Methods to update a torrent

From Retro Arcade Guides

Below is a summary of three basic methods to updating torrents.


"Overwrite and TorrentCheck" method

Makes it possible to join a torrent at a lower percentage of completion but is very easy:

"Overwrite and TorrentCheck" method
  1. Copy the old torrent's files to a new folder (this way you can both seed the old torrent and have a backup)
  2. Recheck the new torrent with the new folder's contents (read Joining a torrent with qBittorrent)
  3. Start the torrent, overwriting existing files
  4. Use TorrentCheck to delete unneeded files (leftovers of the previous version)


"Dat-file with a ROM manager" method

Requires running a ROM Manager with a DAT File.

Makes it possible to join a torrent at the highest percentage of completion possible but is more complex.

Has three basic alternatives (pick only one):


"Copy and use clrmamepro to scan and rebuild" method
  1. Copy the old torrent's files to a new folder (this way you can both seed the old torrent and have a backup)
  2. Scan the new folder with the dat-file
  3. Rebuild from clrmamepro's backup folder, from the folder of the update torrent and other sources
  4. Scan to be sure there aren't any ROMs missing
  5. Torrentzip the new folder


"Use clrmamepro to rebuild" method
  1. Create a new folder
  2. Use the dat-file to rebuild from the old torrent's folder to the new folder
  3. Rebuild from the folder of the update torrent and other sources
  4. Scan to be sure there aren't any ROMs missing
  5. Torrentzip the new folder


"RomVault" method
Use the dat-file with RomVault. Resulting files are torrentzipped by default.


"Manual update" method

Doesn't use a ROM Manager.

Isn't feasible for almost all torrents because it would take too long and is highly prone to error:

"Manual update" method
  1. Open the dat-file with a text editor and see how each file should be
  2. Make the necessary operations to the archives and files to match the dat-file
  3. Torrentzip
  4. Use TorrentCheck to help identify faster what doesn't match
  5. Repeat the steps above as many times as necessary


Considerations

The best method to update a torrent depends on the total amount of files, amount of files that were modified, file sizes, folder structure, compression format, applications used and speed of the computer employed.

Some method possibilities (not recommendations):

Torrents Method
MAME ROMs "Copy and use clrmamepro to scan and rebuild"
MAME CHDs "Manual update"
MAME Software Lists ROMs "Copy and use clrmamepro to scan and rebuild" (in Clrmamepro In Batch Mode)
MAME EXTRAs "Use clrmamepro to rebuild" (for each folder)
MAME Multimedia "Use clrmamepro to rebuild"
eXoDOS, Win3xO, ScummVM "Overwrite and TorrentCheck"
Redump, TOSEC, Future Pinball, Visual Pinball "RomVault"
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