Give higher download priority to specific parts of file in a BitTorrent client?

Question

Generally, and probably for good reason, BitTorrent clients download across all of the file equally based on various other factors. However when downloading some videos I would prefer to get the start of the file first, or the latter third of the file first, etc. Is there a way to do this with any client?

Answer 1

No, there is no way to prioritize an arbitrary part of the file. Years ago, I asked the devs of eMule to implement this feature because sometimes while watching a show, the network cuts off the last minute or I’d miss a few seconds after one of the commercial breaks, and I didn’t want to download an entire episode just to watch a few seconds. They shot the idea down, stating that it would hurt the swarm if people could pick and choose what they get.

It is no different with µTorrent, or any other P2P system that relies on evenly distributing parts of a file among the peers.

The closest thing to this is the ability (usually set to off by default) to prioritize the first and last part of the file which was done specifically so that the file can be verified as genuine and not a fake (because most file-types put the header and meta-data at the beginning and a few put it at the end).

In µTorrent, set the bt.prio_first_last_piece advanced option:

Answer 2

I came here looking for the answer to the same question, and @Synetechs's answer pointed me in the right direction. I don't know if this is a new feature that didn't exist when he posted his answer (it's been 3 years, after all). But in the same advanced tab, now there is a bt.progressive_piece_picker setting, which seems to prioritize pieces from the beginning of the file. Has worked for me so far. Use this setting with care, though. It bypasses the core of the protocol, which is the unordered nature of the download. May be ok for torrents with lots of seeders, but may kill less active torrents.

Answer 3

In uTorrent, if you hold Shift+F2 while clicking on "preference" you will have access to some special options.

As you can see in the following screenshot: you have, among other things, two new options:

• bt.sequential_download
• bt.sequential_files

You can change the value of those parameters to "True" in order to download your file sequentially.

Of course avoid to use those options for torrents with a few seeders.

Answer 4

From the main window, click the detailed info pane. Select the files tab.

Right click on the part of the file you want to increase the priority of, and change the priority from normal to high.

The following is from the bittorrent help manual

• Priority displays the priority given to the file.
  • high means BitTorrent will attempt to complete the file more aggressively relative to other files of lower priorities (low or normal). If there is an opportunity for this file to become more complete, BitTorrent will take it. Note that this does not guarantee the completion of the file, or that the file will complete before other files of lower priorities.
  • normal is the default priority given.
  • low means BitTorrent will attempt to complete the file less aggressively relative to other files of higher priorities (normal or high). If there is an opportunity for another file of higher priority to become more complete, BitTorrent will take it over downloading for this file. Note that this does not guarantee that the file will complete after other files of higher priorities.
  • skip means the file will not be downloaded. Do note that some files share pieces with other files. As such, you might notice that a part of a skipped file (or possibly an entire file, if it is smaller than the piece size) is downloaded. Understand that this does not mean BitTorrent has ignored your request to not download the file.

Answer 5

You can do that by clicking "don't download" for the files you don't want, then force back priority to normal for these when your file is downloaded.

Answer 6

it tries to end up download fast to a specific file in your torrent download in comparison to other files if it is set to high.. med will be no extra speed aur power... in low it will give low priotity in comparison to other files ... skipping will skip the selected file. high.med,low and skip are proirity