Category: SL Tech

SL projects updates 6/2: server, Fitted Mesh, misc items

Posted on by Inara Pey

Server Deployments: week 6 – recap

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread in the forums for the latest updates / changes.

  • On Tuesday February 4th, the Main channel received the server maintenance package previously on the three RC channels, which includes a crash mode fix and a fix for llModifyLand() modifying the wrong location in region, when called in a child prim. See part 1 of this report for further details
  • On Wednesday February 5th, all three RCs received a new server maintenance package, which includes a crash fix.

It seems there may not be any RC deployment in week 7. A number of things are being worked on, but there’s nothing ready for release as yet, but that could change between now and Wednesday next.

SL Viewer Updates

Fitted Mesh

As expected, the Fitted Mesh RC received a further update on Wednesday February 5th, with the release of version 3.7.0.286015. This update was to incorporate a further fix for issues relating to FITMESH-6 and FITMESH-20, after Latif Khalifa of the Singularity team spotted a coding error in the original fix.

Other Items

SL log-in Servers Redeployment

Coyot Linden: SL log-in server updates
Coyot Linden: SL log-in server updates

On Thursday February 6th, Linden Lab redeployed the log-in servers. The aim of this work was to bring them up to a current operating system version (the one they have been running on being some two years old). There was no change in functionality, and as the work was seamless from a user perspective, there was no blog post on the matter.  Commenting on the work at the Server Beta meeting on Thursday February 6th, Coyot Linden said the work involved

Newer versions of standard apps like webserver, caching app, etc., and all of the better functionality and security fixes that go with that. But nothing has changed about the login code or process.

This work was actually the reason log-ins on Aditi were broken ahead of the Server Beta meeting on Thursday January 30th: Aditi only has the one log-in server (as opposed to the 15 available to Agni, the main grid), and that was being used to test the update. The plan is for a second log-in server to be added to Aditi in order to avoid situation where the loss of a server prevents anyone from access the beta grid.

Vivox Work

As many are aware, there have been a number of Vivox issues (as well as FmodEx issues) affecting voice in SL.

On Tuesday February 4th, maintenance was performed on the Vivox backend which were mostly for quality enhancements for people using a recent version of the voice SDK. The changes didn’t involve any changes to the simulators, but as the updates are for a “recent” version of the voice SDK, it is questionable whether the enhancements will affect those TPVs using “older” versions of the SDK (e.g. Firestorm 4.4.2 is using an older version of the SDK, although upcoming releases will be on a par with the LL viewer).

SL projects news 6/1: Server, viewer, SSA and AIS project viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey
Simulator User Group meeting, Tuesday February 4th
Simulator User Group meeting, Tuesday February 4th

Server Deployments: week 6

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread in the forums for the latest updates / changes.

Main (SLS) Channel

On Tuesday February 4th, the Main channel received the server maintenance package previously on the three RC channels, which includes a crash mode fix and a fix for llModifyLand() modifying the wrong location in region, when called in a child prim.

Speaking at the Server Beta meeting on Thursday January 23rd, Maestro Linden described this fix thus:

For example, if a child prim is offset by <8,4,0> from the root prim, then calling that function in the child prim will try to modify the terrain at <8,4,0>  of the region,  which may or may not work depending on who owns the parcel.

The fix is to make it modify the land underneath the child prim (which of course follows the same permissions rules – you can only modify land owned by the script owner.

Release Candidate Channels

On Wednesday February 5th, all three RCs should receive a new server maintenance package, which includes a crash fix.

SL Viewer Updates

Google Breakpad

Google Breakpad reappeared in the viewer release channel as an RC (version 3.6.14.285686, dated January 29th) on February 4th. As per usual, the RC does not contain any functional changes or updates, but contains a Google Breakpad updates and restructures the crash reporting mechanism to support out of process crash reporting. These changes will give the development team more call stacks from crashes more frequently, to improve the triaging and debugging of issues.

HTTP Viewer

The HTTP RC gained a further update on Monday, February 3rd, with the release of  version 3.6.14.286010, although it had been anticipated this viewer might update to the de facto release viewer this week.

AIS v3

The Server-side Appearance “polish” and AIS v3 project viewer, version 3.6.14.285190 was released on Tuesday February 4th. In terms of SSA This includes:

  • Stability and performance improvements for SSA: retry logic, removing redundant requests, detecting various appearance stuck conditions.
  • Code cleanup with the removal of a lot of code related to the old client-side baking framework.
  • Bug fixes, mostly appearance-related
  • Support for AIS v3 (which requires server-side updates.

For more information, see my announcement of the release.

Group Ban Lists

Baker Linden continues to work on Group Ban Lists, commenting at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday February 4th that, “I’m finally finished with (what I think is) the major viewer side changes, so I’ll be getting everything ready this week for a deploy hopefully in the next upcoming weeks, so be ready to test the crap out of group bans on Aditi soon!”

Lab releases SSA / AIS project viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Tuesday February 4th, Linden Lab released the new Server-side Appearance (SSA) / Advanced Inventory System (AIS v3) Sunshine project viewer – version 3.6.14.285190.

The SSA "polish" / AIS v3 project viewer was released on February 4th
The SSA “polish” / AIS v3 Sunshine project viewer was released on February 4th

The SSA updates in this viewer primarily comprise:

  • Stability and performance improvements for SSA: retry logic, removal of redundant requests, detecting various appearance stuck conditions
  • Code cleanup with the removal of a lot of code related to the old client-side baking framework
  • Bug fixes, mostly appearance-related.

The AIS v3 updates require server-side updates to be deployed as well in order to be used. Once this has been done, users should note improved the reliability of outfit changes, including speed of changes and a further reduction in the failure rate experienced when changing outfits.

There is no current release date for the server-side support for AIS v3, and there will likely be further testing prior to a deployment being made; the Lab has actually been waiting for more TPVs to produce test viewers with the AIS code in order for this to happen. Hopefully, with the code now in a project viewer, more TPVs will be in a position to build test viewers for this purpose.

However, anyone wishing to specifically test the AIS v3 code, particularly if they have been experiencing outfit change issues, might want to try the project viewer on the four SunshineTest regions on Aditi.

Related Links

Dolphin viewer: WIP, but getting there

Posted on by Inara Pey

dolphin-logoLance Corrimal has given a couple of short updates on the status of his efforts to get his Dolphin viewer back up to speed.

In a brief update on January 25th, he reported that the work had seen Dolphin gain:

  • Latest Viewer-Release+RLV
  • The Sailor’s Mini Map V2
  • Avatar name in the title bar
  • Several bugfixes

However, as he goes on to note, there’s still a fair amount still to be done, including: improved build tools and area search, the machinima floater and the Flickr upload capability, the inventory Worn tab and the advanced inventory search / filter, as well as things like viewer rebranding and preference pages for the Dolphin-specific features. Nevertheless, progress is being made.

In a further update on January 29th, he provides an update on Dolphin and openSUSE:

openSUSE 12.2 is officially End-Of-Life as of January 27, 2014. That means, I won’t be providing rpm packages of the Dolphin Viewer 3 for openSUSE 12.2 anymore. The last one available for openSUSE 12.2 will be 3.4.14.

That being said, if you are running openSUSE 12.3, and have been using the Dolphin Viewer 3 through packages from the RPM repository, try a “zypper install dolphinviewer3-beta” if you feel like it :)

Once I have an actual release, the beta version will uninstall itself, just like magic.

There’s still no actual release date on the horizon for an updated Dolphin; things are dependent upon RL and Lance’s work schedule – so please don’t ping him asking, “When?”! Suffice it to say that further updates will appear on the Dolphin blog as they become available.

Related Links

With apologies to Lance for the delay in publishing this.

Viewer release summaries 2014: week 5

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending: February 2nd, 2014

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 Viewer Round-up 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
  • By its nature, this summary will always be in arrears
  • The Viewer Round-up Page is updated as soon as I’m aware of any releases / changes to viewers & clients, and should be referred to for more up-to-date information
  • The Viewer Round-up Page also 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.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version: no change (version 3.6.13.284995, formerly the PackageFix RC)
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Fitted Mesh RC updated on January 27th to version 3.7.0.285669 – core updates: latest updates to the Fitted Mesh project (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • No updates

V1-style

  • Cool VL:
    • Available for: Windows, Linux
    • Stable version: 1.26.10.9 – February 1st
    • Experimental version: 1.26.11.9 – February 1st
    • Legacy version: 1.26.8.46 – February 1st
    • Release notes (all) – core updates: backports from Singularity incl. fix for crash on mesh uploads, an NVIDIA-specific optimisation to vertex buffers handling, fix for issues with animations using the Avatar Center joint, additional “minor” fixes and optimisations; OpenSim updates, incl: InWorldz crash fix when using Edit > contents > New Script, Kitely login URI updated, fix for rezzed objects edited scripts not being saved; backport of LL’s Quicktime media plugin improvement; assorted fixes and optimisations
  • Singularity updated on Tuesday January 28th to version 1.8.5.5617 – core updates: Fitted Mesh support; HTTP updates; new “mouse move” capability; significant updates and improvements to graphics and rendering; underwater shadows; Mouselook and camera placement improvements; numerous fixes and enhancements (release notes)

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

SL projects updates 5/2: viewer, GPU table, Rift, Leap Motion

Posted on by Inara Pey

Server Deployments: week 5 recap

  • On Tuesday January 28th, the Main channel received the server maintenance project previously on the three RC channels, which contains a single fix for a crash mode.
  • On Wednesday January 29th, all three RC channels received a new server maintenance project, which includes a crash mode fix and a fix for llModifyLand() modifying the wrong location in region, when called in a child prim – see part one of this report for further details.

SL Viewer Updates

The following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting of Friday January 31st, a video of which is included below. My thanks, as ever, to North for the latter.

Fitted Mesh

As noted in part one of this report, a new version of the Fitted Mesh viewer arrived in the release channel as an RC on Monday January 27th. Version 3.7.0.285669 includes a number of fixes, included a hoped-for resolution for FITMESH-6 and FITMESH-20. However, there is an issue with the fix, as reported by Latif Khalifa of the Singularity team, and which the Lab has confirmed.  The viewer will therefore have a further RC update in week 6 (week commencing Monday 3rd February).  If the new RC proves stable and reliable, then the Fitted Mesh viewer will be looked at as a contender to go to release status.

Interest List

Despite having been reported as having a much improved crash rate, the Interest List RC, version: 3.6.14.285213 released on January 14th, still appears to be reporting higher than expected crashes. The Lab is not 100% convinced the crash measurements are correct, and they may be measuring high. This is being poked at, but means in the interim the viewer will remain an RC.

HTTP Viewer

The HTTP RC viewer, version 3.6.14.285253 released on January 16th, is performing well and now stands as the strongest contender for the next promotion to the de facto release viewer.

Maintenance Viewer and GPU Table

The Maintenance viewer, version 3.6.14.285499 released on January 23rd has generated interest due to the inclusion of MAINT-3131 “Death to GPU Table”.

Essentially, the GPU table is used to define your graphics card to the viewer and the default graphics settings which are applied as a result when you first start the viewer. As many will be aware, the GPU table is manually maintained, and as a result is not a very effective mechanism for managing GPU evolution.

MAINT-3131 is part of ongoing work which the Lab hopes will eventually eliminate the GPU table. Discussing the work, Oz said:

The idea is to do two things: ask the [graphics] driver [on a local system] what version of OpenGL it supports, and use whatever capabilities that can be relied on to find that out;  and then to measure the performance of the GPU by doing a series of memory bandwidth tests. Basically copying big blocks of video memory back and forth a few times and seeing how long it takes. The theory is that it ends up being at least as good a predictor of what the GPU is capable of as we’re currently getting by the guesses in the GPU table, and maybe better.

The code linked to MAINT-3131 is believed to be the code needed to carry out the memory bandwidth tests (and likely recording the results), the idea being that it can be monitored to note how well it measures the performance of things the Lab believe they understand, and see if it handles them more effectively / efficiently. Should this work proceed the way the Lab hopes, then the hope is the GPU table can be removed from the viewer in the future.  It is thought that the bandwidth testing, which will likely only take place when or shortly after the viewer has launched (and then only after the GPU identifier string has changed), will be a “pretty good proxy” for measuring a GPU’s performance a GPU compared to just asking the OpenGL driver what it can do.

Continue reading “SL projects updates 5/2: viewer, GPU table, Rift, Leap Motion” →