SL Tech – Page 301 – Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

CtrlAltStudio updates to Oculus SDK 0.6

Posted on October 6, 2015April 6, 2020 by Inara Pey

On Saturday, October 3rd, the Oculus Rift supporting CtrlAltStudio viewer updated on Windows to version 1.2.5.43397.

The release sees the viewer reach parity with the Oculus SDK 0.6. However, it is not at this point being regarded as a “formal” release, as David Rowe, the viewer’s developer, notes that it requires additional user testing.

David lists the other changes of note with the release as being:

The viewer works in both direct and extended Rift display modes
- If using extended mode you no longer need to drag the viewer onto the Rift’s screen before toggling into Riftlook view
- If you switch between direct and extended Rift display modes, you’ll need to restart the Oculus Configuration Utility and the Oculus VR Runtime Service.
Advanced Lighting Model no longer needs to be enabled in order for Riftlook to work
The hardware cursor used in previous versions has been replaced with a basic cross hair software cursor. It may not look pretty but it should still work as before
There’s a new “Mirror Rift display to desktop” option in Preferences > Graphics > Display Output
The scale of the UI depth Display Output option has been altered to work with the updated Rift rendering
A “Mirror Rift display to desktop” Display Output option has been added
The following Display Output options, which are no longer available in the Rift SDK,have been removed from the viewer: Timewarp, Timewarp waits, V sync, and Pixel overdrive
If you install over the top of a previous version you’ll probably want to press the “Reset” button for the “UI depth” Display Output option.

The 1.2.5.43397 updates sees the removal of the Timewarp, Timewarp waits, V sync, and Pixel overdrive from Preferences > Graphics > Display Output, and the addition of a new Mirror Rift display to desktop option

As always, for a full list of changes and updates, please refer to the release notes.

David also goes on to note:

I can achieve a pretty smooth 75 FPS experience on the Rift if the scene’s not too complex, though only if I have my main monitor set to 120Hz. If I set it to 60Hz I only get a somewhat juddery 65 FPS on the Rift. I haven’t looked into this yet and am keen to hear how other people get on. Note: You can use Ctrl+Shift+1 to display a statistics window in Riftlook.

The release doesn’t see the viewer updates to a more recent Firestorm code base than 4.6.9, and there is no corresponding Mac release at this time.

2015 viewer release summaries: week 40

Posted on October 5, 2015March 16, 2020 by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending Sunday, October 4th

This summary is published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.

Official LL Viewers

Current Release version: 3.8.4.305119, September 29 – formerly the Importer RC viewer download page, release notes
Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
- Quick Graphics RC viewer version 3.8.5.305528 released on October 2 – provides the new Avatar Complexity options and the new graphics preset capabilities for setting, saving and restoring graphic settings for use in difference environments / circumstances (download and release notes)
- Notifications RC viewer version 3.8.5.305555 released on October 1 – new Notifications floater separates incoming notifications into System, Transactions, Invitations, and Group. It provides a better way to view, interact with, prioritize and manage incoming notices for busy residents (download and release notes)
- Maintenance RC viewer version 3.8.5.305531 released on September 30 – 90+ fixes, updates and feature requests (download and release notes)
Project viewers:
- No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

SL Alternate Viewers wiki page – LL
Viewer Source Repositories wiki page – LL
Test Builds wiki page – LL
Supported Viewers wiki page – LL
Viewer release process overview – this blog
SL Viewer updates and reviews on this blog

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

CtrlAltStudio Alpha Windows viewer updated to version 1.2.5.43397 on October 3rd – core updates: parity with the Oculus Rift SDK 0.6.0.1-beta (download and release notes)
Kokua updated to version 3.8.4.37073 on September 28th – core updates: parity with the LL mesh importer viewer code (3.8.4) and RLV 2.9.14 (release notes)
UKanDo updated to version 3.8.4.28149 on September 30th – core updates: parity with the LL mesh importer viewer code (3.8.4) and RLV 2.9.14 (release notes)

V1-style

Cool VL Viewer updated as follows: stable branch to version 1.26.14.8, experimental to version 1.24.15.7, both on October 3rd – release notes

Mobile / Other Clients

No Updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Third-party Viewer Directory – LL

Second Life project updates 40/2: viewer and misc. notes

Posted on October 2, 2015September 27, 2024 by Inara Pey

Valyria, Calas Galadhon Halloween – opening to all on Saturday, October 3rd – blog post

Server Deployments week 40 – Recap

On Tuesday, September 29th, the Main (SLS) channel was updated with the server maintenance package previously deployed in week #39 to all three RC channels, comprising internal fixes to improve inventory performance.
On Wednesday, September 30th, the three RC channels all received the same server maintenance package, comprising: a fix for Region Debug Console help text and a fix for a server crash issue.

SL Viewer Updates

On Thursday, October 1st the Notification viewer updated to RC status with the release of version 3.8.5.305555. This viewer provides a new Notifications floater, which separates incoming notifications into four categories:

System – Displays general notifications, such as inventory transfers and friendship status changes.
Transactions – Displays notifications that result from Linden dollar (L$) transactions.
Invitations – Displays group invitations.
Group – Displays notices from groups you are in.

Each notification in a list can be expanded or collapsed by clicking the arrow at the bottom right of the listing. The Collapse All button to collapse any expanded notifications. Notifications can be deleted individually using the X button, or collectively for a tab using the Delete All button.

The new Notifications floater splits incoming notifications into 4 categories, as defined by the tab.

You can find out more by reading my initial overview of the viewer, provided when the viewer was first released as a project viewer.

On Wednesday, September 30th, a new Maintenance viewer RC was released. Version 3.8.5.305531 brings with it 90+ fixes, updates and feature requests. Please refer to the release notes for further details.

Mesh Uploader and Materials

The recently promoted mesh uploader viewer (version 3.8.4.305119, appears to bring with it one or two problems when using materials in uploaded mesh models. See the notes and links on Nalates Urriah’s blog for details.

Other Items

Project Azumarill (HTTP) Viewer

The new HTTP viewer, version 3.8.4.304871, released on September 8th, and known by the code name of Azumarill, has been causing some light-hearted disappointment in some quarters. It seems the viewer works so well, that for some, it spoils the game of “guess which texture will render next”, because textures can render very quickly on it!

However, these is a more irritating issue which can be encountered when using this viewer. The issue itself, which has been an intermittent problem on some viewer versions appears as an object permissions error which some people are reporting as encountering on every single log-in (see the forum thread above, and BUG-9066).

UKanDo Viewer Update

Not actually a Lab-drive SL update, but the UKanDo v3-style TPV updated to version 3.8.4.28149 on Wednesday, October 30th. The update sees the viewer gain parity with the LL 3.8.4 code-base (mesh uploader), and also RLV through to release 2.9.4. The the viewer’s release notes for details.

Second Life project updates 40/1: server, viewer

Posted on September 30, 2015September 27, 2024 by Inara Pey

Discover science and oceanography at The Abyss Observatory - blog post — Discover science and oceanography at The Abyss Observatory – blog post

Server Deployments week 40

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest news and information.

On Tuesday, September 29th, the Main (SLS) channel was updated with the server maintenance package previously deployed in week #39 to all three RC channels, comprising internal fixes to improve inventory performance.
On Wednesday, September 30th, the three RC channels all received the same server maintenance package, comprising:
- A fix for Region Debug Console help text
- A fix for a server crash issue.

Following the Tuesday restarts there were assorted reports of issues being encountered on various regions – teleport failures, external communications issues (e.g. IMs to e-mail forwards, scripted object e-mail failures, etc). These appeared to be related to possible capabilities (caps) failures on restarts. Further restarts appear to have cleared some – but not all – of the issues encountered.

SL Viewer

On Tuesday, September 29th, the mesh uploader RC viewer, version 3.8.4.305119, was promoted to be the de facto release viewer. This viewer comprises a modified mesh uploader to (optionally) improve debug output, perform name-based LOD association, and handle models with many materials. It allows models with more than 8 unique faces to be uploaded. At import, these models are automatically split into pieces so that each satisfy the current face limits for a volume.

Also on Tuesday, September 29th, the Quick Graphics project viewer updates to version 3.8.4.305380, with further fixes for issues occurring with the Avatar Complexity options (such as avatars failing to render correctly after having been previously “Jelly Babied”). However, there still appears to be some issues which may require further updates (e.g. BUG-9962) before this viewer progresses to RC status.

Other Items

FmodEx Update

The Lab has received a contribution for FmodEx which should fix the “chirp” windows 10 users hear when launching the viewer. This requires testing and a license update for the Lab to use, but should hopefully be making its way into a viewer update at some point.

STORM-2121

Cinder Roxley identified an odd little bug recently: if an object is set for sale at L$0 from the Object Profile floater, it will revert to a minimum price of L$1.00, rather than leaving it at L$0, as is the case when setting the price via the Build floater.

Pricing an object for sale at L$0 through the Object Profile floater will force the price to L$1.00, rather than leaving it at L$0.

It’s not clear how long the bug has been around, but if it has been for a while, it hasn’t caused that much of an inconvenience – possibly because price may well price via the Build floater. Cinder has already contributed a fix for the issue – see STORM-2121 – and it is unlikely to encounter issues in being incorporated in a future Snowstorm viewer.

Kokua 3.8.4: mesh uploader and RLV updates

Posted on September 30, 2015May 25, 2020 by Inara Pey

On Tuesday, September 29th, Nicky Perian announced the release of Kokua 3.8.4.37073, which brings the popular SL and OpenSim viewer to parity with both recent Linden Lab code releases and with Marine Kelley’s RLV, and includes additional tweaks and fixes from the Kokua team.

This release comprises a considerable amount of work by the Kokua team, although the visible functional changes may not seem that great to some users. In particular, RLV has undergone extensive updates and testing over the last few months, as the team have worked to bring Kokua up to parity with the most recent RLV releases and ensure there are no issues or breakages elsewhere in the process.

The Lab code releases in the viewer comprise:

Release 3.8.3.304115 – Maintenance release
Release 3.8.4.305119 – mesh uploader

The Maintenance release comprises over 50 fixes and updates covering a range of topics and issues, including: crashes, snapshot bugs and issues, group ban bugs, avatar mute & block bugs, texture editing issues, rendering issues, UI bugs and simplification, performance improvements and localisation updates.

The mesh uploader updates, which became the de facto SL viewer release also on Tuesday, September 28th, comprise a modified mesh uploader to (optionally) improve debug output, perform name-based LOD association, and handle models with many materials. It allows models with more than 8 unique faces to be uploaded. At import, these models are automatically split into pieces so that each satisfy the current face limits for a volume.

Please refer to the Lab’s release notes for both of these releases (provided via the links above) for full details on the updates they contain.

The RLV updates bring Kokua fully up to par with RLV 2.9.14, released on September 17th, and includes merges with RLV releases 2.9.7 through 2.9.13.

The Kokua team updates comprise:

A fix for inability to disable HUDs in snapshots Ticket #345
A fix for custom snapshot sizes not working when saving to inventory Ticket #350
Inclusion of hover height adjustment for OpenSim use Ticket #352 – note this is currently inactive, as it is pending server-side support in OpenSim.
A fix for high memory usage and crashes when connected to Avination Ticket #349.

I confess to not having have that much time to drive this release due to my schedule being a mess. My apologies to Nicky on this, who provided me with advance notice on the release at the weekend, but I was unable to act on it.

2015 viewer release summaries: week 39

Posted on September 28, 2015March 16, 2020 by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending: Sunday, September 27th

This summary is published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.