Category: SL User Group Meetings

2016 SL project updates 46/2: TPVD meeting; Grid Status changes

Posted on by Inara Pey

Winter Trace; Inara Pey, November 2016, on Flickr Winter Trace – blog post

The majority of the notes in this update are taken from the abbreviated TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, November 18th. The video of that meeting is embedded at the end of this update. My thanks as always to North for recording and providing it.

Server Deployments – Recap

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

  • On Tuesday, November 15th, the Main (SLS) channel received the same server maintenance package as previously deployed to the three RC channels in week #45. This includes:
    •  llGetEnv() will support “region_max_prims” (feature request BUG-40825).
    • llGetObjectDetails() will have a new OBJECT_GROUP_TAG function  (feature request BUG-20064) – when pointed at avatars it returns the group tag you see floating above them; and also OBJECT_TEMP_ATTACHED – to tell you if something is a temp attachment (feature request BUG-5195).
  • There is was planned RC deployment for Wednesday, November 16th.

No Change Window

A No Change window is in force in week #47 (week commencing Monday 21st November) in the run-up to Thanksgiving in the United States. This means that all four server channels should now remain on the same release through until November 30th, when a new RC deployment is anticipated.

SL Viewer

[00:05] As noted in part 1 of this week’s report, the Maintenance RC viewer version 4.1.2.321518 was promoted to de facto release status on Tuesday, November 15th. Also, and as reported in my Bento update #34, the Bento RC viewer was updated to version 5.0.0.321598. This contains three significant bug fixes, but there will be a further RC release to correct the so-called “Viagra Bug” which causes an “ever-growing groin bone”.

[02:14] Further updates are anticipated on the 360 Snapshot project viewer. The Lab is still trying to work around conflicts with the Interest List, but at the moment it still appears the best solution is to slowly pan around the area you want to photography before attempting a capture to ZIP file, although this doesn’t always take care of things.

64-bit Viewers

[02:58] The 64-bit viewer builds, when they appear, will at some point include revisions to how the viewer goes about checking for updates and how the update process is managed. The aim is to make the update process more robust, and separate out the update checks from the rest of the code. There will be further discussions on this in December, which might be taken to indicate when the first 64-bit versions of the viewer might be appearing.

New Maintenance RC

[03:46] The next Maintenance viewer, containing further fixes and improvements is with QA, but should be appearing soon.

Intel HD2000 – HD4000 Graphics Issue

[58:57] As noted in my week #42 TPVD update, the Lab is going to resolve the Windows version detection issue with Intel HD2000 – HD4000 graphics on 32-bit systems by having the 32-bit version of their Windows viewer not opting into the Win 10 features, allowing 32-bit systems remain compatible with the chipsets; however, the 64-bit version will still opt-in. In addition, as the new viewer update process comes into force, the Lab is going to try to automatically  update users into the correct channels, so they are no longer impacted by these issues.

Grid Status Page and Feed Changes

[04:22] The Lab is making further changes to how grid status information is displayed / delivered. This involves a move to a new status page provider, in part to provide more information over what was previously possible and to improve updates and management of grid status reports and  updates.

The new grid status pages will be delivered via https://secondlife-status.statuspage.io/. Note that this isn’t actually live as yet, and any information displayed on the page is currently for testing purposes only.

The cut-over date for the new service is currently planned for Monday, November 28th, at which point a redirect will be put in place to steering people to the new status page when following dashboard links, etc. There may also be a redirect on the RSS feed URL as well. However, those wishing to use the new RSS feeds may need to manually update to one of the following URLs:

The changes are intended to allow Lab Operations to update grid status information directly from their internal chat system, rather than go through multiple steps to get the status pages updated, which is hoped will make the status information reflect updates and situations in a more timely manner, as well as the page itself having far more information available to users through the drop-down sections. There may also be a SMS feature so that those wishing to can subscribe to the service and receive grid status updates on the smartphone.

llTakeControl Issue

[10:18-36:22] Recent changes to the llTakeControl function, which among other things, manages interactions when in Mouselook have resulted in some users running TPVs being unable to complete Quest 3 of the new Horizons Experience as the guns for that section of the game will not function.

I’ve provided a separate report on the issue as it relates to TPVs and the Horizons Experience. However, the problem is symptomatic of wider issues with llTakeControl which also for a part of this discussion, and I refer readers the video to hear the entire conversation.

Voice Updates

[43:58]  The current voice updates are progressing through LL’s QA, but has been delayed due  voice attenuation with distance and direction issues occurring on Mac systems such that anyone on the left of a listening person attenuate rapidly with distance so that at a distance of less than 10 metres, they can no longer be heard. This requires further work from Vivox to correct. Once received – which shouldn’t be too long – then the updates will be released in a project or RC viewer.

Meanwhile, the server-side Voice updates have been held pending the completion of other server-side work which is deemed to have a higher priority.

[42:36] While a fix for SL Voice crashing when plugging / unplugging a USB device was broadly fixed some time again, there are some USB devices which can still result in a Voice crash when plugged in / unplugged from a computer. These seem to be devices which aren’t correctly recognised at the time they are connected (e.g. a headset being identified as a keyboard or camera, a camera as a headset, etc.). Vivox apparently now has a fix for this issue as well which will be coming shortly.

Project Bento User Group update 34 with audio

Posted on by Inara Pey
Project Bento – extending the SL avatar skeleton
Project Bento – extending the SL avatar skeleton

The following notes and audio were taken from the weekly Bento User Group meeting, held on Thursday, November 17th at 13:00 SLT at the the Hippotropolis Campfire Circle. and chaired by Vir Linden. For details on the meeting agenda, please refer to the Bento User Group wiki page.

Bento Viewer

The new Reset Skeleton and Animations option
The new Reset Skeleton and Animations option

The Bento viewer RC updated on Tuesday, November 15th to version 5.0.0.321598. This build has fixes for the following (non-public) JIRA issues:

  • SL-524 – Reset Skeleton does not restore collision volume joint positions
  • MAINT-6913 – Problem with alpha on some Nvidia Mac systems when shadows are enabled
  • MAINT-6915 – Reset Skeleton is not enough to remove all traces of a previous Bento avatar.

To handle the last point, the Lab has added a Reset Skeleton And Animations option to the right-click menu (shown on the right).

However, as the problem can occur intermittently, it is still not guaranteed the additional option will handle those situations where an avatar isn’t fully reset using Reset Skeleton. Wider testing will hopefully uncover any remaining corner cases where this is the case – Firestorm hope to have a build available for testing with these updates fairly soon.

The “Viagra Bug” and Further Viewer RC Updates / Viewer Release

It is likely there will be one further RC update before the viewer is promoted to the de facto release viewer, courtesy of a new bug which has cropped up recently which results in a *cough* “ever-growing groin bone”, aka the Viagra Bug”. This is related to the addition of the groin slider,

Providing nothing else of significance is found, it is hoped that the next RC will be the version of the viewer which will be the one that will get duly promoted to release status. Given week #47 is Thanksgiving, it would seem likely this won’t be before week #48 (week commencing Monday, November 28th). The only other caveat to this would be an unexpected and particularly nasty bug showing up.

Best Practices and “How To” Guidance

Bento is going to bring with it a lot of questions from both creators and consumers. To help advise / educate people, The Lab is considering putting together a series of video and / or a set of “best practices” pages on the wiki – with a lean more likely towards the latter.

The general idea would be to showcase the work of individual creators, including their own guidance and advice (e.g. advice they have perhaps previously supplied, and now buried in, the 130+ pages of the Bento forum thread), and links to any videos, advisory web pages, etc., they have created (such as this series on Bento horse avatars, by Teager), so that creators and consumers can be better informed of Bento’s capabilities and opportunities. These best practices pages could include a biography of the creator providing their time / ideas / tutorials, while official videos – if the Lab go that route – could also showcase their work, discuss Bento with them etc.

Bento creators interested in helping the Lab in developing ideas and information along these lines are asked to contract Troy Linden directly (troy-at-lindenlab.com).

Other Items

Future Considerations

Its been suggested that having a “reset all skeletons” option might be an option for the future, rather than having to right-click individually on avatars which may be deformed and then correct them in your view – particularly as the Reset Skeleton options might be buried in the pie menu for those still using it.

Such an option would “fix” multiple deformed avatars (which might be the case when teleporting into an area with a lot of avatars), but it also might cause avatars which were not deformed in a person’s view to deform, possibly with no means to fix without a relog on the part of the person seeing them deformed. However, it is an idea the Lab is willing to consider for the future, if submitted as a feature request.

Similarly, the option to have unweighted (but referenced) bones be removed from the max bone count in a mesh (e.g so volume bones no longer count towards the available allocation) is being looked at as a possible follow-on update to the project.

Next Bento Meeting

Due to Thanksgiving in the United States, followed by a possible internal meeting at the Lab the week after, the next Bento meeting – subject to confirmation on dates in the user group wiki page – may not be until Thursday, December 8th.

Post Release Bento User Group

Thought is being given to continuing the user group meetings once the viewer has reached release status, initially as Bento meetings, where people can come and seek information, and then possibly but broadening into a (avatar focused?) content creators’ meeting, if there is a demand.

Additional Bento Links

2016 SL project updates 46/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Telrunya Winter; Inara Pey, November 2016, on Flickr Telrunya Winter – blog post

Server Deployments for Week 46

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

  • On Tuesday, November 15th, the Main (SLS) channel received the same server maintenance package as previously deployed to the three RC channels in week #45. This includes:
    •  llGetEnv() will support “region_max_prims” (feature request BUG-40825).
    • llGetObjectDetails() will have a new OBJECT_GROUP_TAG function  (feature request BUG-20064) – when pointed at avatars it returns the group tag you see floating above them; and also OBJECT_TEMP_ATTACHED – to tell you if something is a temp attachment (feature request BUG-5195).
  • There is no planned RC deployment for Wednesday, November 16th.

No Change Window

A No Change window is in force in week #47 (week commencing Monday 21st November) in the run-up to Thanksgiving in the United States. This means that all four server channels should now remain on the same release through until November 30th, when a new RC deployment is anticipated.

SL Viewer

As anticipated, the Maintenance RC viewer, version 4.1.2.321518 was promoted to de facto release status on Tuesday, November 15th. The viewer includes multiple crash fixes; fixes for bugs encountered in building; fixes and improvements for the viewer UI; avatar and outfits improvements; inventory fixes; code clean-up, etc. Please refer to the release note for specifics.

The leaves the rest of the viewer release channels as follows:

  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Project Bento  RC (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.321250, dated November 2nd
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

A further Maintenance RC viewer is anticipated, and may appear before the end of the week.

Horizons Experience

On Tuesday November 15th, the Lab introduced the Horizons Experience, a new 6-region quest-style adventure coupled with a new Mainland themed community environment. You can find out more via the official blog post, while I have a in-depth look at the new community environment and a run through the new gaming experience.

2016 SL project updates 45/2: Bento update 33 w/audio + server / viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey
Project Bento – extending the SL avatar skeleton
Project Bento – extending the SL avatar skeleton

The following notes and audio were taken from the weekly Bento User Group meeting, held on Thursday, November 10th at 13:00 SLT at the the Hippotropolis Campfire Circle. and chaired by Vir Linden. For details on the meeting agenda, please refer to the Bento User Group wiki page.

There is a further RC update pending, as the Lab continues to work on reported bugs. Issues in particular which are receiving attention are:

  • An issue affecting some Mac systems running Nvidia graphics running out of the GL uniform buffer space. This can be fixed by cutting the number of joints per mesh, which may not always be ideal from a creator’s perspective. However, a further fix has been suggested by the alchemy viewer team, which Vir is looking at, which may be an option going forward.
  • An issue with the Reset Skeleton option not always un-deforming an avatar. This appears to be a permissions issue (you can generally deform your own avatar, but may not be able to properly un-deform someone else due to the permissions set on their animations). Vir is currently having a hard time pinning the issue down, and has requested than anyone able to consistently repro it with a model to drop him a line.

A further fix still to be added to the RC viewer is for collision volume joint positions which were failing to reset correctly when using Reset Skeleton.

There have been more bugs filed as a result of the Firestorm Bento pre-release and alpha version being made available to testers, which is helping to pin down the more significant issues and ensure that, where possible, fixes are put in place.

The most recent RC for the viewer at the time of writing (version 5.0.0.321250) has been showing an improved crash rate, with no significant spikes when compared to the current release viewer.

Legacy Content Deformation Issues

The deformation issue affecting some early Bento avatars and due to bad joint position overrides, as initially reported in BUG-40672 doesn’t appear to be widespread. As such, and subject to final confirmation by the Lab, it looks as though no changes will be made to the viewer to fork rendering behaviour (as discussed in my Bento update #32), which would require Bento content to be re-uploaded.

There are other bugs reported within BUG-40672 which have fixes, such as for the eye problem (again, see my Bento #32 update), the Haste Coy product problem, and the 1st Act Garou Male Avatar, and these either are, or will be in RC updates to the Bento viewer, where code fixes are required.

Firestorm Bento FPS Issue

Some people on the Firestorm Bento alpha release are reporting poor performance / low FPS when around other avatars. However, others are reporting an improved performance with the Bento version over the current 4.7.9 – although that could be a placebo effect. For those experiencing lower than expected FPS on their systems,try running the latest official Bento RC and see if the same performance issues are apparent. If they aren’t, try one of the following:

  • Try raising your Avatar Complexity to a high value / No Limit, as there is an odd issue on some systems where rendering a lot of “Jelly Dolls” can negatively impact viewer performance
  • Back-up your settings, and then reset everything to default values (e.g. as defined by the Bento RC) and check performance. If there is a noticeable improvement, gradually work through graphic settings and see if / when the updates start to impact performance. If you see a consistent impact which can be reproduced, file a Firestorm bug report.

Additional Bento Links

The Prim Rig, ANWR Channel
The Prim Rig,  – blog post

Other Updates: Server, Viewer, Avatar Complexity and Aditi Log-ins

Server Deployments – Recap

  • There was no Main (SLS) channel roll on Tuesday, November 8th.
  • On Wednesday, November 9th, the three RC channels should all receive the same new server maintenance package, which includes:
    •  llGetEnv() will support “region_max_prims” (feature request BUG-40825).
    • llGetObjectDetails() will have a new OBJECT_GROUP_TAG function  (feature request BUG-20064) – when pointed at avatars it returns the group tag you see floating above them; and also OBJECT_TEMP_ATTACHED – to tell you if something is a temp attachment (feature request BUG-5195).

SL Viewer Updates

The Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 4.1.2.321518  on Thursday, November 10th. This may well be the next RC to gain promotion to release status, given the Bento viewer is still awaiting a further RC update, as noted above.

The 360 Snapshot project viewer updated to version 4.1.2.321431 on Wednesday November 9th.

Avatar Complexity Issue

As noted in the Bento update, some people are experiencing FPS / performance issues on the Firestorm Bento viewer. However, there are a number of issues related to the level of detail (LOD) on “jellied” avatar attachments, which can have an impact on general viewer performance. The Lab is working on these problems, and hopefully, a fix will be appearing in a Maintenance RC at some point.

Aditi Log-ins

Some people are having issues when trying to log-in to Aditi, These are generally people who having logged-in to the beta grid in a very long time or are trying for the very first time with a particular account. If you are encountering problems, the best solution is to file a support ticket. It should generally be dealt with within 24 hours (weekends allowing), and your Aditi inventory will be synced with Agni (Main grid) as a part of the process of granting you access. You should only need to file a support ticket once.

2016 SL project updates 45/1: server, viewer, attachment issues

Posted on by Inara Pey

Dystopia // [flit ink] + aberrant; Inara Pey, November 2016, on Flickr Dystopia // [flit ink] + aberrant – blog post

Server Deployments

As always, see the server deployment thread for the latest updates and information.

  • There was no Main (SLS) channel roll on Tuesday, November 8th.
  • On Wednesday, November 9th, the three RC channels should all receive the same new server maintenance package, which includes:
    •  llGetEnv() will support “region_max_prims” (feature request BUG-40825).
    • llGetObjectDetails() will have a new OBJECT_GROUP_TAG function  (feature request BUG-20064) – when pointed at avatars it returns the group tag you see floating above them; and also OBJECT_TEMP_ATTACHED – to tell you if something is a temp attachment (feature request BUG-5195).

SL Viewer

There have been no changes to the current batch of viewers in the various pipelines since the end of week #44, leaving things as follows:

  • Current Release version: 4.1.1.320331 (dated October 4th), promoted October 10th – formerly the VLC media plug-in for Windows RC
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Project Bento  RC (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.321250, dated November 2nd – bug fixes
    • Maintenance RC viewer version 4.1.2.321183, dated October 28th – over 70 crash fixes, improvements and other fixes
  • Project viewers:
    • 360-degree snapshot viewer, version 4.1.2.320965, dated October 26th – ability to take 360-degree panoramic images – hands-on review
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847 dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Avatar Attachments Being Unexpectedly Detached

This has been an issue for a while, but has recently seen an uptick in occurrences. IN essence, and for some reason, when undertaking at TP or physical region crossing (both amount to the same thing), a “kill object” (attachment) message can be sent by the simulator.

Essentially, there is an issue in messaging between the simulator and the viewer during region crossings (physical or teleports), which can result in attachments being detached or, harder to detect, attachments being removed server-side, but remaining visible (but effectively ghosted) in your view, and which cannot be individually removed, as the simulator doesn’t recognise them as being there.

Whirly Fizzle has posted on possible fixes for the issue, including details of an experimental fix from the Firestorm team which might be included in the next release, pending Linden Lab addressing the root cause of the problems

One of the most common occurrences for the problem is having multiple items on a single attachment point (rigged meshes can often all default to the right hand, for example). So, should this problem occur, and once you’ve corrected matters (such as be a forced rebake (CTRL-SHIFT-R) or a complete change of outfit, for example), check the items affected by the problem, and if they do share an attachment point with one another or other attachments your avatar is wearing, trying relocating them to unoccupied points (this should be particularly easy to do with rigged mesh, which can be attached pretty much anywhere and render at the correct point on your body.

2016 SL project updates 44/2: TPV Developer meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Fallen City
The Fallen – blog post

The majority of the notes in this update are taken from the abbreviated TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, November 4th. The video of that meeting is embedded at the end of this update. My thanks as always to North for recording and providing it.

Server Deployments

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

  • On Tuesday, November 1st, the Main (SLS) channel received the same server maintenance package as deployed to the three RC channels in week #43. This comprises: a fix for the bug introduced in week #42 – see BUG-40735 “Paying an object with [slgaming] in the object name (most skill game machines) fails on the RC 16.10.14.320687”; two fixes for issues with the new llSit function for Experiences, and additional internal updates.
  • There was no RC channel deployment on Wednesday, November 2nd. However all three channels were restarted.

Both the Main channel deployment and the RC channel restarts saw land capacity / prim allowances for Mainland regions increase.A full Mainland region now has a land capacity / prim allowance of 22,500 as standard. Note that private estate regions will follow in due course.

For the specifics of these changes, please refer to Lab reveals LI / prim allowance changes in Second Life – in full.

SL Viewer

The Project Bento RC viewer updated to version 5.0.0.321250 on Wednesday, November 2nd. offering the following fixes (the reports on the JIRA are non-public, so links aren’t included here to save confusion):

  • SL-395 – joint scale locks failing to upload in some cases.
  • MAINT-6853 – viewer crash when checking preview skin weights in mesh upload.
  • SL-504 – intermittent crash when adding attachment to an avatar (probably during shutdown).

This viewer is expected to go through at least one more iteration to address further bugs.

The Lab hopes that either the Bento RC or the current Maintenance RC (version 4.1.2.321183 at the time of writing) will be promoted to the de facto release viewer prior to US Thanksgiving, with the other being promoted shortly thereafter.

A further Maintenance RC is in development, and is likely to appear once the current RC has been promoted.

64-bit Viewer Progress

The Lab has completed building all of the required libraries for the 64-bit viewer, and are now actually building the first 64-bit project viewers, which it is hoped will see the light of day before the end of the year.

The library updates also mean that the Lab will be able to do large-scale updates to the viewer build environment with significantly greater ease in the future. One of the first of these updates liable to come in the first quarter of 2017, to switch to Xcode 8 (Mac) and Visual Studio 2015 (Windows).

Bento

Medhue Simoni’s Bento elephant is now available – requires a Bento viewer to use / render correctly

There was no Bento User Group meeting on November 4th, so there is nothing major to report on that front – except those who have been fascinated and charmed by Medhue Simoni’s magnificent Bento elephant can now obtain it via the Marketplace. There’s also an extensive video on it – and it even flies! How cute is that?

Note, obviously, that you will need a Bento capable viewer to use it, and others will require Bento capable viewers to render it correctly.

The next Bento User Group meeting will be on Thursday, November 10th at 13:00 SLT at the the Hippotropolis Campfire Circle.

Interesting Nugget

During the meeting Sansar is discussed, and Oz Linden indicates that the log-in data the Lab receives suggests than a large number of Second Life users are using systems which are unlikely to be able to run Sansar particularly well, further boosting the Lab’s confidence that Second Life has a longer-term future.

This shouldn’t be taken to mean that Sansar will necessarily have a massively high set of system requirements – although obviously, anyone wishing to use the current generation of HMDs will need to have a system meeting the specifications required by such hardware.

Rather, it would again suggest than many Second Life users continue to access Second Life using systems which might be described as past their prime when compared to even the “modest”  hardware standards set by modern home computers.