Since the latest update of firestorm :-((((

[Sonja Smedley]

....my viewer gets frozen all the time for seconds sometimes more than a minute...then I always fear that I crash but most of the time I do not.

It happens when I make quick moves or when I type too fast, well actually type normal.

Is there something to change at preferences or is this just the new update and I have to live with that?

Before I had the older version and everything worked fine...now it is horrible and I feel so slow.

Oh and yes I made a clean install....and actually my internet connection is fine too.

Any help or suggestions maybe?

[WildWeeaboo]

at least you can get on every launcher i try crashes imedately:matte-motes-crying:

[WolfBaginski Bearsfoot]

I'm not having problems, but I know how useless it is to say that.

My Firestorm version is 4.4.2, and if you haven't upgraded to that, all sorts of bad things might happen next week. If you're still trying to use version 4.4.1 it's being blocked, because they made a silly mistake with some debug code.

It could be a problem with your OS version or the graphics driver version, and since you don't tell us, we can't tell. I know that nVidia also released a driver updaye un the last couple of weeks, but if you're not using nVidia graphics hardware that will be irrelevant. It's why you need to tell use these details.

Go through the Firestorm Clean Install procedure, and note the option to save chat logs and contact sets (If anyone is not using Firestorm, there will be different folders involved, but the general setup will be the same).

Worst case, I suppose, you will have to install a different viewer to get on, and then use the Firestorm support group. One of the smart things that Firestorm does is to use different folders to the defaults used by most viewers, so installing the SL viewer won't mess up Firestorm.

 

The detail you need to tell us is in Help -> About, which you can get at without having to log in to SL It shows paragraphs listing the OS you use, the basic hardware in your computer, the info on the Viewer and the graphics drivers. These things matter, and it will frustrate everyone if you;re using a Mac, and all the answers are coming from Windows users.

 

 

 

[Eric Castanea]

Can you post your system specs? Does it seem to happen especially when moving your camera or avatar?

I had the same freezing problem, but I think I found the solution. I created a new directory on the root of c:\ - c:\firecache

I then set my cache as large as it would go, and set it to that new directory. I then changed everything in that directory to read/write as opposed to just read. I know it sounds strange, but it seems to have worked. Good luck.

[Sonja Smedley]

Hello thank you for telling me how to show you my settings...here they are:

Firestorm 4.4.2 (34167) Jul  1 2013 23:33:25 (Firestorm-Release) with Havok support
Release Notes

CPU: Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.40GHz (3428.19 MHz)
Memory: 2048 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce 8600 GTS/PCIe/SSE2

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 6.14.0013.1422
OpenGL Version: 3.3.0

RestrainedLove API: (disabled)
libcurl Version: libcurl/7.21.1 OpenSSL/1.0.0d zlib/1.2.5 c-ares/1.7.1
J2C Decoder Version: KDU v7.1
Audio Driver Version: FMOD version 3.750000
Qt Webkit Version: 4.7.1 (version number hard-coded)
Voice Server Version: Not Connected
Settings mode: Phoenix
Viewer Skin: Vintage (Classic)
Font Used: Deja Vu (96)
Draw distance: 312
Bandwidth: 500
LOD factor: 3
Render quality: Medium-Low (2/7)
Built with MSVC version 1600

 

 

[Qie Niangao]

That's a fairly low-end graphics card by today's standards (see comparison), with only 256MB onboard memory... and the system memory is on the low end, too, at only 2GB, so I'd guess that something has changed to cause more memory demand--possibly even some swapping to disk, which could definitely cause extended freezes. Off the top of my head, I'd wonder if you've always run with such a deep draw distance (312m) and whether you might be satisfied with something much shorter.

[Abigail Longmeadow]

With relatively limited main and video card memory 300 m draw distance is probably too much. Try 90 - 100 m. You should also set the viewer's texture memory to somewhat less than the actual size of the video memory on the video card. The idea is you never want to use up all the physical (on chip) memory on either the main board or the video card. If you do use up all the physical chip memory, the operating system begins to "swap" content between the memory chips and the hard disk. The hard disk is typically a lot slower than the memory chips.

[WolfBaginski Bearsfoot]

It's been a couple of years since I ran anything like that system, but I have a hazy memory of Windows XP throwing up hesitations when bandwidth consumption was high. I only noticed the difference when I switched to Windows 7 on the same hardware.

I think you're going to struggle until you replace the system. A better video card would help, but that all looks old enough that you could be stuck with old hardware because of how the parts connect together. I do my own hardware changes, such as replacing video cards. If you have to pay somebody to do the job, it's a fair question whether to spend the money for a small gain.

[Sonja Smedley]

I have someone who can replace the things I need...he made this whole PC for me...I guess we can replace the 2 GB with 4 GB and maybe also the graphic card....but for future I would like to have a gamer laptop cause the PC is too big.

If anyone would have suggestions which laptop would be the best and not too expensive to run SL better again would be very nice.

I have heard that asus should be a good one but I am helpful for any tips.

Thank you:-)

 

[Maryanne Solo]

Memory & card yes definately.

I wont comment on my disdain for laptops as my bestie dropped her husbands yesterday and cracked the screen

Stoopid things.

[DKTitan]

While gaming laptops aren't nearly as big as towers they still are gigantic. They also font have much flexibility when it comes to upgrading. I love mine but.... For the money I spent I could have built a really awesome desktop. For now I am stuck with a gtx 460m graphics card.

[SimonTemplar Bernard]

Since updating winXP to Win7(64) my firestorm performance on my desktop (GTX460) took an insane hit in perforamnce. Complex high resolution builds burried perforamnce to THREE fps from a former 27 fps. This is a complex FS/windows/drivers issue because my

ASUS gaming laptop with gtx 360m gpu clobbers my desktop now. I really really really like my ASUS gaming  laptop.. got it on Amazon.

 

The solution for me: SINGULARITY. While I miss a few FS tools, SIngularity has some very nice tools FS does NOT have. Singularity reminds me  very much of the old Phoenix. In some situations, Singularity is 7 to 8 times faster in frame rate than Firestorm. In most cases, it is at least 30% faster. You can feel the difference.

Unlike the old days, there is no need to not download a new viewer and try it out. It's a pain in the butt to configure the things, but hey.. we are all getting good at it these days.

Executive summary:

1) Try Singularity. It's very familiar feeling

2) Look at Asus gaming laptops at Amzn

[Pamela Galli]

I have an iMac with a 6970 ATI card.

I installed the new Firestorm viewer and found that unless I disable Basic Shaders, I get extreme flashing and distortion. But that's not all!  Now on ALL viewers, I get the same thing - LL Viewer, Singularity, the previous Firestorm.  Even after a clean install. Even after removing everything Firestorm. 

 

Now, someone else in the FS support group said he had the same iMac and card, and had no problem. So it may just be me.

 

I have nothing against Firestorm and have always been grateful for their hard work and prompt support. But I thought I would just post this little warning.  I almost did not upgrade to the new FS because too many times in the past I have regretted doing so (I do not care about seeing avatars, but I do care about being able to build) -- if I had received a warning I would not have risked it.

 

I am now using Singularity, but I have to keep Basic Shaders off -- I wish had gone straight to Singularity without the disasterous FS install.

[Sonja Smedley]

A friend gave me the link for downloading Singularity and what shall I say???

I LOVE IT!

Since I have this viewer I can play SL normal again...I can move much faster and I can click objects or open notcards and do not crash anymore.

This is so fantastic and yes it reminds me of the phoenix viewer which I liked best in the past.

I can only give all people who have problems with the new firestorm the tipp to download singularity...I am glad that I found it.

[Trinity Yazimoto]

---

Pamela Galli wrote:

I have an iMac with a 6970 ATI card.

I installed the new Firestorm viewer and found that unless I disable Basic Shaders, I get extreme flashing and distortion. But that's not all!  Now on ALL viewers, I get the same thing - LL Viewer, Singularity, the previous Firestorm.  Even after a clean install. Even after removing everything Firestorm. 

 

Now, someone else in the FS support group said he had the same iMac and card, and had no problem. So it may just be me.

 

I have nothing against Firestorm and have always been grateful for their hard work and prompt support. But I thought I would just post this little warning.  I almost did not upgrade to the new FS because too many times in the past I have regretted doing so (I do not care about seeing avatars, but I do care about being able to build) -- if I had received a warning I would not have risked it.

 

I am now using Singularity, but I have to keep Basic Shaders off -- I wish had gone straight to Singularity without the disasterous FS install.

---

ah well, for me its the exact contrary lol... 

im usually on low graphic but switch to ultra everytime i need to make a photo. then when i come back to low, i have the flickering thing unless i check the basic shaders box....What gives me lag. so usually, i relog and come back to my usual settings without needing keeping the basic shaders on when i dont need them or im not creating or doing pics.

For you dont regret to have tried with FS, know that it happened the same than you to Czari while she was on Singularity and before even try the FS with her new comp...

so i dont think this comes from FS .....idk from where it comes.. but see.. it happened also to someone who never used Firestorm before. 

[Pamela Galli]

I know that the FS people can't make FS so it is perfectly compatible with all computer, OS, and graphics card configurations, so I am not blaming them. I have used FS for years -- even though with the previous version it crashed every single time I quit FS. Other than that, it worked pretty well -- until I installed the new version. Now I can't use Basic Shaders on any viewer, even those like the LL one that I have used before without a problem. Something about the installation process did something very bad.

 

[Porky Gorky]

---

Pamela Galli wrote:

Something about the installation process did something very bad.

 

---

Could you possibly do a roll back on your system to a previously working configuration?

[Pamela Galli]

I say "my configuration" meaning OS 10.8, ATi 6970, which worked okay with FS and LL viewer before the installation and has not changed. But someone IMed me and said he had the same configuration, so may just be some fluke that I have been affected. 

[Madelaine McMasters]

Pamela, what things did you remove when you took out Firestorm?

There's the usual spot...

Library/Application Support/Firestorm

But I also found recently changed files in...

Library/Saved Application State/com.secondlife.indra.viewer.savedState

Even though this folder file isn't named "Firestorm", it contains files that were modified the last time I ran it. (I don't use SLV, so it couldn't have modified those files).

I don't know that Firestorm could have done to affect other viewers, unless that saved state stuff is somehow common to all viewers and contains something amiss.

Good luck!

ETA: For those that don't know, the "Library" folder went hidden in Lion (or Mountian Lion, I can't remember). You can reveal it by holding down the Option key while accessing the "Go" menu in Finder.

[Pamela Galli]

---

Madelaine McMasters wrote:

Pamela, what things did you remove when you took out Firestorm?

There's the usual spot...

Library/Application Support/Firestorm

But I also found recently changed files in...

Library/Saved Application State/com.secondlife.indra.viewer.savedState

Even though this folder file isn't named "Firestorm", it contains files that were modified the last time I ran it. (I don't use SLV, so it couldn't have modified those files).

I don't know that Firestorm could have done to affect other viewers, unless that saved state stuff is somehow common to all viewers and contains something amiss.

Good luck!

ETA: For those that don't know, the "Library" folder went hidden in Lion (or Mountian Lion, I can't remember). You can reveal it by holding down the Option key while accessing the "Go" menu in Finder.

Thank you Madelaine 

 

That file does seem to have last been used when I quit FS (the previous, not most recent version) for the last time. I do want to scrub everything FS so I am going to delete it.

[xoxBabydoll]

I'm on a mac and have the exact opposite problems when basic shader is disabled so I'm forced to use it. If basic shaders is disabled, theres flickering, black textures.. etc. it's annoying. I havent found any info on it online so I just deal with it... Lol

I'm thinking of installing Singularity today, hope it works better!

[Pamela Galli]

Update -- after some fiddling and installing the latest version of OS 10.8, I am able to use Basic Shaders with Singularity. I am happy with Singularity and frankly it is a delight to be able to use a V 1 UI again. The design just suits me better.  The only problem is I can't upload mesh physics shapes but I don't do that often. I am hoping they will become materials enabled, as I have to use the LL viewer to apply those. If they do not, then eventually I may try Firestorm again but this last episode has taught me to not to risk something that works for something unknown.