Difference between revisions of "User:Lum Pfohl/Troubleshooting"
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==Polygons Shooting Out Of Avatars== | ==Polygons Shooting Out Of Avatars== | ||
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;Symptoms | |||
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms: | |||
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*Occasional (or worse - constant) colorful spikes and polygons shooting out of their heads. | |||
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;Treatment | |||
This may be the first indication of a serious problem... Software settings might cause this, but more often than not, it is a sign of the Video Card overheating. | |||
*Have the Resident immediately turn down the graphics detail / resolution / everything. | |||
*Have the Resident open up the PC case and inspect the Video Card unit to see if the cooling fan is broken/stopped. | |||
*Have the Resident blow out any dust that may have clogged up the cooling fins on the GPU. | |||
*Leave the case open and blow a cooling fan over the Video Card to keep it cool. | |||
*Have a computer geek come by and try to rearrange cables/components/etc. to maximize air flow ever the Video Card / GPU. | |||
*And worst case, have the Resident replace the video card. | |||
;What If It Didn't Work? | |||
Help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ | |||
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==Fantastic Screen Displays While In Appearances== | ==Fantastic Screen Displays While In Appearances== | ||
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;Symptoms | |||
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms: | |||
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*Inexplicable textures, wild and dancing colors on their clothing and skin while in Appearances. | |||
*Unable to see what they're really wearing until they COME OUT of Appearances. | |||
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;Treatment | |||
*Have the resident upgrade the video drivers. | |||
Residents may argue, "But I have a brand new computer, how can my drivers be out of date?" The fact is that updates to software (and drivers) are coming out all of the time. The version that is installed with their Operating System may be recent, but still several revisions back - one that is "certified" as stable and working. Second Life uses cutting edge graphics technologies which might be incorporated into a recent SL Upgrade. Quite often, people start having video problems after an upgrade, as the SL Viewer requirements blew past what their driver can effectively provide. | |||
;Some Suggested Sites | |||
:[http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html AMD (formerly ATI)] ATI Graphics | |||
:[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us nVidia Corporation] GeForce and other nVidia Graphics | |||
:[http://http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/corpo/support/drivers/home.php Matrox Corporation] Matrox Graphics | |||
:[http://driversguide.com Drivers Only Website] *caution* not all drivers are the latest versions | |||
;What If It Didn't Work? | |||
Help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ | |||
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;Some Suggested Sites | ;Some Suggested Sites | ||
:[http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html AMD (formerly ATI)] | :[http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html AMD (formerly ATI)] ATI & Radeon Graphics | ||
:[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us nVidia Corporation] GeForce and other nVidia Graphics | :[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us nVidia Corporation] GeForce and other nVidia Graphics | ||
:[http://http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/corpo/support/drivers/home.php Matrox Corporation] Matrox Graphics | |||
:[http://driversguide.com Drivers Only Website] *caution* not all drivers are the latest versions | :[http://driversguide.com Drivers Only Website] *caution* not all drivers are the latest versions | ||
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==Everyone Tells Me I'm Ruthed== | ==Everyone Tells Me I'm Ruthed== | ||
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;Symptoms | |||
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms: | |||
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*Appear normal on their own screen. Good-looking as usual. | |||
*Others tell them, their hair is funny - like they're wearing TWO hairs. | |||
*Male avatars suddenly develop boobs and a shapely butt that everyone but they can see. A female shape with male skin and a goatee. | |||
*Upon very close inspection, short avies appear to be walking several inches to a foot off the ground on their screen | |||
*Upon very close inspection, tall avies appear to be sunken into the ground on their screen | |||
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;Treatment | |||
Ahhhh, Ruth. She is the bread and butter of the Second Life world. She is the default character that's loaded by EVERY SINGLE SL client out there, when someoone teleports into a sim. You can often watch people arriving on Orientation Island as a Ruth, then slowly develop into other shapes and genders as the clothing information is downloaded from the Asset Server and dispatched to all of the other Residents in the vicinity. | |||
There are several treatments: | |||
*Check your feet - if they don't look like they're in the correct spot with relation to the ground you might be Ruthed. | |||
*Keep multiple copies of your shape in your inventory. Wear a different copy of the same shape - this causes your shape to load and be distributed. You'll then appear normally on everyone's screen including your own (your feet touch the ground properly). <-- works every time, and needs to script or build permissions. | |||
*Use a deruthing rocket! This is a cute toy that uses '''warpos''' to deliver you to great heights, and back down in 5 seconds. When you come back, it seems to "reset" your appearance and reloads your shape. | |||
*Use a deruthing HUD (available from "The Yard" in Honeoye). | |||
*Relog | |||
;What if it didn't work? | |||
#Try quick-changing into a different outfit (such as Darth Vader or the Daitenshi Warrior) and back. | |||
#File a support ticket via https://support.secondlife.com | |||
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;What if it didn't work? | ;What if it didn't work? | ||
There's just no way it wouldn't work. Animations are not persistent across Second Life sessions. If it DOES persist, then there's something else at work. Check for: | There's just no way it wouldn't work. Animations are not normally persistent across Second Life sessions. If it DOES persist, then there's something else at work. Check for: | ||
#An attachment which restores the monster look each time an avatar logs on (Use the REPLACE OUTFIT with a newbie avatar, if necessary) | #An attachment which restores the monster look each time an avatar logs on (Use the REPLACE OUTFIT with a newbie avatar, if necessary) | ||
#Resident is wearing a deformed SHAPE (not caused by an animation). In this case, have them put on a different shape | #Resident is wearing a deformed SHAPE (not caused by an animation). In this case, have them put on a different shape | ||
#Have them change into the newbie shapes (FEMALE SHAPES & OUTFIT quick-change described in other troubleshooting steps). Then restore their current outfit one by one until you discover the attachment or shape that is responsible for the horrible features. | |||
#File a support ticket via https://support.secondlife.com | #File a support ticket via https://support.secondlife.com | ||
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Revision as of 08:22, 23 January 2008
Stuck In Ruth Shape
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
For reasons unknown, the avatar is unable to download and wear their normal shape. Fortunately, there is very quick and effective way of addressing this condition.
I have a couple of folders prepared (MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT and FEMALE SHAPE & OUTFIT - from the SL Library Folder). These folders contain the complete newbie avatar of the Guy Next Door and Girl Next Door look. It is imperative that these folders contain the SHAPE associated with the avatar. These folders are great because they contain SL hair, SL skin, SL shapes, no attachments - all low lag!
Observe them quickly change their outfit and become a newbie.
Have them clear their cache, relog and give them a new folder to change into when they return. If it still doesn't work after several attempts, help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ The good news is, I've helped no less than 6 residents successfully in this manner (brand new, to 6 month residents). Blackened Avatar
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
Note: An avatar that is completely black may be running DUAL MONITORS (such as on a laptop with an external monitor) AND running Second Life on the secondary monitor. Either way, the treatment is the same.
I have a couple of folders prepared (MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT and FEMALE SHAPE & OUTFIT - from the SL Library Folder). These folders contain the complete newbie avatar of the Guy Next Door and Girl Next Door look. It is imperative that these folders contain the SHAPE associated with the avatar. These folders are great because they contain SL hair, SL skin, SL shapes, no attachments - all low lag! Ask the resident if they have their clothing and shapes saved in a folder, or would be able to quickly restore their appearance. We will be clobbering whatever they have on, and replace their outfit completely. Let them make notes on what they are wearing, for reference later.
Have them clear their cache, relog and give them a new folder to change into when they return. If it still doesn't work after several attempts, help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ Disappearing Clothing
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
I have a couple of folders prepared (MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT and FEMALE SHAPE & OUTFIT - from the SL Library Folder). These folders contain the complete newbie avatar of the Guy Next Door and Girl Next Door look. It is imperative that these folders contain the SHAPE associated with the avatar. These folders are great because they contain SL hair, SL skin, SL shapes, no attachments - all low lag! Ask the resident if they have their clothing and shapes saved in a folder, or would be able to quickly restore their appearance. We will be clobbering whatever they have on, and replace their outfit completely. Let them make notes on what they are wearing, for reference later.
Have them clear their cache, relog and give them a new folder to change into when they return. If it still doesn't work after several attempts, help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ Objects Aren't Rotating!
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
It's bizarre that this should ever occur, especially on a newbie's computer, but older curious Residents may have gone mucking with their settings and accidentally tripped the inappropriate value. This value, when toggled doesn't appear to do anything most of the time (unless they're looking at a rotating object), so the Resident may not even know they broke something...
If it still doesn't work after several attempts, help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/
Gray Everywhere
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
This is usually caused by our public enemy no. 1 - LAG. I'd like to go out on a limb and say, "we did this to ourselves!" Lag is caused not by SL, but by the content that the Residents of SL have created (see my explanation below). It is exacerbated by the number of residents in SL. There is no silver bullet for this condition, but there are things we can do to mitigate it for ourselves.
This "coaxes" the textures to for the right-clicked objects to render faster. Obviously if *everything* is gray, and you've right-clicked "everything," then it'll take a long time for "everything" to render. Prioritize what you'd like to have rendered first.
If your PC is busy trying to contend with memory management issues, chances are it's too busy to request and download the textures to apply to your surroundings.
You'll have to balance the MAXIMUM BANDWIDTH setting with what your Internet Service can provide and who else in your household is using the same connection.
Chances are, you're probably chewing up a lot of network bandwidth. Your Internet Connection is like a garden hose. There's only so much you can push through it. Switch to bandwidth conservation mode.
There have been reports of residents coming to Help Island, saying they have crappy performance, everyone is gray and ruthed, and they're sick of Second Life. After much teeth-pulling we discover they're on dial up, connected at 28.8 kbps ("28.8? How can that be? I have a 52kbps modem!")
Obviously, if you have less textures to download, your experience will be much better. Consider a busy sim such as Help Island Public. The SIM itself contains platforms and scenery and objects that have their own textures. Linden Labs built those. Let's assume they've optimized their textures so that they're small in size as possible while still maintaining a good look.
Residents will be wearing different clothing, hairs, attachments, robes, scripted objects, etc. Hundreds upon hundreds of them. A texture that is 256 x 256 pixels by 24 bits deep will be 192 Kb (196,608 bytes). This is stored in a JPEG-2000 format. Grossly assuming a 10:1 compression ratio, this texture is 19.2 Kb. If any texture is "reused" (that is has the same UUID) on multiple objects, then this 19.2 Kb texture need only be downloaded once and stored in the cache. It can be read from there and applied to the many objects. But more likely, people are sending in 1024 x 1024 pixel alpha (32 bits). I know I do. They simply look better and have more detail, and have a transparency channel. This file is now 4 Mb (4,194,304 bytes). Even at a 10:1 compression ratio, it's still 409.6 Kb! A typical dress may have 4 or 5 different textures. My favorite dress by Bare Rose probably has about 10! Hairs can also contribute to the texture count, although I'll wager there's only about 2 or 3 different kinds in most of them. 409.6 Kb x 5 (textures per dress) + 409.6 Kb x 3 (textures per hair) * 20 residents on the HIP platform. Let's see... 64 Mb just for hair and dresses alone! We're not even talking the scenery or the avatar's skins or the group chat traffic, streaming audio or anything! 64 Mb may not sound like much to you, but it is 67,108,864 bytes. Internet Connection Speeds are measured in "kilo-bits per second" or "mega-bits per second." A bit is 1/8 of a byte. 8 bits per byte. In transmission-speak, a kilo or mega is 1000 and 1,000,000 even. (Other calculations, I've been using kilo=1024, mega=1,048,576.) Let's do the math: (67,108,864 bytes) * (8 bits/byte) ------------------------------------------- = 699 seconds (roughly). (768 kilo-bits/sec) * (1000 bits/kilo-bits) That's around 11.5 minutes at 768 DSL/Cable Modem speeds!
Note: You Cable Modem users out there - don't get your hopes up too much. Even if you *Do* have a 7 or 8 Mbps connection (in the best case scenario), your Second Life viewer cannot take full advantage of it. The *maximum* bandwidth your viewer can use is 1.5 Mbps. Moreover your client is very likely to be set to something lower than that. As you can see, the faster your connection speed, the quicker you could potentially receive it. If there are 20 residents around you, all 20 residents will be receiving the same 64 Mb of textures. The simulator and asset server goes into overdrive sending out textures here and there, to everyone. Plus a whole slew of other things:
You can quickly see that's a lot of burden on the Simulator who must now transfer here and there. As old residents leave and new ones arrive, the new residents get the 64 Mb, and the older residents get the delta (only what's changed). We, as content creators, have created objects that are not optimized for Internet Transfer. We, as content consumers, use those inefficient objects in a manner that exacerbates the problem. We love to "wear" lots of it! In the end, we did this to ourselves, despite Linden Labs' guidelines... [Watch Video] This is why griefers can bring a sim to its knees. The simulator in a crowded sim is already working at near-capacity. All the griefer needs to do is to put the last straw on the camel's back.
Polygons Shooting Out Of Avatars
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
This may be the first indication of a serious problem... Software settings might cause this, but more often than not, it is a sign of the Video Card overheating.
Help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ Fantastic Screen Displays While In Appearances
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
Residents may argue, "But I have a brand new computer, how can my drivers be out of date?" The fact is that updates to software (and drivers) are coming out all of the time. The version that is installed with their Operating System may be recent, but still several revisions back - one that is "certified" as stable and working. Second Life uses cutting edge graphics technologies which might be incorporated into a recent SL Upgrade. Quite often, people start having video problems after an upgrade, as the SL Viewer requirements blew past what their driver can effectively provide.
Help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ Avatar Covered With Onscreen Textures
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
Residents may argue, "But I have a brand new computer, how can my drivers be out of date?" The fact is that updates to software (and drivers) are coming out all of the time. The version that is installed with their Operating System may be recent, but still several revisions back - one that is "certified" as stable and working. Second Life uses cutting edge graphics technologies which might be incorporated into a recent SL Upgrade. Quite often, people start having video problems after an upgrade, as the SL Viewer requirements blew past what their driver can effectively provide.
Help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/ Everyone Tells Me I'm Ruthed
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
Ahhhh, Ruth. She is the bread and butter of the Second Life world. She is the default character that's loaded by EVERY SINGLE SL client out there, when someoone teleports into a sim. You can often watch people arriving on Orientation Island as a Ruth, then slowly develop into other shapes and genders as the clothing information is downloaded from the Asset Server and dispatched to all of the other Residents in the vicinity. There are several treatments:
Help! I'm A Monster!
The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
The issue is caused by a series of animations that bend the body this way and that and are either applied by a scripted object or a gesture. It's similar in concept to a "body crusher" script which folds an avatar into a tiny package so it can fit into a smaller avatar of a cat or a floating eyeball. It's a harmless prank, thought up by ingenious griefers. It can be horrific to an unsuspecting newbie. I have seen a number of scripts and animations and gestures which will "reverse" the effects of the Monster Script. Some are easy to use, others - I am clueless how to apply them. I also wonder if the resident would be willing to accept yet another gesture to run when it was a malicious gesture in the first place! There is nothing simpler than the following to cure this condition:
There's just no way it wouldn't work. Animations are not normally persistent across Second Life sessions. If it DOES persist, then there's something else at work. Check for:
Lum Pfohl 11:42, 4 December 2007 (PST) |
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