Changing my viewer has turned me into a freak

[shadowsoul Starflare]

I'd sure appreciate any help I can get, since losing Emerald Viewer, and downloading a new viewer, I've turned into a freak!  Let me first explain that I'm using Windows 7 and I live in a part of the world where broadband really sucks - but I got on really well with Emerald.  So when we lost emerald, I tried Imprudence (didn't work so well) and then Phoenix, which was great.  Now I'm no computer geek so please forgive the simple terms I use here....  The first thing I noticed was that having both viewers loaded onto my pc seemed to confuse whichever viewer I was using, ie my title would say imprudence when I was phoenix and I had some small problems like still having the typing animation going after unchecking it, but hey I was reasonably happy with a viewer that worked for me.  Then, about three days ago, people started commenting on what I looked like.  I couldn't understand it because I looked okay to me. They sent me snapshots and I was horrified to find that I was half male, half female, and I'm wearing some really odd green leotard thing, and I don't even have anything green in my inventory!  So my quest to fix the prob began, but nothing seems to work.  This is what I've done.

1)  Uninstalled all viewers and reloaded Ascent

2)  Thought maybe it was because I still had Emerald and Imprudence client bridges in my inventory - removed those

3)  Tried Ruthing myself - apparently she's also wearing the wierd green leotard!

4)  Done a system restore to a fortnight back, uninstalled emerald and downloaded Ascent again - well, I no longer look like a freak to anyone because now I'm just a grey mist and all the rebaking in the world isn't going to bring me back!

Apart from it being frustrating, it's also quite embarrassing so I'd really like to know if anyone else has had this prob and has successfully sorted it out.

[Luc Starsider]

I think those green leotards look very good on you. . (Sorry, could not resist.)

One thing to do when using different viewers, and swapping between them is to have different caches for each of them. You will have to create a separate folder to use for caching for each viewer. I've only used the Linden viewer for the last months, so I've managed to forget where exactly you change the cache location in the viewers you use. It will be in Preferences, and from what I remember, in the Network tab. There should be somewhere in that section where you can click to select a new location. One of the viewers can obviously use the location it has already, but I do recommend giving the other ones a separate location. In any case, clearing the cache will probably help.

Also, and this may of course have nothing to do with the issue you are having, SL is very demanding, and a good, stable internet connection is basically a must for SL. If the connection is not up to the task, you will be experiencing issues. To test the connection, go to pingtest.net and run the test there. Getting a grade less than an 'A' grade is not good (although I sometimes get a 'B' on my own connection and seem to be fine. This is mostly because of a high 'jitter' number) and should be taken up with your ISP.

If this does not help, I do hope someone come by and provide a better solution for you. We can't have you running around SL in that outfit.

- Luc -

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Uninstall every viewer you have on your computer.  Then do a thorough search fo your computer for anything related to any viewer you have ever had installed on your computer and manually delete all files found.  Once you have removed all remnants of all viewers then download a fresh copy of the viewer you want to use and install from the saved file (do not choose "run"........"save" to your hard drive).

 

I appears that you have some left over files from one or more of the viewers you've had before and the viewer(s) you are installing are seeing those files as already existing and not installing clean, fresh ones (probably the cache file but could be some of the configuration files too).  Viewer developers seem to have a habit of naming the cache files the same and locating them at the same location on the computer so they tend to get mixed up on some systems.  As a general rule it's best to have one viewer installed at a time on your computer and when changing do a search for left over files before you install a new one.  Most people have more than one viewer (I have 3) so if you are going to do that then it's best to manually set the cache files for each viewer to a different location.........you can do that in preferences.

[Asami Imako]

1. Firstly, uninstall all viewers.

2. Go into C:\Users\\AppData\Local - Delete anything there relating to any viewers you installed

3. Go into C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming - Delete anything THERE relating to any viewers you installed (back up Chat/IM logs if desired)

4. Reinstall your desired viewer.

5. ???

6. Profit.

[shadowsoul Starflare]

Thanks so much for all the good advice, all was taken and I'm back to my normal self.  What a relief!  I'm hoping this discussion will help other SL non-geeks hehehehehe.  By the way Luc, thanks for the advice on the ping test.  My rating was B (I was expecting G-) so it turns out my broadband doesn't suck as much as I thought it did.  Also now that you mention it, I might miss that green leotard..........

[Caliburn Susanto]

What they all said above. Especially that you must create a separate cache directory for each viewer. Very important.

We all seem to be assuming you are using Windows. Are you? If so ...

In order to COMPLETELY wipe all viewers from your PC and start fresh, just uninstalling them is not enough.

Firstly be sure that you are not just deleting the programs but actually using the uninstall feature for each one as this (supposedly) not only erases the software but cleans out the Windows registry of any references. They don't always succeed, however, and I highly recommend a third party registry cleaner when wiping software.

Also, do a full reboot between each step. Things hanging out in RAM can (will!) confuse the issue.

Lastly, you must go to the directory  C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\SecondLife  (Where XXX is the user name on your PC) and DELETE that folder and everything in it.  When you do a fresh install of the client it will be re-created but with a fresh version of your avatar. You will lose all your settings and tweaks, but I'm thinking you would rather re-enter those than walk around in your leotard.

And finally, just so you won't feel alone in your green leotard, I've attached a picture of me Ruthed. I have a whole folder of them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caliburnsusanto/4137800262/

 

EDIT: Whoops! Too late. Problem solved. Oh well, I'll leave it posted; might help someone else along the way.

[shadowsoul Starflare]

Excellent picture and thanks for the advice.  I have a green leotard in my inventory somewhere, shall I send you a copy????

[Cali Riegler]

OMG the picture...ROFL

 

P.S. The persistent typing animation shouldn't be a viewer problem. I had the same problem with my AO since LL corrected a bug in some LSL function. Just remove the typing animation from your AO.

[Caliburn Susanto]

Nope, I'm all set for body stockings thanks.

Besides, I'm on a year-long project to REDUCE inventory. Stop tempting me.

[Luc Starsider]

I'm sure someone can arrange so you are back in the leotard in no time. lol.

So, it turns out we CAN blame SL for some issues. . Mostly, I've had it the other way around - blaming SL when really my connection has acted up. That is why I know pingtest.net. It's a great tool.

- Luc -

[shadowsoul Starflare]

Again thanks for the advice.  LMAO Caliburn, you really do have me rethinking this leotard thing.  I'm off shopping now...... Search / ..... Leotards......

[Nalates Urriah]

When you use different viewers you will run into a new set of problems.

Most of these problems come from how the viewers handle the cache. There are some files kept in the cache about your viewer settings, inventory, and of course all the textures and stuff from various regions. Different viewers seem to do things with the cache that mess up other viewers.

A couple of months ago I wrote about inventory problems and how to fix cache problems for multiple viewers. I currently have 12 or 14 installed. See:

Second Life Lost Inventory and Missing Inventory Fix – Help

 

While most of the information is for recovering 'lost' inventory, it covers setting up separate caches for your viewers. Once you separate the caches most of your problems will resolve.

Imprudence Experimental Viewer seems to have some caching issues, but I use it on OSGrid and SL. That could make is more a server side issue than a viewer problem.