How to use #bookz on Undernet

Helpful Anon
April 8, 2010

What will this guide teach you to do?

This guide will teach you how to download from #bookz on the Undernet IRC
network. It will show you two sets of directions:
One set is application agnostic; it doesnt really matter what app you use.
These directions work on Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.
The other shows the use of an mIRC addon that makes searching easier.
Obviously, Windows only.
Technical Expertise required: None. Simple directions
Time required: 5-15 minutes, depending on how fast you are.
If you go with the mIRC route, youll have to find a cracked copy (which
isnt terribly hard).

Requirements
Required
An IRC client. There are free and paid clients on any platform. xChat
is normally paid for, but if you dont mind a slightly out of date version,
you can get a free Windows compiled version of xChat 2.
Administrative rights on the PC. You need to install a program.

Optional
The sbSearch plugin If you want easier searching and dont care about
cracking/buying mIRC, you need to get the sbSearch plugin.

Instructions
Step 1: Get an IRC application
If you dont want to pay or crack an IRC app, you can get xChat 2 for Windows
without compiling1 .
If you want to use another client, go ahead- but Im not linking to a million
and one (and Zymic is pretty clear about what I can and cannot link to).
For Linux users, Xchat is free on the official site, and is probably in your
repository2 .

Step 2: Configure your IRC application & connect to Undernet

The steps are pretty much all the same. Pick a name you like, put the server
settings as seen on the Undernet site3 .
Pick one geographically close to you - some servers will reject you if there is
a closer server geographically. Its not rocket science.
If Undernet complains Ident broken or disabled to continue to connect you
must type /quote PASS 12345 , type it exactly as you see it (/quote pass
12345) and youll connect.

Step 3: Join #bookz

If you dont have an IRC client already, itll generally do some handholding for
you and ask what channel you want to join. Type in #bookz and hit go.
If it doesnt ask, type /join #bookz (sans quotes) in the chat pane and
hit enter.
If you are using mIRC, proceed to the next step. Otherwise, skip
to step 6.

Step 4: Get sbSearch

Once in the chat panel, type @sbSearch (sans quotes; case sensitive). You
will be offered a download (sometimes, multiple- you only need to accept one
copy). Download and open it.
Unzip the files and read the readme.

Step 5: Install sbSearch

The author has provided instructions that are concise, but thorough4 .
Reopen mIRC and rejoin #bookz when you are done.
1 http://www.silverex.org/download/
2 http://xchat.org/files/binary/rpm/
3 http://www.undernet.org/servers.php
4 http://dukelupus.pri.ee/sbclient.php

Step 6: Search for books

mIRC with sbSearch:
Hit F4 or go to Commands sbClient Search dialog.
The dialog opens up. Check Online searchbot in channel, and in the dropdown, select #bookz@Undernet. (This will be remembered by mIRC).
Enter what you want and hit search.
Any other IRC client:
Use the commands @Search and @Find to look for what you want. Enter them
in the chat pane and hit enter
Example: @find Dantes inferno

Step 7: Watch the channel, accept the search results

All clients:
The searchbot will take your request. In a couple seconds, itll either say that
it found results and its sending them to you, or that it found no results.
When the download is offered, accept the zip.
mIRC with sbSearch:
sbSearch is smart enough to see that its a ZIP with search results in it and
will automatically open the ZIP when its done downloading in a window in the
mIRC application.
Other clients:
When the ZIP finishes downloading, extract the text file and view it.

Step 8: Find a result you like

All clients:
Book format is your pick. PDFs view well on PCs, but not other devices. ePUB,
.lit, .pdb, etc. are all highly eReader compatible. RTF, HTML, and TXT books
can be converted too5 .
mIRC with sbSearch:
The results pane is color coded. Green lines represent people/bots who are online and offering the book- you can download it. Red means that the person/bot
has the book, but is not currently online- you wont be able to download.
5 Regardless

of your OS, the free program Calibre is great for conversion.

You can neaten the results (especially if there are many) by right clicking
in the results window and clicking Remove offline nicks. Only the green
(downloadable currently) results will remain.
When you find a result you like, right click the line and hit Copy line(s) to
clipboard.

All other clients:

You wont be able to see which nicks are offline. Just copy a result. You may
have to come back to the results file, however.
When you see a result that looks good, copy the ENTIRE line.

Step 9: Paste the trigger in

Client doesnt matter- paste the trigger you copied into the chat pane on #bookz
and hit enter.
If you copied it correctly and the person is online, their bot will reply to you.
Typically, they reply in seconds, and most of the time, they dont have queues,
so downloads swiftly begin too.
If you dont get a reply from the bot (Any search result beginning with
!Ebrarian is going to get a reply from Ebrarian in the channel, for instance),
the bot is probably offline- go back to the results and try another trigger. Or
you may not have copied the entire thing.

Step 10: Accept the book download

Common sense, essentially. Hit download, open it when youre done, enjoy.

FAQs
Is sbSearch worth the hassle?
Its a nice convenience on Windows. It highlights the online nicks green and
opens the zip/txt in the mIRC window- no need to extract. So especially if
youre getting more than one book at a time its convenient. Not necessary, but
nice.
Can I get eBooks anywhere else?
You can try to get an invite to Bibliotik. Other trackers have eBooks too.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

All can be sent to somefagfromg@gmail.com.