Knowledgebase

Torrents can end up stuck or paused due to tracker errors, a full disk quota, or a mid-hash interruption. Two ways to unstick them: through the ruTorrent web interface or via SSH. Start with the web interface — it is faster for most users.

Method 1: ruTorrent Web Interface (Recommended)

Log in to your ruTorrent interface at https://yourserver.pulsedmedia.com/user-yourusername/.

1. Locate the stuck or paused torrent in your torrent list.
2. Right-click the torrent and select Start.
3. If the torrent remains stuck, right-click and select Stop, wait a few seconds, then right-click and select Start again.

For more on the ruTorrent interface, see the ruTorrent wiki page.

Method 2: SSH + Screen Session

If the web interface is unavailable or the torrent does not respond to UI controls, connect via SSH and interact with rTorrent directly. rTorrent runs inside a screen session on your server.

If you have not set up SSH access yet, see the SSH key authentication guide.

1. Connect to your server via SSH.
2. Attach to the rTorrent screen session:

   screen -r rtorrent

3. You are now inside the rTorrent ncurses interface. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the affected torrent.
4. Press Ctrl+D once to stop the torrent. (Pressing Ctrl+D a second time removes it from the list — press only once to stop.)
5. Press Ctrl+S to start it again. Note: Ctrl+S must be pressed inside the rTorrent interface. At a regular shell prompt it freezes the terminal instead — if that happens, press Ctrl+Q to unfreeze.
6. Repeat steps 3–5 for any other stuck torrents.
7. Detach from the screen session without closing rTorrent:

   Ctrl+A, then D

8. Type exit to close your SSH session.

Common Causes of Stuck Torrents

• Disk quota full. rTorrent pauses torrents automatically when it cannot write more data. Check your quota usage in the ruTorrent interface or via SSH with quota -s. Delete or move data to free space before restarting.
• Tracker errors. If the tracker is down or returning errors, the torrent stalls waiting for peer information. Check the torrent's tracker status in ruTorrent.
• Hashing stuck. A torrent interrupted mid-hash may not resume cleanly. Stop it fully, then force a hash recheck before restarting.

If the Above Does Not Resolve the Issue

If torrents continue to stall after following these steps, see the Torrents Don't Run article for deeper troubleshooting.

If you have worked through both guides and the issue persists, open a support ticket from your client area with the affected torrent name, any error messages visible in ruTorrent, and whether the issue affects one torrent or all torrents.