Clear Cache.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Hello all,

I have read several solutions to problems as Clear Cache. Indeed, this does solve some of my problems some of the time, and that's great. My question is, what are, if any, the hazards associated with Clearing Cache? i.e.., can it be done too much? Also, if I go to where my Cache is on my Hard Drive, would it be advisable to delete all those folders there?

p.s. What is Ruth, as in deruth? I've heard mention of and I think I grasp the general idea of what it is, like a textureless skin, right?

[Storm Clarence]

Clearing cache does absolutely no harm to you or your computer.  You can do as often as you like.

Yes, you can whack the cache files on your hard drive - they will just be recreated again.

The short story is the first avatars rezzed were called Ruth. Today is it referred to as the 'appearance' (ruthed) 

Read some history on Ruth - it's interesting -well it was to me anyway

[Marigold Devin]

I dug out an old photo of Ruth and friends from May 2008

[Peewee Musytari]

You are likely to get conflicting answers on that question, because some people were taught to clear their cache like emptying their trash.

Your cache is there for a reason & personally I don`t think it should be cleared unless necessary & in fact can make some problems worse when it is done as a "fix-all" for every problem.

For example if someone is having certain login problems and they clear their cache, they then have the added problem of using more bandwidth to login which could compound the issue they started with.

 

[Charolotte Caxton]

Aha, what if I don't have login issues.

[Peewee Musytari]

\o/ yay good old Ruth...did LL ever make that memorial statue for her? LOL

Where is her friend with the beard? hehe

[Charolotte Caxton]

Oh. Not what I had imagined at all. Yuck. Was that the Newling Avatar back then?

[Storm Clarence]

I clean cache all the time. Clearing cache produces zero adverse ramifications. It is actually good habit to clear cache. Upon clearing cache more data is written instantly to these files. The only time it is not 'good' to clear cache would be when you perform the EXACT same thing everytime you log in (which of course NO one ever does.) It is only a temporary storage facility.

[Peewee Musytari]

Then leave your cache alone would be my advice. I only ever clear mine if I have massive inventory loss (like 20K) even if I have 2K missing I don`t bother clearing it as it usually shows up on its own the next day or whatever.

[Peewee Musytari]

@ Storm ...hehe I knew there would be an advocate for other side of the debate...I find its one of those issues that people are either on one side or the other and its best to not try convincing anyone to change opinion lol

[Charolotte Caxton]

Ah. I apologize for not posting this in the discussions, I can see there may be some debate here. Of course, I want to hear what all of you have to say, I have grown to respect your views/opinions/technical knowledge/experience/et all.

[Storm Clarence]

Peewee it is more than OK to disagree on some issues.

I keep my cache files small so I clean them often. Cache size is another factor that should be considered. But either way, I never had issues by clearing.

[Peewee Musytari]

Its ok Charlotte, at the end of the day whatever works for you is the way to go....At least whatever you do you will have lots of others doing the same LOL

[Peewee Musytari]

@ Storm, I absolutely agree, likewise I never clear mine and never have any issues. I would never say anyone should change & do things the way I do, "If it ain`t broke don`t fix it" as they say.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Is it advisable to have a small cache? I have mine maxed out. I usually start to have issues with looking hazy at login, so, I reset cache, exit, then log back in. Usually fixes prob. Not always. Just most of the time.

[Peewee Musytari]

Mine is on 500, but you could test yours at different levels and find what works for you.

[Charolotte Caxton]

What happens if I set mine to 500? Can it get full? If it does, what happens?

[Peewee Musytari]

When your avvie didn`t download you got Ruth instead of the cloud we have now....Men loved being Ruthed NOT lol

[Charolotte Caxton]

Ew. I kinda like the cloud. I have heard some philosophical ramblings about it and such and I even think you can get it as an avatar.

[Cerise1488303085]

Yes, clearing cache increases bandwidth consumption. Since it also forces a full inventory reload, it makes the avatar rez much more slowly on the newer viewers that use outfits and need to see that cached inventory.

[Peewee Musytari]

Ahh the fun to be had when a big burly topless man, rezzed as skinny Ruth with a hairy chest and moobs and a full beard & he looks fine on his screen while everyone else is taking snaps lol

[Rolig Loon]

You don't cause any problems for yourself by clearing cache except that, as others have noted, your graphics card has to reload any textures that used to be in cache before as it sees them, so everything looks grey for a bit until that's done.  An argument could be made that you cause lag issues for other people when you log in after clearing cache, since you're using a fair amount of the sim's bandwidth for a short time as the asset servers reload your inventory.  That's one of the reasons for logging in on a vacant sim like Smith or Pooley -- that, and of course your inventory will load faster for you on a vacant sim.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Ah. Point well taken, thank you.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Clearing your cache will not harm anything.  And yes you can safely delete the entire cache folder located on your hard drive..........in fact that is the preferred way to clear stubborn cache issues (in some circumstances multiple and repeated cache clearings are necessary........deleting the cache folder is a quicker and more thorough way).  I've heard the agruments about clearing your cache causing problems such as bandwidth issues or slowing others down due to you needing more bandwidth to load your cache again.  Neither is true.  If you have having bandwidth issues clearing your cache will not help........nor will it hurt.  As far as slowing others down while your cache reloads, that is simply false.......you will never recieve more bandwidth from the LL servers than the servers will deliver.  That bandwidth is distributed according to how many avatars the server must serve and how you have your preferences set for bandwidth (no matter how much bandwidth you tell the servers to send, they will never sacrifice the bandwidth of others for you.....they will only send as much as they can up to the limit you set in preferences).  The only difference you will notice is it will take a few seconds longer for things to rezz around you when first logging in or TPing to a familar place.  Once the cache is loaded you are right back where you were before you cleared it.  There is also a possibility that a cleared cache will actually speed up rezzing for you..........but only if you have a slow or full hard drive (if you have an empty cache folder your viewer will not have to spend the time searching before it downloading the new texture or object trying to rezz around you).  Clearing your cache is similar (probably identical) to clearing your browser cache, deleting cookies, or browser history in your browser...........harms nothing, might slow things down initially but overall speeds things up, and gives you fresh copies of everything to work with.

 

Ruth has been explained quite well, I think (especially with Marigold's picture :smileyhappy: ).  Deruth means to reload your shape and skin to "replace" Ruth.  Ruth is the basis for all of SL's avatars......female and male.  The "modern" version of Ruth is the particle cloud or mist that happens sometimes.  Clearing the cache seldom fixes a Ruthing problem......but sometimes it will (you will need to relog if it's going to work at all).  Rebaking works about half the time.  Putting on another shape or doing the avatar test almost always fixes the problem.

[Cerise1488303085]

"I've heard the agruments about clearing your cache causing problems such as bandwidth issues or slowing others down due to you needing more bandwidth to load your cache again. Neither is true."

Simply this is not so. The simulator does have a limit to its throughput, and everything downloaded counts against that maximum throughput. Discarded cached data is data that must be transferred again, and counts against that maximum. And yes, if you need to download the data again, you have to download it again, and downloads cannot happen without bandwidth consumption. This is all pretty fundamental.

[Irene Muni]

About Ruth: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Ruth and the links