User:Lum Pfohl/Troubleshooting

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Tips For Troubleshooting

This is a skeleton framework for the issues that I have encountered in Second Life, and how I've gone about addressing them for the people that experienced them.

Unless I state otherwise, I have either experienced the problem personally and corrected it, or have directly helped another resident with their issue. It is a series of "recipes" to aid in the correction of the issues.

Click the Table Of Contents to the right to select and navigate to the issue and resolution.

This page is quickly getting long, as some topics are very lengthy. I will be breaking this up into multiple pages in the near future.

Stuck as a Cloud / Mist / Ruth Shape

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Unable to get rid of the the Cloud / Mist / RUTH shape
  • Unable to go into Appearances
  • Have tried to Clear Cache (CTRL-P -> NETWORK tab -> CLEAR CACHE button) to no avail
  • Have tried to relog to no avail
  • Might be able to put on some clothing, but cannot put on their shape
  • Receive the message, "you cannot change your appearance until your clothing have loaded."
  • Some residents might be partially clothed, others appear as nude RUTHS
  • Can see themselves as a Cloud / Mist / RUTH

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.


Treatment (Power of REPLACE OUTFIT)

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.

  1. Take the resident to a low lag sim. I often teleport them to a sky platform in a sandbox.
  2. Give them the folder, "MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT" or "FEMALE SHAPE & OUTFIT" (ask first, if they are male or female - it may not be obvious, from their names).
  3. Have them navigate to INVENTORY -> RECENT ITEMS tab -> (FE)MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT folder.
  4. Have them right-click the FOLDER (not the contents of the folder) and select REPLACE OUTFIT (not ADD TO OUTFIT).

Observe them quickly change their outfit and become a newbie.

  • Verify they are now able to go into APPEARANCES
  • Verfiy they are now able to put on whichever shape they choose
  • Help them restore their previous appearance


What If It Didn't Work?

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

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Parts of their skin appear blackened (neck, back of arms, legs, back)
  • Entire avatar is black (See note below)
  • Going into APPEARANCES restores their look, temporarily. Coming out of APPEARANCES results in blackened parts again.
  • Clearing CACHE and relogging does not help

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.


Treatment

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.

For Dual-Monitor Residents
  1. Have them move their Second Life viewer to their primary monitor
  2. Relog
  3. Continue with the steps below
For All Residents
  1. Take the resident to a low lag sim. I often teleport them to a sky platform in a sandbox.
  2. Have the resident clear their cache right away, but don't relog yet
  3. Give them the folder, "MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT" or "FEMALE SHAPE & OUTFIT" (ask first, if they are male or female - it may not be obvious, from their names).
  4. Have them navigate to INVENTORY -> RECENT ITEMS tab -> (FE)MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT folder.
  5. Have them right-click the FOLDER (not the contents of the folder) and select REPLACE OUTFIT (not ADD TO OUTFIT).
  6. Observe them quickly change their outfit and that no part of their skin/clothing turns black again.
  7. Have them relog (it will take a few minutes as their cache will be cleared upon login)
  8. Help them restore their previous appearance


What If It Didn't Work?

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

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • They may wear an article of SL clothing (such as a skirt) - which become invisible within moments
  • Going into APPEARANCES restores their look, temporarily. Coming out of APPEARANCES results in invisible clothing again.
  • Clearing CACHE and relogging does not help


Treatment

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.

Preferred Method
  1. Take the resident to a low lag sim. I often teleport them to a sky platform in a sandbox.
  2. Have the resident clear their cache right away
  3. Give them the folder, "MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT" or "FEMALE SHAPE & OUTFIT" (ask first, if they are male or female - it may not be obvious, from their names).
  4. Have them navigate to INVENTORY -> RECENT ITEMS tab -> (FE)MALE SHAPE & OUTFIT folder.
  5. Have them right-click the FOLDER (not the contents of the folder) and select REPLACE OUTFIT (not ADD TO OUTFIT).
  6. Observe them quickly change their outfit and that no part of their clothing "disappears".
  7. Have them relog (it will take a few minutes as their cache will be cleared upon login)
  8. Help them restore their previous appearance
Alternate (Less Invasive) Method
  1. Take the resident to a low lag sim. I often teleport them to a sky platform in a sandbox.
  2. Have the resident clear their cache right away
  3. Remove the disappearing clothing
  4. Find an alternate piece of clothing that DOES not disappear. You may have to work with the resident for a while on this, until they can put on piece of clothing that does not disappear.
  5. Have them relog (it will take a few minutes as their cache will be cleared upon login)
  6. Help them restore their previous appearance


What If It Didn't Work?

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!

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Objects that appear to be rotating for most people (like the green hands at Orientation Island Public) remain woefully stationary.


Treatment

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...

For All Residents
  1. Enable the CLIENT & SERVER menu items (CTRL-ALT-D on a PC & Linux(1), CTRL-OPT-D on a Mac)
  2. Navigate the following menu items: CLIENT -> DEBUG SETTINGS
  3. On the new Debug Settings window, locate the item VelocityInterpolate
  4. Set the VelocityInterpolate value to TRUE and apply the changes.
  5. Verify that objects that SHOULD be rotating, do indeed rotate.
  6. You may have to take the newbie to an area (such as HIP or OIP) and let them look at the rotating items (such as the PRESS F1 FOR HELP over HIP, or the green hands at OIP)


What If It Didn't Work?
  • Shutdown SL
  • Have the Resident delete the following on their PC
(PC) : In C:\Documents and Settings\<WinUserID>\Application Data\Second Life\ there is a folder with the Resident's name. If you log any chat/IM to disk, you'll find them inside this folder. Copy them to a different directory. Delete the folder with the Resident's name (e.g. Lum_Pfohl on my PC).
(MAC): In /Users/<MacUserID>/Library/Application Support/SecondLife/user_settings/ there is a file called settings.xml. Delete this file.
  • Restart SL

If it still doesn't work after several attempts, help them file a support ticket at https://support.secondlife.com/

Note
1Some residents SWEAR by CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-D as opposed to CTRL-ALT-D. This is fine - either way works. No need to have a chat-war over it...

Polygons Shooting Out Of Avatars

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Occasional (or worse - constant) colorful spikes and polygons shooting out of their heads.
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/

Fantastic Screen Displays While In Appearances

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • 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.


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
AMD (formerly ATI) ATI Graphics
nVidia Corporation GeForce and other nVidia Graphics
Matrox Corporation Matrox Graphics
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/

Avatar Covered With Onscreen Textures

Click To Enlarge
Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Inexplicable textures applied to their clothing and avatar (right click image and open in a new window or tab to follow along)
  • Going into APPEARANCES restores their look, temporarily. Coming out of APPEARANCES results in strangely textured parts again.
  • Clearing CACHE and relogging offers only temporary relief - as issue may recur at any moment


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
AMD (formerly ATI) ATI & Radeon Graphics
nVidia Corporation GeForce and other nVidia Graphics
Matrox Corporation Matrox Graphics
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/

Everyone Tells Me I'm Ruthed

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Appear normal on their own screen. Good-looking as usual.
  • Others tell them, their hair is funny - like they're wearing TWO hairs.
  • Usually occurs after teleporting into another sim.
  • 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


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 after teleporting - 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 no 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?
  1. Try quick-changing into a different outfit (such as Darth Vader or the Daitenshi Warrior) and back.
  2. File a support ticket via https://support.secondlife.com

Help! I'm A Monster!

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Well, just look at the pictures!


Treatment

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:

  • Relog
  • Don't do that any more!


What if it didn't work?

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:

  1. An attachment which restores the monster look each time an avatar logs on (Use the REPLACE OUTFIT with a newbie avatar, if necessary)
  2. Resident is wearing a deformed SHAPE (not caused by an animation). In this case, have them put on a different shape
  3. 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.
  4. File a support ticket via https://support.secondlife.com

I Can't Setup My Voice!

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Resident is using the Voice Chat setup wizard, and is stuck at the Mic Check step.


Treatment
  • Have the Resident temporarily turn off their Firewall software (either on the PC and/or on their router) to see if they can complete the configuration step.
  • If the condition clears up, help them configure their firewall software to allow SLVoice.exe to access the Internet.
  • Configure/open port 5060 on their PC to allow voice communications.


What if it didn't work?


Reference Materials

Gray Everywhere

Symptoms

The people affected by this condition might exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • One or more residents appear as gray blobs
  • There are many RUTHED residents
  • Textures on vendors and walls appear gray
  • Can move and chat
  • Can hear certain residents around (and see them on mini-map) but cannot see them


Treatment

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.


To see past the grayness.

  • Right-Click the gray objects and select nothing.
  • Right-Click the gray avatars and different parts of their clothing, and select nothing.

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.


Keep Your Computer Tuned

  • Make sure you've got lots of memory available to run SL (a GigaByte or more!)
  • Make sure your hard disk is defragged (PC/Windows Owners). This is the #1 cause of poor performance - even in everyday windows usage.
  • Make sure you have plenty of space left on your harddrive.

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.


Keep Second Life Tuned

  • Open up the Second Life Preferences (CTRL-P), click the NETWORK tab
  • Adjust the MAXIMUM BANDWIDTH setting - higher bandwidths allow SL to "suck in" more data, quicker
  • Adjust the DISK CACHE SIZE - the larger the cache, the more it can store, obviously. The more it can store, the more textures can be rendered on the screen at once.
  • If you have multiple hard disks, consider moving your DISK CACHE LOCATION to a different hard disk altogether.
  • Click the GRAPHICS tab and consider decreasing the DRAW DISTANCE value. The minimum is 64m, default is 96, the maximum is 512m. If SL is trying to render things 512m, it must download textures for them and then work hard to draw them too.
  • Don't run so many programs at once.

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.


Consider your Internet Connection If you are experiencing grayness and lag and have one ore more of the following:

  • Slow Internet Connection
  • ISP Network Congestion
  • Voice Chat Enabled
  • Streaming Audio Enabled
  • Streaming Video Enabled
  • Someone else in the house doing Second Life
  • Someone else in the house downloading files or surfing the Internet
  • You've got a flaky wireless connection
  • You've got a Cable Modem and everyone in your neighborhood is downloading files

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.

  • Disable Streaming video
  • Disable Streaming Audio
  • Disable Voice Chat
  • Kick your brother off the other computer
  • Move closer to your Wireless Access Point for a better signal
  • Switch to a faster / reliable internet service

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!")


Consider The SL Surroundings

  • Move to a sim that has less people in it
  • Move to a sim that has fewer objects and scripts running in it
  • Limit your time online during periods of SL Service Degradation

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.


Then Come All The People...

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!

Speed (kbps) Approx Time (min)
28.8 311
52 172
768 12
1500 6
3000 3
8000 1

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:

  • A new hair or dress is attached or rezzed: object info must be delivered to everyone so they can see it too
  • Someone moves: positional information has to be sent to everyone.
  • A particle poof goes off: the texture has to be sent to everyone.
  • Someone breaks into a dance routine with sound: the animation and sound file must be delivered to everyone.
  • Someone chats: group chat must be calculated for distance and delivered to the appropriate people
  • Someone with a high draw distance is requesting more and more textures for objects far away - the sim has to respond to that too
  • Physical objects (and object physics) place a huge calculation burden on the sim, while it calculates collision conditions
  • Scripted objects take definite time slices out of the sim's CPU time
  • Huge prims - [problems]!
  • Number of prims on the land

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.


Reference Materials

Lum Pfohl 11:42, 4 December 2007 (PST)

Lum's Quick Links
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