Morpheus Surpasses Napster
 

After an official programmers' census, where each individual Supernode was queried, it was discovered that Morpheus had approximately One Million, Five Hundred Thousand simultaneous users, beating Napsters' all time peak, set earlier last spring, by somewhere between 50,000 & 250,000 users.

So Napsterites this means: Morpheus has now become the worlds' biggest file sharing application – ever!

Thanks to Fastrack and MusicCity, the programmers and marketers, for their wonderful (and tricky) product and the users (and posters!) for their support, without whom this would not have occurred.

It becomes clear, especially in these times, that anything working to erase borders and bring people together in a peaceful way is a positive force for everyone. That a little file sharing application can do both so well is a tribute to its' creators and the people on whose computers it is allowed to run.

So congratulations to MusicCity & All The Morpheus Faithful, and a special thanks to the coders and users of ALL the file sharing applications with particular emphasis on the P2Ps but I especially need to thank SHAWN FANNING and NAPSTER, without whose insight and perseverance none of this would have been possible.

To exceed Napsters' numbers in no way lessens that singular achievement. Indeed, it is an extension of it. We're now adding to the global foundations Napster built.

- Jack Spratts

Just be sure to block this IP address: 206.142.53.4

It is the ads.musiccity.com server and it tries to connect to your computer in any way possible. I blocked the addy and it has tried no less than 3000 times to access my PC in the last 5 days. That is pretty damn determined for an "ads" server. Just be careful is all I'm saying. Don't get me wrong I love the program but just block that IP address.

My c: drive got wiped out yesterday so I had to reload everything. I tried to install Morpheus v 1.3.2 but got a message back from the network that I have to use the latest version because previous versions they claim will not work. Will Morpheus only connect with the new version? I wasn't sure if I was having a problem comnnecting to morpheus network because even with the latest version I had trouble getting on.

walberg..thanks for the tip on the ad ip block.

it still connects with previous versions but i dunno for how long though. I'm just waiting for the pay version to come out. Until them I'm gonna milk the ****ers dry I tells ay.

Thanks.. maybe the network was hosed at the time I tried ..I'll try and reload it again...As for milking it until the pay version, same with me. Once they go pay, everyone will move on to another p2p app and morpheus will end up in the scrapheap where napster now lies..Until then, just enjoy it while it's still free.

i use version 1.3.0, one of several july updates. this one has no set bit-limit. it connects and works fine. let me know if you want it and i'll email it to you. you just have to check "notify me of updates" and then refuse them when you connect.

as for the pop ups, i don't get any and i don't know why - i do know it's a problem with some users but it does not contain spyware.

finally, musiccity says they don't controll the existing software. it can't be recalled, pulled, altered or "shut down".

in any event and by any definition - a major achievement and a huge black eye for the riaa.

- js.

Not trying to tred on your toes or anything but you should try to block the IP addy I suggested and see how many times it tries to connect. Then tell me it's not spy ware. As for the limit bitrate thing. It's just a registry entry. Current user/software/morpheus/ key: limitbitrate: 0 or 1?

how are u guys blocking this ip addy?? i want to..just dunno how too :(

Thanks Jack..What I will try is to load the version 1.3.1 or 1.3.2 again and make sure I have the upgrade notification unchecked. If I still have a problem, I'll send you a PM and let you know where to send me v 1.3.0 because I don't have that release..Thanks:tu:

Any decent firewall will do it. Most of us are using a software based firewall like Zone alarm or Neo watch or Tiny. All of them can block IP addy's. If you can't find 'em let me know. I'll point you in the right direction Love. Or email it or whatever ay.

Peri, You can block it if you are using a firewall. I use at guard to ad block

Thanks for an interesting update, Jack! :tu:

Quite an achievement from Music City - especially as Morpheus has done all of its growing with a very 'low profile' compared to Napster which got plenty of attention from the mainstream media. People have found Morpheus on their own and with the help of each other, and should Morpheus go down or commercial, people will no doubt be able to reorganize themselves into a similar huge community around other some other p2p software. Cheers to p2p revolution! :beer:

Peri, look for hosts. file (no filename extension) from your c:\windows folder (in NT and W2000 the folder is c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc). If you don't have such a file, you will find a file called hosts.sam - this is a sample file that you can copy as hosts. to the same folder.

Open hosts. file with notepad. You should find from there at least the following line:

127.0.0.1 localhost

Just below this line, add line

127.0.0.1 ads.musiccity.com

and save the file.

The addition you made will make your computer think that the ads.musiccity.com site resides actually in your own computer, hence Morpheus will not try to reach it (and its advertisements) from Internet.

- tg ;)

Damn good idea tankgirly. i didn't think of that one.

i'll try it but all it's doing is sending pop-ups. ad-aware shows nothing, musiccity denies it and the "experts" who really know this stuff have said it's clean.

that specific registry entry was left out of some versions. so there is no way to set it to zero on those, leaving users stuck with a 128 bit-limit. my version has the key line entry - and the proper setting.

- js.

Re: Morpheus Surpasses Napster
 

BUT, 95 out of 100 times I try I can't even get results from another computer hooked to the same cable modem with a hub. So I'd call it the biggest collection of little file sharing nodes.:(

thats absolutely right mike. the whole p2p experience is operationally different from napsters' server based protocols and that includes the amount of access to shared files and users' connections to other users thru the network (chat & hotlisting) :MAD: .

however, since there is no finite upper limit on a p2ps' user base and the client continues to be refined, as is now being seen with morpheus, the day will come and soon when you'll be able to get Anything You Want, including alices' resturant, with just a keyboard and a click, making napster a distant though fond memory. as it already is for newbies :ND: .

- js.

winmx is better than morpheous............

Doubt it Jack, they'd better come up with a way to do broader searches with less traffic. If they don't you'll still be searching only the supernodes closest to your conection.
Seems MC2 put it out that's why they limit the number of hits allowed and there is a self limiting search boundry. \
True unlimited P2P will return hits hours after the original request and cause havoc with the amount of traffic/data across the net. Even if each computer only quieries 2 computers after 20 quiery levels you're at 2 to the 20th power. That's a hell of a lot of data not to mention the cost to someone to get a file. Or do you think those search engines really go out and quiery every website every time you search for something?

not everytime mike.

they do a full querry after a preset limit. in morpheus' case that limit is ten returns. if the first search finds ten or less, the client orders a full system rollout.

- js.

Then answer me this Jack, why can't I get returns from another computer hooked by a hub to the same cable modem as mine with it's own IP address more than 5 out of a hundred times? This using little copied titles like 40's big band and even some of Ramona's stuff.:con:

Allow me to repost a page from mcs' board where jaan, a contract programmer for fasttrack, attempts an explanation. there are now about 4000 active supernodes at any one time:

Q. The supernodes don't cache search results at all? So is it cached at the client then?

A. yes, the client caches the results for 10 seconds or so, just to protect the supernode.

Q. You said something previously about using different branches of the network for repeated searches.

A. well, they are not completely different. for example, the supernode you are connected to is always searched (because that's cheap). so are its neighbours, if i recall correctly. it's the third step that (effectively) searches a bunch of random supernodes on the net. however, as the third step is really expensive, it is performed only if the first steps yield less than N results, where N is about 10. in other words, the different branches only kick in if you search for really obscure stuff.

Q. Is Morpheus simply remembering it once it found that this user had these files?

A. yes, it's remembering the user/IP. so if the user did not have a static IP or was behind firewall, the chances of finding him are not so good.

- js.

"bunch of random supernodes" being the key here.

i note that i was never able to find rare songs parked on my other computer in over a year of using napster without first using hotlist.

Ok, I'm sticking w/Audiogalaxy! I've had so many problems w/KaZaa and WinMX and whatnot and I can't stand seeing spy software installed on my pc (KaZaa is *best* for this crap) so, Audiogalaxy is what I'm using. But I must say, I sooooooooooo miss the days of being able to use....Napster! *arf*
Dust...

Interesting discussion, Jack & Mike! :tu: Some comments...

Your point about p2p experience is excellent. The real attraction of p2p is in the experience of it. Morpheus, WinMX, Gnutella... they all can provide the basic experience of finding some stuff you are looking for and getting it easily. Fair enough, that is motivating enough to make people to organize themselves into p2p communities around the various clients. But there is so much more to it...

How many times I have heard comments like that of chickie-monkie's: "But I must say, I sooooooooooo miss the days of being able to use....Napster!" Yes, many people miss those days and for a good reason. The social tools of Napster together with its singular namespace were enough to provide the social thrill of being a permanent member in a global, never-sleeping online community that Napster grew to be. The post-Napster newbies may not even miss this experience as they have not known it... but they will come to know it, in time. Kazaa/Morpheus started out as a totally 'stuff-oriented' software in the spirit of Gnutella but the popular demand made FastTrack add browsing to it. As soon as you have browsing, the need for permanent (and working) hotlists becomes obvious. And so on... step by step the new generation of p2p is getting more social but it still hasn't reached the social intelligence level of the good old Napster. :BL:

The supernode approach has clearly been a good way to enhance the scalability of serverless p2p architectures. WinMX's WPNP applies a similar approach and so does Gnutella with its new reflector nodes. The fact that Morpheus can connect 1.5 million people even loosely with 4000 supernodes is not a bad achievement at all. The next thing to do is to make that connectivity tighter so that working hotlists and full search visibility can be provided over the whole network. Then there will be again the technical ground for something similar to the 'Napster experience' and even better.

How to proceed with the architecture? How to make the community of supernodes to work more efficiently so that searches can really reach the whole available content? One interesting way to enhance the search functionality would be to allow the supernodes and their 'clientele' to gradually self-organize into more content-conscious node clusters. For example, if you were regularly looking for reggae tunes, you would love to connect to a supernode hosting mostly reggae lovers. That way there would be much more relevant material available directly from your local neighborhood. And for the inevitable remote searches the supernodes could use their genre-awareness to form more effective links between each other. The next best targets for a locally failed reggae search would be other reggae-oriented supernodes etc. The idea is to allow the low-level nodes to 'migrate' between supernodes so that those with shared musical interests would get gradually closer and closer to each other. When you would join the network as a newbie, your searches would initially be 'blind shots' into your local supernode(s) and from there on to the wider supernode community. But should you repeatedly find something to download from a topologically distant supernode, this supernode could agree with your 'own' supernode to start hosting you so that you would be closer to people and content that you are interested in.

- tg ;)

So how do you "hack" Morpheus so that you can download mp3s with higher bitrates than 128? I looked in my registry and didn't see a registry under Morpheus that said "bitrate limit." Can someone explain this to me? That damn bitrate limit is a real pain in the arse.

In the Morpheus version I have the registry entry is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Morpheus\LimitBitrate - check that the value there is 0.

- tg ;)

Nap, try here for the procedure: http://cgi-bin.streamcastnetworks.co...mID1/2724.html

:ND:

Thanks for the info mike and tg! Your procedure worked like a charm - I can't believe I missed that entry before! But one more question... Is there any way to put limitations on searches with Morpheus (e.g. only return matches with bitrate of 160 or higher)? That would be great!

Thank you. :D

:) i have tiny oscar. tho i dunno how to block ip's cause the boxes dont pop up nemore :(

You're welcome, Nappy! :)

Instead of searching for 'Everything' search for 'Audio' and then choose 'More Search Options...' which opens up a list of extra limiters. Check the 'Quality' checkbox and you can set the bitrate limits for your searches.

- tg ;)

thanks for the info tg! worked like a charm. :tu:

I moved this thread over here as it contains good p2p-related information and discussion.

- tg ;)

i debated putting it here to begin with tg but thought ultimately it was relevent for all the "napsterites". now that they've seen it in underground, p2p is fine. i am going to edit it somewhat and repost.

- js.