is, of course, not so much the connection, but really having so few of them. I cycle through maybe 5 or 6 primaries, and they are almost always the same ones.

I notice that certain opennap networks are not really that "open", being secured and closed to non-members. How does get invited to join? Is it a good thing? Who in his right mind invite a tortoise to a dance party of hares who jive around all night long?