Also, can you download 40MB to 400MB files in this website. I've receiving this message while trying to download iMovie 2 v2.0.1:

Archived (210.32 MB)
Temporarily unavailable due to high bandwidth costs
For Mac OS 9

Nice! Now we don't have to mirror our uploads anymore.

Yay

awesome. I donated $30 i can't wait to start downloading without mirroring.

By leechers do you mean people who download everything at once? Couldn't you restrict how much bandwidth one member/one IP can use per day? I don't think mirroring would help because people will just click the big green "download" link anyway.

Probably will need some kind of limit for downloads. Myself I'll definitely keep using/providing the mirrors whenever possible, to try and lighten the load the Mac Garden must bear.

Hello everyone,

This is great news. Unfortunately I can't do much on my own, and Maedi hasn't responded to an email about certain server issues (games don't get pushed to S3 automatically, occasionally filling up the server) for a few days.

I'll post if I hear anything!

Maybe he took the money and moved to the Riviera?

sounds like a scam jD
then again, maybe he just has a lot of collage work to do

How soon will the new server come into effect?

If memory serves, there was over $100 left to go on one day, the next day I couldn't get the Mac Garden site to load at all, and the next day when it came back up, it was down to $0.00.

Is the number even accurate?

Yes. I remember it remained at $ 115 for some days, but then someone donated again and it went down to around $ 50 fairly quickly in a couple of hours and then down to $ 0.00. I wonder if Maedi has already gotten the news, since he has not responded to it. He may not even know yet

Good; 'tis the season then. Personally I'm not in any hurry for the big downloads to be enabled. Better to figure out some kind of simple limit first.

And in any case the regular downloads need to be fixed anyway, since a lot of download links don't seem to be going through easily.

Maybe a silly question but, how much more money needs to be donated for the over goal now, or is that just for if you want to add a bit extra? Who now needs to confirm that the server bandwidth can be brought back up?

Thanks.

I'm not too sure. I do know that server costs do not go away; it's an ongoing thing.

I can't do much, as Maedi controls the servers. If I re-enable S3 downloads, that donation money will go fast.

Don't like BitTorrent. I've never been able to find a decent Mac downloader. I'd rather wait until the new download stuff comes in. Maybe a download limit for the larger stuff only?

Meanwhile: was there ever a bit torrent client for the classic Mac OS? That would be real cool.

@watchsmart:

Take a look at http://btfaq.com/serve/cache/11.html . Appears messy, but doable. Definitely not user-friendly though.

That looks awesome. I'm going to try that out as soon as I have some free time!

ISWIPE: http://www.hillmanminx.net/iswipe/index.html
Bittorrent, Gnutella, and much more other client.
Try only version for Mac OS 8.
Version for Mac OSX/OS9 not work at OS9.

@TataMisia: Probably because the OSX/OS9 version requires 9.1 or later (application package format).

I found these instructions buried on the yahoo group:

1. Change your date and time to 2 years ago, and deselect the automatic time
update.
2. Launch iSwipe.
3. Register with "thanksfordonating"
4. Change time and date to current.

That fixes it. It's still flawed, but at least now it works.

I have Mac OS 9.2.2 and application for OsX/OS9 freeze after press "Agree" button.
Application for OS8 launch good.

@TataMisia: Did you increase the memory allocation in Finder?

MAEDI! WHERE ARE YOU!!

relax...

I heard a rumor: Maedi is trapped underneath a giant glob of uncooked sour-dough. We all have to go help dig him out!!

We'll probably be moving the server within a few weeks; nothing is final yet though.

Hello, we'll be moving hosts soon, just want to pick the right one. Considering to go with these guys:
http://vps.net

Yeah, bread is a big part of my life. If any of you fellows are interested in naturally leavened breads, check out my other site:
http://sourdough.com

Gawd! I LOVE BREAD! specially Mexican sweet bread and American Pumpkin pies.

Ads didn't make much of a difference unfortunately. Ideally we would have a system where people just pay to download, but it's not legal.

I knew it would come to this.

How about make downloads available only to logged-in users, and the big files that are archived available only to uploaders?

The idea of rewarding uploaders is a good one, but there's no way to implement it fairly. And people would be encouraged to upload garbage just to be able to download stuff.

Welcome Back Maedi, its been a long time, how did you dig out from the bread?

40$ over the goal! Where is the money coming from?

45$ Over Goal!!!!

"The idea of rewarding uploaders is a good one, but there's no way to implement it fairly. And people would be encouraged to upload garbage just to be able to download stuff. "

agreed. not to mention the fact that the longer this rule was in place, the smaller the pool of 'wanted' games would become. i've been casually and haphazardly collecting mac games for years and i am hard pressed to find *anything* in my collection that isn't already up here (that could be considered abandonware). MacGarden would become similar to private HL and BT clubs

@HughMungus:
You just require people to seed for, say, 3 days out of the 7 after downloading a file. A ratio-based system would not work, as you say.

About uploading garbage ... just have a set of standards. Also it won't count unless someone actually downloads that garbage: you need to have someone to seed to.

And about being private...? There's no reason we can't make people ask to join, like on IRC ... or just approve membership requests on a one-by-one basis ... I fear this site may just get full of people who just download and don't really care otherwise.

Though I understand the bandwidth issues, I think anyone should be allowed to download whatever they want. Most people who visit probably just want to play some of their old games, and it should be easy to get a hold of those games and set up an emulator.
Setting up some kind of ratio system would likely just scare people away. A better idea (in my opinion, of course) would be a simple download cap, X MB per day.
On the other hand, you could raise/remove the download cap for someone who uploads something, for a day or so. If they upload something from the wanted list, raise it for a week. Might work as an incentive.

Seeding torrents is not a possibility for me. Ever.

Standards... I don't see how that's possible unless there's a return to the old system of uploads needing approval of moderators before becoming available.

Just from a user's standpoint, I have no problem with a daily download limit, and with people continuing to provide mirrors for those with no patience.

Hmm. I guess we could give people a daily download allowance.

Standards? Allow uploads to be reported for various reasons, and monitor files anyway.

I wasn't talking about a ratio system, just time-based seeding requirements. But we'll see

I vote for a "workable" daily download allowance, that takes into account entire disk images where possible. ie: 300MB/day, or 1 disk image >300MB

obviously, membership on the forum is a prerequisite!

I like that the site is kept afloat by voluntary donations.

I suggest that it should be kept simple. Publish 3 yearly targets: the first target is the amount needed to stay afloat with the current max. limit, the second with a max. limit of say, 80 MB, and the third with a max. limit of 600 MB. The more we donate, the larger the files we may download at any one time.

Needless to say there would have to be estimates involved, but adjustments could be made at the end of each month if the download allowance is being vastly exceeded.