Category: SL Tech

Kokua 3.8.6: notify me

Posted on by Inara Pey

kokua-logoOn Tuesday, November 17th, Nicky Perian announced the release of Kokua 3.8.6.37336,  which brings the popular SL and OpenSim viewer to parity with both recent Linden Lab code releases and with Marine Kelley’s RLV,  while including some additional tweaks from the Kokua team.

The release was preceded by a test release version focused on integrating the most recent updates for RLV in order to ensure there were no unpredictable outcomes from multiple merges, etc. A request was put to Kokua users to assist in testing that pre-release, which saw around 600 people respond and download the viewer. Their feedback formed the basis for additional refinements to the code leading up to this release, with Nicky passing on his personal thanks to all of those who participated.

The Lab code releases in the Kokua 3.8.6 comprise:

  • Release 3.8.5.305531, dated October 13th – an Maintenance release comprising 90+ fixes, updates and feature requests from the Lab (release notes)
  • Release 3.8.6.305981, dated October 26th – the notifications viewer, incorporating the new notifications floater (release notes).

Notifications Update

The notifications update presents a new floater for managing all your incoming notifications and notices, the result of a feature request to the Lab from Aki Shichiroji.  This sees incoming notifications split between four tabs: System, Transactions, Invitations and Group, with each tab displaying the total number of notices stored within it.

Kokua 3.8.6 incorporates the Lab's new notifications floater, itself the result of a feature request from Aki
Kokua 3.8.6 incorporates the Lab’s new notifications floater, itself the result of a feature request from Aki Shichiroji

Clicking on an individual notice, or the down arrow to the right of a notification will open the details within the preview panel. Individual notices can also be closed by clicking the X to the right of them. The two buttons at the foot of the floater will either collapse all “open” notifications within the current tab, or deleted them all from the tab.

The RLV updates bring Kokua fully up to par with RLV 2.9.15, including the hotfix release of 2.9.15.1 on November 9th intended to correct BUG-10601.

The Kokua team contributions for this release comprise:

  • Uploading a Blender generated dae, and NOT retaining material group order (see Bug 10326)
  • OpenSim update –  Set Lag Meter Server section to operate at 11 fps.

There are a number of known issues with this release – please refer to the Kokua 3.8.6 release notes for details.

I confess to (once again) not having have that much time to drive this release due to having a busy schedule at the moment. However, when I was able to run it however (sans RLV active), I encountered no significant issues. My apologies (also again) to Nicky for not having spent more time using the release ahead of this summary review.

Related Links

Second Life projects update 47/1: server, viewer, issues

Posted on by Inara Pey

It's a New Dawn; Inara Pey, November 2015, on Flickr It’s a New Dawn (Flickr) – blog post

Server Deployments Week #47

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest updates.

  • There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, November 17th
  • The maintenance package deployed to all three RC channels in week #46 received a further update on Wednesday, November 18th. This was apparently due to the postponed deployment from week #46 not containing all of the desired updates.

SL Viewer

After mysteriously vanishing from the viewer release channel, the HTTP project viewer (Project Azumarill) reappeared on Tuesday, November 17th, still with the same version number (3.8.7.306796, dated November 2nd) as previously.

The Vivox viewer entered the release channel as a RC viewer on Tuesday, November 17th. Version 3.8.7.3.8.7.307744 corrects a number of Voice quality and connection issues on both Windows and the Mac.

The Chrome Embedded Framework Viewer also reached RC status with the release of version 4.0.0.307894 on Wednesday, November 18th.

Group Ejections and Group Chat

SVC-32, “Person kicked remains in chat session” came up for discussion at the Simulator User Group Meeting on Tuesday, November 17th.

This is the ongoing issue where those who are ejected from a group whilst in a group chat session still being able to continue using the chat until they close the window (with various permutations on the issue vis muting and unmuting people).

The cause of the problem seems to be quite deeply rooted in how the group chat service works, with Simon Linden noting, “I hate that one … and I’ve been lurking in some large groups (like FS) and seeing it abused. It’s an ugly problem and I’ve looked into it … basically because the info about how to add the logic isn’t where the log needs to be run … I looked into revoking caps and other ideas but didn’t find a silver bullet, or a pile of them, that would work … I’ll try to get some time to see if there’s anything that can be done without major architecture changes or new servers.”

Object and Linkset  Contents and Limits

Changes were recently made to how many objects can be placed within an individual in-world / worn object  and linkset. The limit per individual objects is now 10,000, and the limit per linkset is 30,000. The limits were revised to help deal with people using objects which massive contents from eating up server resources and impacting region performance as a form of griefing. However, a side issue with the changes has been that tools such as texture organisers with huge contents spread through the linkset can stop working – permanently.

To help people check their organisers and make suitable adjustments in line with the new limits, the Unpackistan region has a 90K limit for linksets (although there was an issue with this region as well – BUG-10695 – which should now have been corrected).

Concerns were raised the simulator User Group over the lack of follow-through when limits like this are changed (there has been no Wiki update in this instance, for example).

While it is understood limits may be changed to help reduce problems with griefing, etc., and thus the Lab may no wish to announce forthcoming changes in case it leads to an increase in abuse before the door is shut, so to speak, it was pointed out that providing some indicators as to what has changed, and ensuring reference documentation is properly updated could go a long way to help people figure out what might have happened as a result of such changes having an unexpected repercussion (as in this case).

Acknowledging this point, Simon agreed to take the concerns raised back to the office for further discussion.

Firestorm 4.7.5: something for everyone

Posted on by Inara Pey

firestorm-logoTuesday, November 17th saw the release of Firestorm 4.7.5.47975.  While not as major in terms of LL features and updates as the August 4.7.3 release, the new version of Firestorm nevertheless brings with it plenty of general fixes and improvements, both via the Lab and the Firestorm team and contributors.

As per my usual MO, what follows is an overview of the release, highlighting some of the more significant / interesting changes, updates and  fixes to be found in the release.  For full details of all changes, and all due credits to contributors, etc., please refer to the official release notes.

The Usual Before We Begin Notes

For best results when installing this release:

Details of any versions of Firestorm to be blocked as a result of this release will be announced in due course.

Lab Derived Updates

Firestorm 4.7.5 brings the viewer to parity with the Lab’s 3.8.6 code base, and so includes the new Notifications updates and changes to the mesh uploader. These and other key updates from the Lab are listed below.

Notifications Update

The notifications update presents a new floater for managing all your incoming notifications and notices, the result of a feature request to the Lab from Aki Shichiroji. Within this floater, incoming notifications are split between four tabs: System, Transactions, Invitations and Group, with each tab displaying the total number of notices stored within it.

Notices are initially displayed in summary format presenting the title, date of receipt and other immediately relevant data, and can be opened in one of two ways:

  • Clicking on a notice directly will open in a new floater (shown below left) – this is a Firestorm-specific feature for the floater
  • Clicking on the small downwards arrow to the right of the notice will expand it within the existing floater (show below right).
The new Notifications floater from the Lab is included in Firestorm 4.7.5.
The new Notifications floater from the Lab is included in Firestorm 4.7.5.

The floater also includes two buttons: Collapse All and Delete All. Both do as they suggest: collapse all notices open within a tab in the floater and delete all notices with a tab. Two further Firestorm-specific aspects of the notifications floater are:

  • An improved display of condensed group notices and show group name instead of sender name
  • The floater remembers the last selected tab after a relog.

Mesh Uploader Updates

Firestorm 4.7.5 includes the updated mesh uploader from Linden Lab, as seen in the SL viewer 3.8.4.305119 release.

This feature modifies the mesh importer to (optionally) improve debug output, perform name-based LOD association, and handle models with many materials, and allows models with more than 8 unique faces to be imported. When using it, note that:

  • The same limitations on LODs and materials remain in place (e.g. your low LOD mesh materials must be a subset of the full LOD materials).
  • LODs and Physics reps can now be explicitly associated with a given mesh in the full LOD model using name-based matching.
  • By properly naming the meshes in your lower LOD meshes and physics reps, you can avoid issues with ordering of the meshes within your DCC tool and other material mismatching errors.
  • An ImporterDebug option has been added to the settings.xml file which, if enabled, causes more information to be output during import than you can shake a stick at.
    The extra output can be very helpful for diagnosing authoring errors (e.g. violating the material subset constraints mentioned above) and pinpoint what needs to be fixed in the source model for successful import.

Further information can be found in the Lab’s Knowledge Base article.

Other Updates from the Lab

Other notable updates from the Lab include, but are not limited to:

  • A fix for unable to wear a copy of a wearable until relog or swapping to a wearable with a different UUID (see: BUG-8388 and FIRE-16097)
  • A fix for viewer crashing at logout if wearing clothing textured with a local texture (BUG-8872 and FIRE-15787)
  • A fix for viewer crashing if you open Help > About while a group member list is loading (see BUG-9396)
  • A fix for deleting objects too quickly from contents of another object results in viewer crash (see BUG-9492 and FIRE-16352)
  • A fix for alpha masking not working when ALM is enabled if the object has a legacy bump set (see BUG-7263)
  • Fixes for mesh models sometimes failing to load completely (see: BUG-6803, BUG-7239, BUG-8806, and FIRE-15690)
  • A fix for the inventory count sometimes not displaying (see BUG-7263)
  • A fix for group members of large groups in a role which has “Invite people to this group” ability not being able to send group invites (see BUG-9404)
  • A for fox errors when texturing a linkset “Unable to add texture. Please wait a few seconds and try again.” (see BUG-9957 and FIRE-16755)
  • A fix for the massive slowdown when opening “Place Profile” or “About Land” dialogue when the Covenant text is long
  • A fix for broken texture animation on rigged mesh
  • A fix for building block type changing to Torus after cancelling changing of texture for sculpted object
  • The time remaining is now displayed before the avatar name in the parcel ban list for timed bans
  • A huge number of maintenance fixes from various LL Maintenance viewer updates – for the full list, please refer to the Firestorm notes.

Continue reading “Firestorm 4.7.5: something for everyone” →

2015 viewer release summaries: week 46

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending Sunday, November 15th

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: 3.8.6.305981, October 26 – no change 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 updated to version 3.8.7.306758 on November 12 – 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)
    • Maintenance RC viewer version 3.8.7.307376 released on November 10 – core updates: some 38 fixes and improvements, including updates for some regressions introduced into the viewer with the current release viewer (download and release notes)
    • Project Azumarill (HTTP updates) RC viewer withdrawn, November 11  – possibly due to issues encountered by users on the cohort
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Valhalla (CEF media update) project viewer updated to version 4.0.0.307535 on November 10 – replaces the ageing LLQTWebKit system used in the Web media plugin with a shiny new one based on the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) that supports modern web technologies (download and release notes)

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer updated as follows: Stable version to 1.26.14.13 and Experimental to 1.26.15.12, both on November 9th – release notes.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Firestorm seek volunteer gateway marketing manager

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Firestorm Gateway provides new users with essential orientation in using the viewer and the opportunity to learn about a range of SL activities, such as aviation
The Firestorm Gateway provides new users with essential orientation in using the viewer and the opportunity to learn about a range of SL activities, such as aviation – but it needs marketing and promotional support

The Firestorm team have announced they are seeking a volunteer to handle marketing and promoting Second Life to potential new SL users through the Firestorm Community Gateway and website.

The Firestorm Gateway is a part of a forthcoming trail programme being implemented by the Lab which will see up to 20 community-lead gateways active within Second Life and geared towards helping incoming new users get to grips with the platform more positively, and hopefully improving the chances that they’ll “stick”.

However, in order to attract new users into Second Life, the Gateway – and particularly its associated website – needs to be actively promoted to audiences beyond SL – hence Firestorm’s call for a marketing volunteer.

The Firestorm Gateway incorporates their viewer orientation island and includes social areas for users
The marketing volunteer will be responsible for presenting and promoting the Gateway and – particularly the Gateway website – to potential audiences and target across the Internet, to encourage people

The Firestorm team is specifically looking for someone who is an existing user in Second Life with a solid grasp on what Second Life is and means to its residents, and who has extensive experience with internet marketing, including the use of social media tools.

The full list of requirements and the benefits offered in return are listed in the official  Firestorm announcement, and those interested in applying are asked to send a note card with their information, experience and ideas to Jessica Lyon in-world, or via e-mail to jessica.lyon-at-phoenixviewer.com.

Second Life projects update 46/2: RC server deployment, viewer updates

Posted on by Inara Pey

Saint Pete City; Inara Pey, November 2015, on Flickr Saint Pete City (Flickr) – blog post

Server Deploys Week 46 – Update

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest updates.

  • On Tuesday, November 10th, the Main (SLS) channel was updated with the same server maintenance package as deployed to the RC channels in week #45, comprising a fix for group invite throttle notifications, and an internal server code clean-up

Release Channel Deployments – Server-side Validation Enforcement

A new server maintenance package had been due for deployment on Wednesday, November 11th. This packed includes simulator-side enforcement checks against attachment point IDs (attachments using invalid attachment point ID will be moved to the chest attach point), and validation checks against animation and mesh to prevent the upload of animations and meshes weighted to invalid attachment points.

However, it was initially postponed after testing revealed the upload validation checks to be too stringent. (see BUG-10607 ‘Back end enforcement for animation upload is blocking upload of many of my animations – “references unknown joints”‘). As a result, the deployment was postponed while the Lab revisited the code to address issues, and a revised package was then rolled to all three RCs on Thursday, November 12th.

Firestorm 4.4.2 Bridge

In terms of the attachment ID and valid attachment points, one group of users who will be affected by the update are those on Firestorm 4.4.2, which uses an invalid attachment point ID for the Firestorm Bridge. Such users will only be affected if they log-in to an updated RC channel (keeping in mind this code will likely be deployed grid-wide in week #47), with the result that the bridge creation process will fail, leaving them with a boulder belly – a default rock shape embedded in their avatar.

Firestorm 4.4.2 users may find themselves with a boulder through their avatars as a result of the simulator code deployed to the RC channels this week. The issue will not affect Firestorm versions from 4.6.9 onwards (image courtesy of Whirly Fizzle)
Firestorm 4.4.2 users may find themselves with a boulder through their avatars as a result of the simulator code deployed to the RC channels this week. The issue will not affect Firestorm versions from 4.6.9 onwards (image courtesy of Whirly Fizzle)

As Whirly Fizzle explains in the deployment thread, to avoid this, those users on Firestorm 4.4.2, and who can, should update to 4.6.9 or later. Those who can’t, and who wish to avoid getting stoned, should disable the bridge creation process (Avatar -> Preferences -> Firestorm -> General -> Untick “Enable LSL-Client bridge” -> Apply -> OK  and detach the Bridge attachment). 

SL Viewer Updates

The Quick Graphics viewer containing the new Avatar Complexity capability and the ability to set multiple graphics presets was updated to version 3.8.7.306758 on Thursday, November 12th. This update sees the removal of a number of issues previously marked as resolved:

  • MAINT-5541 “[QuickGraphics] 0 complexity avatar renders as jelly”
  • MAINT-5567 “[QuickGraphics] A mesh attachment causes avatar to be jellybaby while Avatar complexity is set to No Limit”
  • MAINT-5620 “[QuickGraphics] clicking on Graphics Preset title triggers favorite”

The removal of these fixes would seem to suggest this viewer will remain at RC for a while longer.

HTTP RC Viewer Withdrawn

Also as noted in an addendum to the first part of this week’s report, the HTTP RC viewer (Project Azumarill) was withdrawn from the viewer release channel. This viewer had been suffering from a number of issues, including disconnecting from the simulator during teleports, and also issues such as BUG-10230 – “Voice often fails to connect on the Azumarill viewer”, and BUG-10391 – “Avatar often bakes fails on Azumarill”. These may all have contributed to the removal of the viewer from the channel while the issues are worked on.