Category: SL Tech

SL project updates 50/1: Server, viewer, issues

Posted on by Inara Pey

Frisland; Inara Pey, December 2015, on FlickrFrisland (Flickr) – blog post

Server Deployments

There was no Main (SLS) channel deployment on Tuesday, December 8th, following after the update planned for release in week #49 had to be cancelled when a simulator crash bug was uncovered.

On Wednesday, December 9th, all three RC channels should receive the same new server maintenance package, which comprises simulator crash fixes (including one for the issue found during the original final testing of the package in week #49) and implements feature request  BUG-10192: adding constant OBJECT_OMEGA to llGetObjectDetails(), so that it can return a vector matching what is returned with llGetOmega(), allowing applications to determine an object’s rate and axis of rotation.

Viewer Updates

On Monday, December 7th, the Valhalla RC viewer, which comprises the Chromium embedded Framework implementation intended to replace LLQTwebkit for handling media in Second Life, was updated to version 4.0.0.308641. This update includes 13 additional fixes when compared to the previous Valhalla RC version:

  • MAINT-5846 – MOAP audio is too quiet
  • MAINT-5849 – MOAP does not run if parcel media texture is on same face
  • MAINT-5852 – Parcel media url can be hijacked from parcel to parcel
  • MAINT-5854 – Loading http://secondlife.com on parcel media does not login
  • MAINT-5855 – media navigation bars overlap all floaters in viewer
  • MAINT-5856 – toolbar search can be interrupted early get stuck on blank page
  • MAINT-5859 – Terms of Service are not loading in Linux only
  • MAINT-5896 – Add support for viewing PDF files in the viewer
  • MAINT-5901 – Click-to-Walk should work through transparent objects
  • MAINT-5902 – Qihoo 360 Anti-virus blocks SLPlugin.exe and login page web content
  • MAINT-5909 – Japanese can’t be input in CEF
  • MAINT-5911 – Pressing “return” (or “enter”) no longer performs a search
  • MAINT-5941 – Default flash to on by default.

Other Items

Interest List and “Ghost” Prims

there have been reports at the last couple of Simulator User Group meetings about “ghost prim” – objects which have been deleted / killed via llDie, continuing to render viewer-side, even though they have been removed by the simulator, requiring a right-click to remove them from the viewer’s outlook on the world.

Problems like this aren’t new, and many have encountered them, particularly since the core of the changes made to the Interest List. However, positively identifying what is going wrong where in the code, and why it is going wrong has been proving difficult, as the has not been a consistent means of reproducing the problem. However, it now appears that just such a consistent means of encountering the issue has been found, and a JIRA raised. Hopefully, this means that the Lab will be able to dig a little deeper into things and at least rectify the problem for some of the situations where “ghost prims” can be encountered.

Join / Leave Group Failures

There have been significant issues with people attempting to join or leave groups recently – see BUG-10869. The problems are apparently caused by a back-end database overload within the group services,

There are many issues in handling large groups which can be problematic: number of members, number of inactive users, impact of changes to things like established group roles (and the numbers of group members they affect), and so on. These are all largely down to the way the back-end group services were originally designed, something which is not the easiest of issues to overcome, as Simon Linden explained at the at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, December 8th:

It’s a long story, actually, but comes down to scaling issues and design. It doesn’t make sense that we basically treat a group with 100k people in it the same as 10 people . There are some things that just take more time with a large group.

However, Simon is looking into the problems, as he did with the issues of group chat earlier in the year, which so that side of things dramatically improved, but there is currently no ETA on when any fix / fixes might be issued.

No Change Window

Subject to official confirmation by the Lab, week #51 (week commencing Monday, December 14th) is liable to mark the last week in which simulator and viewer releases will be made ahead of the Christmas / New Year “no change window” coming into force, which will probably remain in place until approximately the week commencing Monday, January 4th, 2016.

The no change window is intended to ensure the grid and viewer are both relatively stable, so that the Lab can offer support, engineering and operations staff time off over the holiday period to be with their families and friends.

2015 viewer release summaries: week 49

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending Sunday, December 6th

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):
    • Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 3.8.7.308556 on December 3 – 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 viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • No updates.

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer updated as follows: Stable version to 1.26.16.2 and Experimental branch to 1.26.17.0, both on December 5th (release notes).

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Bright Canopy now a part of Frame

Posted on by Inara Pey

Bright CanopyBright Canopy, the streaming service which allows users on low-end computers to access both Second Life and OpenSim, has announced it is effectively being absorbed by Frame, the cloud service provider which has been a technology partner with Bright Canopy from almost the beginning.

Bright Canopy came into existence after the demise of the SL Go service provided by the former Onlive games streaming company, after that company opted to offer itself for sale, only to have Sony Computer Entertainment buy out its IP and patents, ending the company as a going concern.

However, the going has been a little rough at times for Bright Canopy, particularly as no-one has attempted to provide access to Second Life and OpenSim in quite this way before (OnLive utilised their own dedicated servers and data centres), so it has been a journey into uncharted territory.

The most important things to note is that under the new arrangement, Bright Canopy will continue uninterrupted as a service for both Second Life and OpenSim, and the company’s founder, Bill Glover, will be joining Frame as Product Manager for Virtual Worlds.

Bill and Jeri Glover: creators of the Bright Canopy service
Bill and Jerri Glover: creators of the Bright Canopy service

Bright Canopy largely came into existence as a result of a partnership between Bill and Frame. At the time of SL Go’s demise, I ruminated on the potential of a streamed service for accessing Second Life being provided through Amazon Appstream. This time was enough to get Bill seriously thinking on the idea and looking into ways of achieving it. A follow-up article  prompted an invitation from Frame’s founder, Nikola Bozinovic, to try his service as a means to deliver a streamed viewer solution, and so the partnership was born.

Already with the technical expertise to manage and deliver high-end applications on a streaming basis through Amazon’s cloud services, and with the potential to leverage Microsoft’s Azure services in the future, Frame were an ideal partner for Bright Canopy. The synergy between the two companies allowed Bill to quickly establish a proof of concept for streaming the Second Life viewer. This rapidly developed into a closed alpha, which in turn rolled into a pre-lunch test beta. Thus, in just four months, Bright Canopy went from nascent idea to a service ready for launch.

Nikola Bozinovic, founder of Frame, has remained convinced of Bright Canopy's viability since extending his initial invitation to use Frame's infrastructure in April 2015.
Nikola Bozinovic, founder of Frame, has remained convinced of Bright Canopy’s viability since extending his initial invitation to use Frame’s infrastructure in April 2015.

Unfortunately, and as I reported at the time, a combination of very positive response to Bright Canopy’s launch and some drastic and unexpected fluctuations in Amazon’s Spot Instance pricing, meant that the original pricing model planned for the service could not be maintained, and Bill and Jerri had to reluctantly had to suspend Bright Canopy operations while alternatives were considered.

Although the service was relaunched in September 2015 with an alternative pricing model, both Bright Canopy and Frame have been seeking ways and means to make the service more appealing to users, particularly in the area of cost.

It is these explorations which have late to this latest situation, as Bill notes in the press release:

After brainstorming about some of the many things we could do together, I have accepted an offer to join Frame as Product Manager for Virtual Worlds.  The Bright Canopy service will continue uninterrupted as it already runs on the Frame platform, and we will be looking to expand and improve it with new options and flexibility.  Jerri will also continue supporting Bright Canopy as a community volunteer.

The news will not see any immediate change in Bright Canopy pricing – those avenues are still being explored.

However, one immediate benefit is that Bright Canopy’s support activities will be folded into those provided by Frame, streamlining issue management. What’s more, the move should also allow the Bright Canopy service to extend its reach into mobile devices: Frame already has a native iOS client, and can provide services to a number of Android devices through Chrome. Finally, the move might also allow further viewer options to be added to Bright Canopy’s stable alongside the Second Life viewer and Firestorm.

Running Bright Canopy on my Asus PCEE 1201N notebook with the graphics turned up to Ultra and everything enabled. The FPS was admittedly hovering just under 20, but given the Asus normally only manages low single-digit FPs nowadays with everything turned-off in the viewer - this is impressive
Running Bright Canopy on my Asus PCEE 1201N notebook with the graphics turned up to Ultra and everything enabled. The FPS was admittedly hovering just under 20, but given the Asus normally only manages low single-digit FPs nowadays with everything turned-off in the viewer – this is impressive

As well as announcing Frame’s direct involvement in Bright Canopy, which will see Jerri Glover continue her involvement in the project as a community volunteer, the press release also confirmed that there will be a special celebratory party at the company’s in-world location in Second Life to both celebrate the re-launch of the service back in September, and this latest news:

To celebrate, we will finally have that big relaunch party we’ve been promising with awesome gifts created just for the event. Come join us to celebrate.  Where: Bright Canopy Island. Time: December 12 at noon SLT (That’s 12/12 at 12:00).

For my own part, and having been privileged to have played a small role in Bright Canopy’s initial start-up and development, I’d like to offer my congratulations to Jerri and Bill, and also to Nikola.

You can read more about Bright Canopy, as I’ve covered developments in this blog, by following this link.

SL Project updates week 49

Posted on by Inara Pey

Everlong; Inara Pey, November 2015, on FlickrEverlong (Flickr) – blog post

The technical news is very light for week #49, hence my lack of updates as the week progressed.

There were no simulator deployments during the week. A new server maintenance package had been planned for deployment to the three RC channels, but this suffered a last-minute postponement do to a simulator crash situation being discovered if a simulator spins-up with a specific debug mode enabled.

As a result of this cancellation, there is unlikely to be a Main (SLS) channel roll in week 50, although the RC update should see deployment. After that, with the Christmas / New Year no change window rising over the horizon, further simulator updates are liable to be conspicuous in their absence until early 2016.

The viewer has been similarly quiet during the week, with only the Maintenance RC being updated, with version 3.8.7.308556 being released on December 3rd. There was (again) no RC promotion to release status for any viewer, thus leaving the usual suspects in the viewer release channel:

  • Maintenance RC viewer, version 3.8.7.308556, dated December 3rd, as noted above. Some 38 fixes and improvements, including updates for some regressions introduced into the viewer with the current release viewer
  • Project Azumarill (HTTP updates) RC viewer, version 3.8.7.308134, dated November 25th, which provides  a complete replacement of the under the hood HTTP infrastructure within the viewer
  • Project Valhalla (CEF media update) RC viewer, version 4.0.0.307894 dated November 18th, which replaces the LLQTWebKit functionality used in the Web media plugin with one based on the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF)
  • Vivox RC viewer, version 3.8.7.307744, dated November 17th, which corrects a number of Voice quality and connection issues on both Windows and Mac
  • Quick Graphics RC viewer, version 3.8.7.306758, dated November 12th, which provides the new Avatar Complexity options and graphics preset capabilities for setting, saving and restoring graphic settings for use in difference environments / circumstances.

The two potential candidates for promotion to release status would seem to be either the HTTP RC viewer or the Maintenance viewer. However, the former’s promotion would appear to be dependent upon whether the remaining niggles have been ironed out to the Lab’s satisfaction, and the later on whether the most recent RC update gathers sufficient stats to indicate whether it is ripe for promotion.

There were assorted reports of issues with teleports, etc., through the first part of the week, and during the Server Beta User Group meeting, the question was asked by Caleb Linden if people had noticed an increased rate of teleport issues / failures, suggesting the Lab may have noticed something going awry.

Other than that, a light news week, as mentioned.

Black Dragon 2.4.4.4: Jelly babies and graphics presets

Posted on by Inara Pey

Blackdragon logoOn Sunday, November 29th, NiranV Dean released Black Dragon 2.4.4.4 (or 4.0.0.36527, depending on your personal preference). This release incorporates three significant features from the Lab, as well as Niran’s own nips, tucks, tweaks and changes.

First among the changes inherited from the Lab is the latest update to the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF)  implementation which is intended to provide modern media support (HTML 5.0, WebGL).

Of possible greater interest to the vast majority of users is the addition of the Avatar Complexity rendering and the graphics presets, as found in the Lab’s Quick Graphics RC viewer. I’ve previously provided two overviews of these, in August and June of 2015, so what follows is a brief summary and examination of Niran’s implementation, starting with the graphics presets capability.

Graphics presets, a capability contributed by Jonathan Yap (see STORM-2082), allows users to create, save and use sets of viewer graphics options designed to meet a specific requirement, with the intent to help with viewer performance, and which can be used by any account logging-in to SL using the viewer on which the presets have been created.

This means, for example, you can create a sets specifically for indoor use, limiting your draw distance, reducing levels of detail for things like terrain and sky and water reflections and so, boost your system’s performance when visiting stores, etc., while having another preset with all the bells and whistles enabled for photography. Then with a couple of mouse clicks, you can swap between these and any others you create to meet your needs as you travel Second Life, all without the need to fiddle with settings or relog.

An issue with the official viewer’s implementation of graphics presets is that it requires the use of two rather clunky floaters which eat screen real estate. Niran avoids this by neatly integrating the core preset options (Save, Load and Delete presets) into the foot of the Display tab in Preferences. In doing so, he also makes creating a simple top-down flow through the Display tab options.

The new Graphic Presets Save and Load options can be found at the bottom of the Display tab in the Preferences floater. Simply add a name for the options you've set in the text box (arrowed) and click Save. To load a preset group when the floater is open on the Display tab, enter the name for the preset in the text box and click Load
The new Graphic Presets Save and Load options can be found at the bottom of the Display tab in the Preferences floater. Simply add a name for the options you’ve set in the text box (arrowed) and click Save. To load a preset group when the floater is open on the Display tab, enter the name for the preset in the text box and click Load

This means that creating a new preset is simply a matter of running through the Display options, making sure those you want active are checked and those that you don’t need are unchecked, and that all relevant sliders are correctly adjusted. Then, when you’ve done so, enter a name for the preset group in the text box at the foot of the tab (arrowed above) and click the Save button – then repeat as required.

You can also load an establish preset group from here by typing the name into the text box and clicking Load. Any unwanted presets can be removed by entering the name and clicking the Delete button.

The Presets icon allow you to easily access your graphics presets
The Presets icon allow you to easily access your graphics presets

When it comes to swapping back and forth between preset groups, however, the quickest way to do so is via the Presets icon located in the top right of the viewer window. Hovering the mouse over this displays a list of all presets you’ve created; just click the name of the one you wish to  activate.

This list also include a button which will open the Preferences floater at the display tab, allowing you to quickly set-up a new preset or modify and existing preset (just make your changes and save to an existing preset name to overwrite it).

As avatars can often be the single biggest impact on the viewer in terms of rendering, particularly in crowded places, Avatar Complexity has been introduced by the Lab as a mean by which those on lower specification systems can set a limit within their viewer for rendering particularly complex avatars (i.e. those with a lot of very high-resolution textures on them and their accessories, or using a lot of high-impact mesh and sculpt attachments etc). Any avatar exceeding this limit will then be rendered as a single, solid colour, vastly reducing the processing load on the user’s system. Because they are rendered as a solid colour, such avatars have been nicknamed  ”Jelly Babies” after the sweet (candy) of the same name.

Within the official viewer, the control for Avatar Complexity is a single slider (Maximum Complexity) which controls avatar rendering. Within Black Dragon, Niran control is seemingly split between three sliders, Derender Objects > Kb, Derender Surfaces > m2,  and Derender Avatars > AR. and some juggling between them may be required to achieve optimal results, if you play with all of them.

Avatar Complexity in Black Dragon
Avatar Complexity in Black Dragon

Avatar Complexity in the official viewer is still not perfected; this is reflected by the fact that avatars can often remain Jelly Babied even when Maximum Complexity is set to No Limit –  you have to disable avatar imposters to get avatars stuck like this to render correctly (or relog). Black Dragon didn’t seem to exhibit this problem when I was fiddling with it,

Continue reading “Black Dragon 2.4.4.4: Jelly babies and graphics presets” →

2015 viewer release summaries: week 48

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending Sunday, November 29th

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):
    • Project Azumarill (HTTP updates) RC viewer updated to version 3.8.7.308134 on November 25 – a complete replacement of the under the hood HTTP infrastructure within the viewer (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • Black Dragon updated to version 2.4.4.4 on November 29th – core updates: incorporation of Lab’s Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) support and Quick Graphics updates (Avatar Complexity and graphics presets) – release notes

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links