Step-by-Step eMule Setup

[jpf]

Thanks, mimzy, for the tip.

However that doesn't seem to help. I tried this two weeks ago and then again one week ago, with no success.

I don't usually use the "open" or "execute" command (or whatever it's called in English) as triggered by clicking the link or the "open with" item in the context menu. I rather copy the links into a plain text file and paste them into eMule a few days later.

The links copied into the txt file on my son's PC work OK on the eMule client installed at home but they don't work on my son's PC. The links copied into the txt file on my PC work OK on the eMule client installed at home but they don't on my son's PC.

Plus, I don't use Chrome, I use Firefox. I also tried Opera, just in case, and it made no difference.

I verified that eMule isn't running as administrator, which could prevent pasting. As a blind shot, I made it run as administrator. No change.

I verified its security permissions. They seem OK. jDownloader is running with the same user and permissions and pasting links into it works OK.

To be on the safe side I uninstalled eMule and reinstalled it after rebooting. No change.

I have a few things yet to try, but I must wait for my time slot for using that PC.

For now this is no big deal because I often find the same movies on torrent sites, and even alive direct download links posted at FLM, BK or TNT. But in the long term I'd like to have this worked out.

[Night457]

Jpf, if I understand what you have tried then I am befuddled by your problem.

I guess you are affected by Chrome upgrade like several other users. Please try https://www.first-loves.com/forums/view ... 39#p118739

Thanks, mimzy, for the tip.

However that doesn't seem to help.
...
Plus, I don't use Chrome, I use Firefox. I also tried Opera, just in case, and it made no difference.

I sometimes use Firefox so I logged in there and experimented. As I expected, my first experiment did NOT work. I right-clicked on an ed2k link and selected "Copy link" from the menu. Then I pasted that into a text file so I could see the links. Then I Copied the links from the text file and attempted to Paste them into eMule. THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH FIREFOX FLM EMULE LINKS. This is as I expected because of recent coding changes that I will not attempt to explain. There was no right-click Paste option in eMule and CTRL+V does not work either.

THEN INSTEAD, I tried the method linked by mimzy. In detail, in English:
1) Like an FLM post to reveal the ed2k eMule link.
2) Check the box to the left of the link. (see check marks in image below)
3) Click the "Copy selected links" button under the links. (also in image below)

IMAGE, NOT REAL LINKS!!!
[Image]

4) Paste those links into a text file.
5) Later, Copy those links from the text file and Paste them into the eMule Transfers / Downloads window.

Following these steps from links copied from Firefox, this worked for me.
It did not seem to matter what kind of Copy-Pasting I did.

CTRL+C and CTRL+V;

OR
(Right-Click Menu in the text file, select Copy)
AND (Right-Click Menu in the eMule Transfers/Downloads window, select "Paste eD2K Links").

If you really have tried using the "Copy selected links" button at FLM, I am completely lost as to why it is not working.

[jpf]

Thanks, Night!

That explains why I didn't get it to work. I guess I was right clicking the name of link, which gave me a seemingly OK ed2k link instead of clicking the "Copy..." button. How could I get so confused? And how can it be that at home everyhing seemed normal? I must be getting Alsheimer, like my mother did...

I'll try to do it right next time, and hope it'll work!

Update:
I just tried and it works! Thanks!

[Night457]

GREAT! I am glad I helped you to use mimzy's fix properly! I was struggling to try and figure out why it worked on one computer but not another, and could not image what Windows did from 10 to 11 that would mess it up. A few months ago there were some browser coding changes that in turn forced a change in how ed2k links are coded at FLM. Mimzy's additional button for copying links came about as a result of THAT as a workaround. He had to figure out how to get eMule to work in different browsers and different operating systems, both by clicking links AND/OR by copying them. Testing that has depended on feedback from members using the different computer options.

[jpf]

I guess you're right, Night: it's not consistent through different PCs even if both run fully updated Windows 10. Weird!

I just clicked on the name of the link at home while controlling my son's PC via Anydesk and the edk2 link is correctly added to the transfers window of my eMule client at home but not to the eMule client at my son's PC, which needed the link to be pasted using the link grabbed by clicking the "Copy..." button.

[Night457]

I just clicked on the name of the link at home while controlling my son's PC via Anydesk

I have never remotely accessed another computer, but surely all bets go out the window (Windows®?) doing that. There are too many variables to factor in and test when it turns out that something does not work. Hands-on access to the device being tested is how I would have to do it. Otherwise, the "test" is to see how well the remote access works.

[jpf]

My tests as described at the OP were made straight on my son's PC and on mine, not through remote control. I can repeat the hands-on test today at night because I'm leaving for my son's place in a while and will spend there the rest of the day and all day tomorrow.

However, I don't think remote control can have any side effect. At least I didn't notice any in the past 15 years or so that I'm using it, be it by Remote desktop via a local VPN sharing the Lan where the target PCs are, by Remote desktop on the same Lan, by TeamViewer, by Anydesk or direct PC to PC connection (Ethernet or serial). Also remote controlling specific apps running on remote PCs via their own Web server works fine, though their Web pages don't look anything like their GUIs. I never tried setting up remote control on eMule, but I guess it will be similar to that of jDownloader, for instance. Most apps require redirecting ports for that (so it won't be posible if you're behind a NAT), but maybe eMule can do it through the eMule server it's connected to. I may try this sometime. jDownloader (sorry, I ment qBitorrent) can traverse the NAT so no need to redirect ports or be connected to any server. Before I retired I did most of my IT work trough remote control. Most of the controlled devices didn't even have a local screen (among them all the equipment at the remote FM repeaters of the stations, local routers, firewalls, 7 servers, loggers, studio-transmitter links, etc.) and I never had an issue with that.

[Night457]

Woohoo! Your post made me so happy: in my own fumbling amateur way, I managed to provide eMule help for a retired IT professional whose experience and knowledge definitely exceeds my own. Cool. It is nice that I can be useful.

This seems to indicate that in some small but important way, ancient eMule might be different than some of the other software beasties out there. Or at the very least, keeping it working with updated browsers just might continue to be an issue. Maybe the problem is that browsers change things that do not need to be changed? (As in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".)

If you have not read through it already, if you are interested you might want to take a look at the previously-linked thread. With your technical background I am sure you can understand the issues involved:
ed2k link no longer work in Google Chrome AND aMule

[R.R.K]

Spoiler: Using eMule in 2022 *For images to load please sign in. First of all, I highly, highly recommend using a paid VPN. Not only will it prevent your ISP from seeing what you do online, it also makes port forwarding incredibly easy. No messing with routers. For this guide a VPN is required. Optional steps are hidden by a spoiler. The most important thing when it comes to choosing a VPN is trust. If you don't trust your VPN then stop using them. For me personally, and for many, Mullvad is currently the most transparent and trustworthy VPN service. It costs 5 euro p/m and makes port forwarding incredibly easy. If you're looking for something a little cheaper, AirVPN often has sales with the biggest one happening around black Friday. *Important* Depending on how paranoid you are, you may want to pay for your VPN via cryptocurrency. If you're going to do that, use Monero. If all you have is Bitcoin or some other currency, it's easy to convert it to Monero. I won't explain this more than that since this is about eMule, not the banking system, but it's worth mentioning. Once you've got your VPN ready, let's start setting up everything! _________________________ |Step 1. Configuring your VPN| -------------------------------------------- VPNs are known to be slow, but over the past few years this has changed. There are many different VPN technologies, each with their own pros and cons, but the newest VPN technology is Wireguard. Wireguard is incredibly fast in comparison to OpenVPN, so always make sure you're using it! It has very little overhead, meaning you wont notice much of a drop in speed if at all. _______________________ |Step 2. Opening your ports| ----------------------------------------- The setup will be different depending on your VPN provider, I'll explain how to forward ports for both Mullvad and AirVPN, since these are the two I feel comfortable recommending. If you're using a different VPN they'll likely have a guide on their website, if they support port forwarding that is. [MODERATOR EDIT, May 31 2023: Mullvad is now no longer supporting port forwarding. See this thread here: https://www.first-loves.com/forums/view ... hp?t=14963 ] Mullvad \ There's a short video on Reddit that perfectly shows how easy it is to forward your ports. You can view it here; https://reddit.com/rufv7u OR you can view it via a private Reddit frontend here; https://libredd.it/rufv7u AirVPN \ First, head to the AirVPN website and pop into the Client Area, find the "Ports" area and click "Manage". In here you'll want to click on the "Request a new port" button, leave the text field bellow it blank unless you know what you're doing. Take note of the port in a text editor, we'll come back to it soon. ________________________ |Step 3. Setting up "eMule" | ----------------------------------------- Before setting anything up, I'd like to mention a few things about different clients. Currently the main two are aMule and eMule. While I personally prefer aMule as I'm a Linux user, it's currently broken. Downloads freeze after downloading 15MB~ and remain in queue for minutes to hours. At the time of writing, do NOT use aMule. Once aMule is fixed I'll remove this notice. As a workaround for Linux users, I've created an extra step on how to get eMule working just like it does on native Windows, it's actually rather easy, if you aren't very technical then follow the steps to a tee. If you're a Mac user and have a working Mule setup, please let me know what it is so I can add it in here. ______________________ |Step 3.1 Windows Setup | -------------------------------------- Head over to the eMule download page (https://github.com/irwir/eMule/releases/) and download either the file eMule0.60d-Installer.exe if you're using a 32-bit computer, or eMule0.60d-Installer64.exe if you're using a 64-bit one. If you don't know what your computer is using, choose the 64-bit download, if it fails, retry with the 32-bit one. If you're reading this in the future, long after it was originally posted, the files may be named something like "eMule0.70c-Installer64.exe" - that's fine, just means it was updated since the time of writing. Go ahead and install it, leave all the options as default and continue clicking next until it's finished. For the next few steps I've included images in case you get stuck! When you first launch eMule you'll be greeted with a setup wizzard, I'll walk you through it. Click Next on the first slide. [Image] Here you can change your nickname, if you'd like to be a little lowkey you can leave your nick as the default, but if you'd like to let yourself be known feel free to change it, just don't make it something personal like your real name or email. Add in an [FLM] to show other uses where you came from. If you'd like you can start eMule when Windows starts, I recommend enabling this since it means you'll always be giving back to the network, but feel free to leave it off. Click Next. [Image] On this part we'll put in our port number from earlier, click on "Test Ports" - if it fails, that's fine, just make sure to check the firewall step later on! Click next. [Image] Leave all the options on this part as default, just click Next. [Image] Again, leave this as default and click Next. [Image] Click Next... : [Image] Click Finish. eMule is now set up!! But we've got one last thing to do - add some servers for us to connect to. [Image] in eMule, go ahead and click on the "Servers" icon, third from the left at the very top. It's got a donkey beside a server. On the right side of the eMule app you'll find some text that says "Update server.met from URL", go ahead and paste this link in the text field right under it and then click "Update." http://upd.emule-security.org/server.met This will add a handful of great servers easily! [Image] Let's repeat this, but this time click on the "Kad" icon beside the "Servers" icon. On the right side of the app you'll find text that says "Nodes.dat from URL", paste this link into the text box right under it and hit "Bootstrap". http://upd.emule-security.org/nodes.dat [Image] Now for the very last step, adding in an IP filter. Click on the orange cog icon named "Options" and click onto the "Security" tab. Once you're there, find the text saying "Update from URL: (filter.dat- or PeerGuardian-format)" Paste this link into the text box right under it and then hit "Load" http://upd.emule-security.org/ipfilter.zip [Image] At this point, eMule is completely up and running! Now all you need to do is hit the lightning bolt at the top left and connect to the network! _______________________________________ |Step 3.2 Setting up eMule on Linux (Optional) | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Spoiler: In the future when aMule is working again I recommend you switch to it, but for now, let's get eMule working through WINE. To do this, we're going to need to have flatpak installed and setup, if you already have it installed skip this step, if you aren't sure you have it or not run "flatpak list" in a terminal - if you get output then you have it. The reason why I'm recommending using flatpak is that it will create a sandbox for all your Windows apps, increasing security and making them much easier to manage and uninstall. Using your distros package manager, install flatpak. On Debian/Ubuntu the command will be "sudo apt install flatpak", for Manjaro it'll be "sudo pacman -S flatpak" and for Alpine it should be "doas apk add flatpak". Once installed, run this command to connect it to Flathub; [Code] That's it - fully installed! Note that, if you're using a Hardened Kernel on Arch for example, you'll need to enable unprivileged user namespaces in order to launch Flatpak apps. To do this, issue this command in your terminal; [Code] **A reboot may be required after installing Flatpak** Now, install the app "Bottles" via this command; [Code] Now that it's installed, let's run it by either launching it from our apps list, or via a command if you'd like to see all the things it's doing, the app currently doesn't have loading bars but they show up in the terminal if you launch it this way; [Code] It'll download some things, so be patient. Once it's done, go ahead and click "Create a new Bottle", choose an "Application" bottle and name it something like "Donkey", it'll install and configure some things, which may take a while. Once created, click on your newly added bottle. You'll start out in the "Details & Utilities" tab, while you're here, click on "Utilities", a drop down will come out, click on "Browse C:" - this will open your Windows directory where all your Windows files will be. Bottles isolates Windows into it's own area, so no app you run through it can see your real files - only what's in this C: drive. This can be a little inconvenient though, as you need to move whatever exe you're trying to run in here. Here in the C: drive, create a new folder named "donkey", head into it. Now, download eMule from here; https://github.com/irwir/eMule/releases (Choose the file ending with 64) Once downloaded, cut/copy paste it into your newly made donkey folder. Back to Bottles, head into the "Programs" tab and click the + button in the top right, from here, navigate to your "donkey" folder and add the eMule exe. Annoyingly, when you click this + button it doesn't bring you to your C: drive, so you'll have to navigate there. It should be in [Code] Go ahead and launch the newly added eMule setup exe. Check the Windows setup for images and a guide, TLDR; smash the next button. Once installed, click that + button to add another program, this time navigate to; [Code] Once in this folder, add the "emule.exe" file. Now just launch that and eMule should be working!! Head back to the previous step for Windows users - it's an identical setup for Linux, however, automatic link handling probably wont work. To workaround this, once you've finished setting up eMule, head over to the "Options" menu, which is an orange cog, third from the top right. Go into the "Files" tab and find the option that says "Watch clipboard for ED2K file links". From now on, when you copy an ED2K link eMule will detect it and ask you if you'd like to add it. You can copy dozens of links at a time and it'll add all of them, pretty handy. If you get stuck, confused or anything else don't be afraid to ask for help here. I can also add images if the process is too confusing. ________________________________________________________________ |Step 4. Adding a killswitch (To prevent traffic leakage to your ISP, Optional) | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spoiler: *Note; this may or may not work with port forwarding, if anyone tests this please let me know how it went. While not everyone cares about leaking their traffic, for those that do, here's a way. Note that this only works with Mullvad and will add a slight speed penalty. Mullvad offers a SOCKS5 proxy for all of its servers - if you don't know what that means, it basically routes your Mullvad traffic a second time, to another server. What has this got to do with leakage? Well, it only works when you're connected to Mullvad, so if you aren't, the proxy wont work, and eMule won't be able to connect to the internet. Head to the "Proxy" tab and check "Enable Proxy", set the "Proxy type" to SOCKS5. Now head over to the Mullvad website and click its "Servers" tab (or mullvad.net/en/servers) From here, untick the boxes "OpenVPN" and "Bridge". Choose the server you'd like your connection to be routed to (choose one close to your VPN server location for optimal performance) and click on it, a drop down menu will unfold, copy the "SOCKS5 PROXY ADDRESS" and paste it into the "Proxy host" text field in eMule, delete this part from the address ":1080". In the "Proxy port" field input 1080. That's it, done! A neat fallback mechanism. It's worth noting that, since your connection is being routed a second time, a speed penalty will happen, I'm not sure how big it will be, but it probably wont be noticeable since eMule isn't the fastest thing around. :p _____________________________________ |Step 5. If you're behind a firewall (Optional) | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Spoiler: For Linux users, I'm assuming you know what you're doing. Most distros have a firewall app nowadays, should be simple enough to navigate through that and configure what you need. Common apps are Ufw, Yast and Firewalld. If you don't have a firewall app, consider installing one. For Windows users, if you're using Windows Firewall head to your control panel, then click on "Windows Firewall", or something to that extent. There should be an "Exceptions" tab, enter a name for the exception, "eMule" for example, then type in your port number. Do this for both TCP and UDP. If I got this wrong please correct me! If you're using your own firewall, I'll assume you know what you're doing. If you're using an antivirus (hot take alert) uninstall it - antiviruses suck, they're terrible for privacy and often WORSEN security. Windows Defender isn't as bad as people think it is, I recommend you use it instead. And of course, don't install or click on suspicious things, your mind is the greatest antiviruses money can buy. If you've got a file or movie you think could be dangerous, scan it with Virus Total online. ___________ |Step 6. ??? | ------------------- Everything should be working now, so go like some posts and SHARE them too!! This website wouldn't exist if people didn't share - it's the most important thing to do and the biggest way to give back. If you run into any issues, have any edits to suggest for the guide or anything else, please let me know! Thank you FLM community <3 ___________ | Extra: FAQ | ------------------- Spoiler: Click the spoiler button to view the answers. I don't have a VPN or my VPN provider doesn't provide port forwarding - can I still use eMule? Spoiler: Yes! You can use eMule even without port forwarding, however your speeds will be slower. In certain cases, some files won't be availble to you. I don't use a VPN and would like to port forward from my router, how can I do that? Spoiler: Follow Phuzzys original guide if you'd like to do this. My antivirus is interfering with eMule/port forwarding and I don't want to switch to Windows Defender. Spoiler: The best thing to do would be to look up a specific guide for the antivirus you use. If you're using Kaspersky, look up "How to port forward Kaspersky" for example. There's simply too many antiviruses out there to create a good guide for them all. How can I make eMule connect automatically when I start the app? Spoiler: Click on the orange cog in eMule labeled "Options", select the "Connections" tab and look for the text "Autoconnect on startup" - there's a box right beside it, just tick that and hit apply. The port I use to port forward changed, how can I switch the port eMule uses? Spoiler: Click on the orange cog in eMule labeled "Options", select the "Connections" tab and look for the text "Client Port". Here you change change both the TCP and UDP ports, once you're done click on apply. Can I use eMule on a phone? Spoiler: An Android client does exist named "Mule", however it seems to have a lot of restrictions. If you've only got access to a mobile device it's certainly better than nothing. Mule is available as a direct APK download from github, or on the Google Play Store Github; https://github.com/a-pavlov/jed2k/releases/tag/3.3 Google Play; https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... .dkf.jmule I noticed an error or important omission from the guide. Spoiler: Please let me know! I'm no expert and would appreciate feedback. ^w^

Thanks for your impressive info: Heyena! Just one question. What do you put in for the speed, where it says (DOWNLOAD, UPLOAD) Thanks Again for your tremendous work? It really helped. I would give you 5*****Stars.

[Night457]

After contributing this remarkable guide, Heyana left FLM a few days later and has not come back, at least not under the same member name. You quoted an entire long post which I Spoilered, so I am guessing what you are referring to based on my vague memories of eMule installation rather than read through that entire post all over again. I hope I guess right. The numbers for your DOWNLOAD and UPLOAD speeds depend on the Internet speeds for your computer. Do an Internet Speed Test. There are many such sites online, but this is one: https://www.speedtest.net/

This will give you your CURRENT speeds, which will of course vary on different days. It will still give you an idea of what speeds you generally have. TAKE A GUESS what numbers to put in! Adjust them up or down based on your experience on how well eMule is working for you. If eMule generally runs smoothly then leave what you chose rather than obsessing over the "perfect" number. There is no one definite answer for all people. You have to experiment and see what works. I am pretty sure that Phuzzy said something along those lines in the first post, but I am not going to read through two entire eMule guides all over again to confirm that.

TECH EXPERTS AND EMULE EXPERTS: Please contribute any additional information or corrections.