[Daracle]

Hey Guys
Im using MT-NewsWatcher and trying to download some TV themes from alt. newsgroups and when I open up the post to get the file, it comes up with a bunch of gargle that I cant understand. No sound or anything
I try some other types of media and it comes up with the same thing....

Any ideas what i am doing wrong?

[Daracle]

Nobody uses Newsgroups here?

[uv23]

Check this out: http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/topic/34512-1.html

[effgee]

ooooh - usenet - the "geeky" corner of the internet

personally, I use Thoth for all my usenet stuff, so I'm not sure how much this will help you, but I'll give it a shot anyway:

• open up your favorite alt.binaries.whatever group
• since binaries are usually split in several parts (file.rar, file.r00, file.r01 ...), make sure all the parts of the file you're trying to download are there (or that there's a sufficient number of par's to fix the rar file)
• in Thoth, I highlight all the parts, do a right-click and choose "extract binaries" from the contextual menu, choose a location on my machine - and download the whole shebang.
• when finished, I join/extract/fix the whole thing with Unrar X or MacPAR deLuxe

It is my understanding that usenet files are compressed (usually as *.rar files), split up in small chunks (*.r01 etc.) and then encoded (!). there's several formats for this encoding process and if my memory serves me correctly, MT-Newswatcher has a hard time decoding one of these - I think it was YENC.

Thoth does decode these files automatically - so I would download and check out a trial of Thoth - it's a nice piece of software. And if that fixes your problem, my assumption about the encoding was correct.

Here's my personal list of "essential" usenet utils:
Thoth
MacPAR deLuxe
Unrar X

HTH + cheers,

eff

P.S. wouldn't this be a question for the software forum?

[Daracle]

Thanks for the help effgee
And I a now using Thoth, but everytime I do what you say...Select the full package and select extract Binaries....it tells me there are parts missing and I have to wait to get them....


I dont understand this at all....You might be right about the software thing to but I am just trying to get help with newsgroups in general as I am brand new to them....

Someone please help

[vinster]

Originally posted by Daracle:
Thanks for the help effgee
And I a now using Thoth, but everytime I do what you say...Select the full package and select extract Binaries....it tells me there are parts missing and I have to wait to get them....


I dont understand this at all....You might be right about the software thing to but I am just trying to get help with newsgroups in general as I am brand new to them....

Someone please help

As mentioned this really isn't the forum to ask about Usenet. You might want to check out this URL for more information.

Cheers,

[Tomster]

Originally posted by Daracle:
.it tells me there are parts missing and I have to wait to get them....

Someone please help

There are a couple of reasons for this. It could be that the parts have not fully propagated to your server. Or it could be that you have a crappy nntp server. Or the articles might have expired/purged from the server. ISP's don't put too many resources into nntp service so if you are using a free service, those parts might never show up. In that case, I would suggest a commercial news server. A google search will bring up some sites where you can spend some bucks for better propagation and retention.

BTW - I don't think this is the best forum for this.

[elvis2000]

Originally posted by Daracle:
Thanks for the help effgee
And I a now using Thoth, but everytime I do what you say...Select the full package and select extract Binaries....it tells me there are parts missing and I have to wait to get them....


I dont understand this at all....You might be right about the software thing to but I am just trying to get help with newsgroups in general as I am brand new to them....

Someone please help

Possibly:
1) Your USENET server sucks. Consider Giganews.
2) You are downloading too few headers. Try increasing your header D/L to at least 5000.