FireStorm Viewer 4.4.0.33720 : No Radio Sound : Poor FPS Performance : An Easy and Not So Easy Fix

By Avatar JayR Cela

    I have been listening into the FireStorm Group IM Chats the past several day's and boy are there a lot of confused people out there, most of whom seem to be folks moving over from the Phoenix viewer to FireStorm. There is one issue that seems to stand out. And that is no streaming music sound, or that the media buttons are missing, thankfully this is an extremely easy thing to fix.

    If your problem is lack of streamed radio sound, your in luck 9 out of 10 times a few simple clicks will get this issue fixed in less than a minute.

1. Open Preferences

2. Open User Interface

     Next make sure that you have the the Show media controls top menu check box clicked On ! That's it ! Problem solved, your media buttons will now be displayed in the upper right hand corner of the FS viewer screen.

 

   And there you have it, your Media Controls are now available again. The reason this may have slipped past your notice is the built in Phoenix Viewer Skin available in FS. All V1.x viewers have the Media Controls located in the lower right hand corner of the screen, this for one reason or another seems to be causing some problems.

    The next most common problem I keep hearing about is poor performance. Ok everyone should know by now that a Clean Install is imperative with all SL viewers, however the built in un-install routine included with most viewers will leave behind some unwanted traces of it'self in your Windows directory, now this applies to Windows Vista, 7 and presumably Win 8 as well. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your log-in User Name > AppData > Local > Firestorm folder.

    Now remove the Firestorm folder and it's included sub folders as well, some of the files may or may not be hidden or locked as read only, depending upon how your Windows environment is configured. I am not about to go into that hornet's nest, so if you need help ask a friend, or do some research. It is imperative that all of these folders and their contents be removed before you do your FS installation. And yes you will have to reset all of your UI settings the first time you log back in. That is why the built in un-install routine leaves them in place, so you won't have to re-set everything from scratch each time a new version is released. By the way a new feature in FS 4.4.x.x ( BackUp Settings ) should eliminate this hassle from here on out. I will explain that in my  upcoming FS post this weekend. Anyway's once you have done this, I'm going to recommend using your Windows Registry Cleaner of choice before proceeding with a fresh FS installation.

    If you are using Win XP the same holds true, it's just those file folders are located somewhere else, I don't really remember where, but if I recall correctly they are in the Documents and Settings folder, you will just have to look around until you find them.

    Another minor issue is attached AO's are now visible, and should not be. In my case as you can see I now have an Egg Shaped thingy attached to my avatar that is an AO device.

    Simply right click on it, Select > Edit > Textures > Transparency and increase the level to 100%

     OK it is no longer visible, you could try and detach and wear again, that may or may not work. The 100% transparency trick however does.

JayR Cela :_)

SecondLife : Some Known Problems With Cirrus Logic Sound Chipset's : New Roll Out's May Bork Your SL Radio !

By Avatar JayR Cela

    Are you the unhappy owner of a computer that is using a Cirrus Logic Chip Set, or USB solution for Audio ( Radio Music ) in SL ?

    If so, there is a known problem, something to do with 3p-fmodEX, a new way of getting outside audio into SL.

     It seem's that for one reason or another the default sample rate on initial log in is set to 44khz.

    I don't know about you, but Cirrus Logic stuff is not all that good, and may not be able to handle the the extra high sample rate.

    This is a known problem, somehow it managed to slip past QA in a few circumstances, and will be fixed.

     Hopefully very soon.

JayR Cela :(

SecondLife : New FireStorm Viewer 4.4.0.33720 Hit's The Grid !

By Avatar JayR Cela

    Well here it is, the most popular viewer in SL, release's their newest version, RIGHT NOW !

     I had heard about it several day's ago and again this morning, but having an earlier agreement with Jessica Lyon project manager of the FS project not to say anything until the official release.

    So go for it.

JayR Cela :_)

SecondLife : Exodus Viewer : Katharine Berry Joins the Team : 2 Original Developers Leave the Project

By Avatar JayR Cela

    Well things are changing, and changing FAST ! Katharine Berry is now the lead Dev for the Exodus Viewer, and it seems as if the former lead's ( Clix Diesel & Ayamo ) have abandoned the project.

    I just downloaded  V12.11.24.1 again not much time for testing right now. The FPS on this viewer seem's to have increased ! At least for me, quite a bit actually, go figure that one out.

    I'm looking forward to doing some testing, with this one, I picked up about an extra 6 to 10fps.

    However the Exodus Blog does not offer much info, as to whats going on yet, hopefully this will change soon.

JayR Cela :_)

SecondLife : Server Side Baking Compliant Viewers Slowly Rolling Out : Big Mess So Far ?

By Avatar JayR Cela

    Well I kinda hate to say this, but on the other hand I'm glad that LL is finally moving into this decade. So far we have available Cool Viewer ( Stable Release ) V1.26.8.1 and Singularity V1.8.0 (4114) available for download as of today.

    I DL'd both, and tried them briefly, but not for any lengthy period of time, so I can not really say any thing except they both work, although I did notice a significant drop in FPS on Singularity, and the Cool viewer, I need to try again. But after attending Oz Linden's meeting this morning and just listening, I have to say this much. I don't have a clue, as to what is actually going on here.

    I have talked with a few friends here in SL that actually do know what the hell is happening. So I am going to say this much.

Hold On To Your Hat's !

This is gonna be a rough ride the next 4 to 8 weeks or so!

JayR Cela :_(

SecondLife : Get Ready To Update Your Viewer : Possibly This Weekend

By Avatar JayR Cela

     If things go as I suspect they will ( and I may very well be wrong ) this Friday will be the release of the SSB enabled official LL-SL Viewer. Given the propensity of the Lab to release important stuff on the weekend's start ( their offices are closed Saturday & Sunday's ) you can count on the FireStorm Viewer team to be close behind, perhaps as soon as Sunday. The Cool and Singularity viewers should be ready also. As far as other viewers are concerned, I don't really follow them any longer, I am more than happy with FireStorm, and regularly use Cool VL and Singularity as well.

    Regardless of wither it's this weekend or next, it is going to happen ! Once the Lab gets their viewer out the door, you will have about 2 weeks to switch your choice of the SL client, before the Server team throws the proverbial switch.

JayR Cela :_)


   

SecondLife : The Need For Server Side Baking Summed up in 22 Words : A Quote From Oz Linden

By Avatar JayR Cela

    Well I said this was gonna be a fun ride on the road to Server Side Baking in SL, so hold onto your hat's people. I managed to park my avi at Oz's Monday morning meeting and read through the transcript later this evening. Let me sum it up this way, by using a quote from Oz. It only took him 22 words to explain why SL needs SSB.

[07:45:16]  Oz Linden: There are so many possible failure modes and performance bottlenecks in client-side baking that solving one of them is almost insignificant

    I think that this pretty much say's it all, this is a huge change ! / Although this meeting did last and entire hour, not much was discussed in length. However a number of issue's both negative and positive are currently being actively addressed. How much time it is going to take ?

    No one has a Crystal Ball & can read the future, but here is what was brought up. Some of the current bug's are due to the fact recent server code updates are happening faster than the current client code will allow or as smoothly as possible.

    Obviously the ultimate goal here is to make the quick change to your avatar as fast as possible on your viewer ! However folks around you will see these changes more slowly. How much more slowly, and how do the Server's & Client communicate with one in other is another issue.

    So in the mean time, as I had said a week or 2 ago, It's 1 Huge Rolling Beta Test ! / LOL :_)
With a lot of backward compatibility and sub-optimal performance to boot !

Ya really should start attending some of these meeting's if ya can, here's the link.
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:User_Groups

JayR Cela :_)

Virtual World's : Why R_U_Here-or-There ? : SecondLife ? / Open Sim?

By Avatar JayR Cela :

    I don't know, I cant figure it out yet, OS is kool, SL is kooler :_)

JayR Cela :_)

SecondLife : How Much Time Do You Spend In-World ? And Are You Happy ?

By Avatar JayR Cela

    Ok, you are a SL Junkey ! So what do you do here ?

    If you use the Destination Guide, I think you will find quite a few place's to explore. Every now and then I get the feeling the platform is about to go belly up. But I been saying that for years, so far I have been wrong.

    I have been to numerous Open Sim Grid's.

    OH WELL ! Not really much happening on most of them.

    Look at it this way SL is a commercially run platform, Open Sim is an Open Source version of SL, usually setup and run by individual's running home based servers, this is not always the case. OSGrid, Kitely, 3RDG, and InWorldz all seem to be doing OK, Maria Korolov's HyperGrid Business is a great resource for more in-depth information. http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/

   And ya gotta think about it.

    Why R_U_HERE ?

    LOL !

 JayR Cela :_)

SecondLife : Time To Prepare Yourself For Server Side Baking : The Sunshine Viewer Project

By Avatar JayR Cela

    No matter what viewer you are currently using as your favorite for SL, get ready to make a change soon ! Probably within the next 3 or 4 weeks the lab will be making the switch over to SSB.

    Now that we finally have the new CHUI  ( or Communication HUD User Interface ) fiasco behind us, LL can focus their resources on Project SunShine ( SSB - Server Side Baking )

    Personally I could care less about the latter, but am very excited with the former's possibilities of making SL a much better experience for everyone. You will however be required to use an appropriate SL Viewer, wither that be the official LL version or especially a TPV, it is time to start reading the blogs. I have just about all the viewers I can think of listed as links on the right hand side of this page, just scroll down to your choice.

    As far as I can tell, FireStorm, Cool Viewer, and Singularity are in pretty good shape and just about ready to go. I would imagine NiranV's viewer will be ready as well.

JayR :_)   

SecondLife : The SL Dashboard Page Blog Feed's Are Finally Alive Again

By Avatar JayR Cela

    In case you have not noticed lately the main SL web page is getting almost daily update's again, on the Blog Feed's section.

    Yayyy !!

JayR Cela :_)

SecondLife : OK What's Up Next ? The Giant BETA TEST !! Andrew on Vacation ?

By Avatar JayR Cela

    This question has been nagging at me for a while now.

    Everyone has been just waiting for this big event when The Lab throws the proverbial Switch !!!  to Server Side Baking.

    Right now Andrew Linden is on vacation for about a week, he probably could use a good rest, because this transition is going to be Huge, in the way that the client ( viewer ) and server ( LL ) communicate with each other. 

    I think it is very exciting to just sit back and see what happens. / LOL :_)

Behold The Massive Total Grid Wide Beta Test : Stay Tuned Next Week, When Andrew Returns :_)

   
JayR Cela :_)

SecondLife : Installing a new viewer !

By Avatar JayR Cela

    If you are on a Mac or Linux box, no problems, if you are on a Window's Machine you have to deal with the wretched and ill conceived Registry.

    Now depending on who you talk to the Windows registry is a blessing or a curse, I tend to find the later to be the truth. The Windows registry is a complete disaster just waiting to happen Especially when it comes to installing and removing certain programs, it always leaves traces behind that should have been removed during the un-installation process.

    So what happens ? Your HD becomes a total mess, with invalid registry entries scattered about in a haphazardness mish mash of junk, thus gradually slowing you computer to a crawl.

     I use Windows's 7 because I have too, I use Linux Mint because I like too, I do not use Mac because I can not afford it.

    My Opinion is, if you can afford the extra HD space, install Linux Mint, it based on UBUNTU and DEBIAN, its rock solid, never breaks, but will not run QuickTime on your SL based Treet TV, this may change sometime in the near future as LL is considering dumping QuickTime, and hopefully moving to HTML5 as the main video format. 

    So when you decide to install a new SL viewer, what should you do ?
 
     If you are on a Windows box, dam ya gotta remove all traces of the previous viewer, and this is a total pain in the ASS!!! Believe me you literary have to do a hunt , search, find, kill and destroy all traces of SL, if you do not do this you are totally screwed ! Maybe not at first, but believe me, if you do not follow a proper procedure, your fucked !   Plain and Simple ! And it is the dammed Windows Registry that is to blame for this problem.!

JayR Cela

SecondLife : The Best Viewer ! The Worst Viewer !

By Avatar JayR Cela

     By far the best viewer for SL in my opinion is FireSrorm, next on my list is Nirans,viewer it is very unique and a true work of genius ( the UI is totally impressive, but a bit confusing at first ) I will highly suggest you give it a try . The Kokua viewer is a piece of crap, plain and simple it is a garbage pile ! The Cool VL viewer and Singularity are both  outstanding with a V1.x based UI and with most all the the more recent V3 goodies built in.
   Hitomi's  StarLight skin is capable of making the official LL viewer tolerable, and has been very welcome in the TPV community, its a bit on the tricky side to implement, but worth the effort. The Exedous viewer seems to be in a state of Limbo.

So these are my picks #1 FireStorm
                                  #2 Nirans
                                  #3 Cool VL
                                  #4 Singularity
                                  #5 StarLight mod on the official LL viewer.

    If you want stability, go with FireStorm !
    If you want cutting edge, Niran V's
    If you cant go wrong, and prefer a V1.x UI, Cool VL and Singularity.
    If you want a very weird viewer, go with Dolphin.
    The worst viewer of course, is the official LL version, this thing is a total trip, and should not be                
       considered, by any any old time SL user. it is cumbersome, has the same crappy UI as 3 years ago,          
       avoid it at all cost, unless you are willing to install Hitomi's StarLight Skin.

JayR Cela :_)
  

Second Life : So What's Up With Server Side Baking ? And CHUI ?

By Avatar JayR Cela

    Well I have been pretty quite lately, and that is mostly because SL is a Train Wreck when it comes to dealing with one issue at a time, as a matter of fact the Lab seem's to be incapable of dealing with anything important. Instead the powers that be, or not be, seem to prefer to take on idiotic little project's that could better be left on the back burner.

    Server Side Baking, is a huge issue, and requires a lot of code change's on both the server and client side. And this is presenting a problem for the Third Party Viewer Developers. Why is this ? Mostly because no one at the Lab seem's to know what the hell is going on.

    I don't know if any of you folk's out there have ever attended a LL SL meeting lately, but they come off as more of a nuisance to the lab's employee's instead of what I feel should be a helpful experience.

   Server Side Baking? Try to get a straight answer, it's not gonna happen ! The Lab seems to be more interested in wasting time with frivolous  crap like the CHUI user interface, and let me tell ya this much the FireStorm  team implemented their own version of this way back in December, it is just now that LL has caught up, and ready to release their version sometime soon, SOON ? When is SOON ? No one seem's to know. It's in the Beta release of the official SL viewer, supposedly !

     Who really cares ? Does anyone beside's a total newbe even bother to use the official SL viewer ?

JayR Cela :(