Issues with video card

[Haplo Alchemi]

I have an ATI Radeon 9500/9700. I just updated the driver software to the newest available. Some legacy thing, and now everytime I try to log on the graphics go crazy and crash the viewer or computer. Please help.

[Unklebob Hotaling]

I do know some ATI Radeon graphics cards and SL don't get along together well; this is an older list but your card might be among those that give SL fits.

Additionally, there are some ATI and nVidia cards that may present compatibility issues:

• ATI cards that report as a RAGE or RAGE PRO are not compatible with Second Life.
• ATI cards that report as a RADEON 320M, 340M, 345M, or similar model numbers are not compatible with Second Life.
• ATI cards that report as a RADEON IGP or RADEON XPRESS have not been tested with Second Life, and compatibility is not certain.
• ATI cards that report as a FireGL have not been tested with Second Life, and compatibility is not certain.
• ATI cards that report as a FireMV have not been tested with Second Life. As this chipset is a 2D accelerator, it may not be compatible with Second Life.
• nVidia cards that report as a RIVA TNT or TNT2 are not compatible with Second Life.
• nVidia cards that report as a Quadro have not been tested with Second Life, and compatibility is not certain. Residents have reported success running Second Life on some Quadro cards with the latest display drivers installed.

Please check out the Second Life viewer's system requirements for current information regarding graphics cards.

[Haplo Alchemi]

Nope my card isn't on that list. And according to the system requirements I have one that should work. Everytime I log in I get a bunch of colored triangles and squares flying thru the screen and then it either kills the computer or kills the viewer with out any error messages.

[Unklebob Hotaling]

ohhhh coloured triangles... could be the update indicators are on; this be the cause (sorry but sometimes its a process of elimination):

I see blue, green, or red triangles coming from objects inworld that I think shouldn't be there.

Are you seeing strange trails of blue, green, or red shapes (often triangles) from objects inworld? There's a very good chance you enabled Second Life's update indicators. These are activated by hitting Ctrl+Alt+Shift+U or opening the Advanced menu and selecting Advanced > Show Updates.

The update indicators show you when packet data is being utilized -- typically, when an object makes an update to the world.  Each color has a different meaning:

• Red: Indicates a full update, such as the creation of a prim. This is a relatively large data packet sent to your computer. If you see objects that are showing a constant stream of red, they're contending for your bandwidth, which may cause other things in the area (like textures) to load slower. If the object is made up of many pieces, the packet is larger.
• Blue: Indicates a partial update, such as a change of position or color for a prim. These are always smaller than full updates. However, the same rules apply as for the full updates. If you're creating content, it's a good habit to make sure it's not updating many times per second. Changing colors, textures, shape, or particle parameters several times per second cause partial updates, and contend for your bandwidth.
• Green: Indicates an ending update, such as the deletion of a prim. If this packet gets lost on the way from the server to your computer, the object becomes a "ghost" --your viewer still renders it, but you can walk through it, and when you edit it, the Creator field is blank because the object no longer exists on the server.

The update indicators can be toggled on or off using the methods described above.

Note for content creators

There are a few LSL commands that create viewer-side effects, meaning they send the animation parameters to the client once, and the client subsequently takes care of animating them. Take advantage of these commands to make dynamic content without streaming lots of data from the server to your computer.

• Particle systems creates particles.
• Target Omega rotates an object.
• Texture animation rotates, scales, or slides texture without sending update packets.

[Haplo Alchemi]

Ok I took a screen shot.But it won't let me post it lol. Ok so the shapes rotate around the screen sort of like you are looking down a tunnel, with the vanishing point being the center of the screen. Not limited to any colors and not coming from objects. It also happens in different viewers. I have tried both the standard and emerald viewers and get the same problem.

[Steve Beck]

Try to checked your DirectX version, and make updates if available.

[Merlin Lionheart]

I am glad you posted this, as I get similar artifacts in both SL and emerald.  I just had no idea how to describe this problem.  My computer doesnt crash, but the viewers become totally unusable.  I am also using a Radeon card that is not listed as a problem card.  I will try this fix.  Is it also possible there is a problem because I have a core duo processor?  I understand that SL does not like duo processors.

[Merlynn Draken]

A couple of things -- you could try going back to your old drivers. In my experience with vid drivers the newest aren't always the best for your card.

Also, like previously mentioned see if the "show updates" is checked, can't remember which menu that is on - possibly world, but look through them, find it and if it is checked, uncheck it.

If that does not fix the problem-- in preferences, graphics, custom settings -- hardware options -- turn off "enable VBO" if that is checked.

[Haplo Alchemi]

No issues with directx went thru it's self diagnostic and verified I was up to date.

[Haplo Alchemi]

I can;t find the old driver anymore I have made to many changes and can't roll back and I haven't been able to locate th old drivers online yet. I used to the procedure posted earlier to verifiy the show updates was off. Thank you thank you thank you turning off the VBO fixed it.