Startup issues

[Godsmaker]

Hey there guys, I've been trying to access SL for about a week now, to no avail. No matter which viewer I use, or how many times I delete all folders regarding SL (appdata folders too, mind you), every viewer crashes at "Initializing VFS". Now if this was the first time I had ever run the program I wouldn't be too upset with it, but I've been consistently running the main SL viewer for a couple months now. The problem is really starting to bother me, and I've looked at many of the threads on here and even on different forums about solutions to the problem. Any new suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated...

 

Here are my system specs:

OS: Windows 7 home premium 64-bit (6.2, build 7601)

Processor: Intel I5 M430@ 2.27 GHz

Memory: 4096MB RAM

Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470

And I really don't think it matters, but just in case it does, my computer is an ASUS. Thank you for your help!!

[Nalates Urriah]

When you ask a tech question include information about your computer and viewer. If the viewer will at least show the login screen, get the info from the viewer's Help-About... and paste that into your post with your question. To add your info to an existing question use OPTIONS->EDIT. It’s in the upper right of your post.

Otherwise, on Windows click Start and type DXDIAG, case doesn’t matter. That will open the dxdiag in a window. It will give you your system specs. We need to now video driver version, OpenGL version, …

I'm curious how many of the threads you have read and still missed the requests to include driver info with tech questions...

All the threads ask for error messages, description of what happens when the viewer fails... you are mitting all the things that give anyone a starting place to help you.

Also, since you have read everything suggested and only want 'new' stuff... how are we supposed to know what you have read and what you have missed to guide what we tell you?

I know you have not read it all, you would have found the fix or reason your computer doesn't work with SL.

 

[Charolotte Caxton]

Try unplugging your router for a few seconds.

[Godsmaker]

As I said in the original post, I have tried many viewers. The development viewer, the beta viewer, the stable viewer, Pheonix, Exodus, and catznip. The viewer would NOT at least show the login screen, which is why I didn't put the about section on there. 

Main driver: atiumd64.dll

Version: 8.683.0.0

DDI Version: 11

Driver Model: WDDM 1.1

 

I've probably read over 30 of them, and the fact that I didn't put my driver info on there was because I simply forgot that that was one of the things I needed to put. A simple oversight, and I apologize for it. There ARE no error messages. Once it hits "Initializing VFS" it freezes, then the crash logger pops up and sends off a report. No error message anywhere.

As to what I've tried/read...clean re-install of SL, Deleting all appdata folders, other viewers, re-install of Windows 7, Resetting the router, and looking for driver upgrades. I know that I haven't read it all, but most of the literature is on how to fix the problem when the viewer loads, but login fails or it crashes later. I don't even get that far. I apologize for not including more information, and I hope all of this helps.

[Sephy McCaw]

Can you list all the steps you have tried to do in order to try and fix this problem?

 

[Thinkerer Melville]

You have tried most everything -- I syggest you try a different router or bypss your router.  They can fail in ways that affect ports used by SL but not by other more  common programs.

TKR

[Godsmaker]

Well for the general cache/clean reinstall of SL I go through Program Files(x86), delete all of the SL files. Then I go and do the same for all SL related files in my user's AppData Local and Roaming folders. I restart the computer, then just go and reinstall whichever viewer I was going to attempt to use. Pretty much exactly what fixes the problem for most people.

How do I bypass the router? (I'm sorry if that's a dumb question)

[Sephy McCaw]

if you have a modem and a router try disconnecting from the router and plug directly into the modem, or if you have a wireless modem in your home try resetting it to factory defaults and see if that helps

[Godsmaker]

I tried the router change, hooked directly with Ethernet, to no avail. Also tried a few public networks around...I'm pretty sure it's something to do with my computer, but I have no idea what

[Coventina Dalgleish]

You will have to cross translate this to Win 7 as I am only familier with the XP setup  LL drops many files onto your computer many of which are not removed when you un install the program your registry will be over populated with dead strings that can complicate a good load. If you loaded SL with the defaults to your root drive in XP there is a set of files under doc and settings machine id local settings second life you need to eliminate this folder and allow a fresh install as it does become corrupted. I also suggest you get something like registry mechanic to clean your registry as  SL does like to leave trash laying around )). If I remember correctly I believe these file exist under your user  area in Win 7.

If you do not use a registry cleaner after you  un install SL Phoenix or Firestorm run regedit and search for Second life and delete then search for linden research and delete it  same for firestorm and phoenix this will give you a clean slate for your next install you will get all the noob hint screens on the new load and it will not know who you are until you input your user name and PW. Be Careful in regedit as you can destroy your machine setup just look at every entry before hitting the delete key.  I also suggest you move your cache off of your root drive making it easy to kill it manually. I also continually have problems with both the LL viewer and the Firestorm product since they are very similar in structure. Make a new folder on another drive then point sl to use it. I run the top of the line old tech )) have not yet taken the bite of new tech so I do like the coo LV viewer when I do not have to up load mesh as it returns a much higher frame rate  no bells and whistles but does display mesh plus it seems to load when none of the other will. BTW I do use Cool VL on some very old slow machines and it does run, well to a degree ))

 

Also SL hates ATI video cards I run a mix for performance reasons since they made the best AGP card ever made but they do have idiosyncratic problems at times Nvids never seem to have the problems but do not generate the frame rates required for comfortable game interaction.  BTW if you are on old tech,ie. P4 and curious,  its the ATI 3850 a PCI-e card with a built in agp converter performs as well as a Nvid 9600 it gives a good reliable 20 to 25 fps  and at times as much as 50 fps if you can find them they are cheap these days 50 to 100 bucks ))

 

In closing clean your machine of all linden files then do a reload it will make a big difference.