Graphics are progressively getting worse

[MotherofDragons1208]

Hi,

I'm currently running SecondLife on a MacBook that uses OSX 10.13.4. With each subsequent login, the graphics get progressively worse. Below is an example of what I currently see.

 

In many areas, textures are just big, blurred lines, and at times everything is obscured by big, boxy shapes. 

 

How do I resolve this>

[Nalates Urriah]

15 hours ago, cykarushb said:

This may be a cache issue, cache should actually be cleared fairly often. Not daily at all but maybe after each update if the update doesnt automatically clear it.

2

The Lab and the Firestorm team disagree with you. A cache clear is ONLY recommended for those times that you know it is a cache problem or an absolute last resort when all else if failing.

These days cache data very seldom corrupts. The data is delivered through the HTTP/HTTPS error-correcting protocol. Cache corruption these days is usually only the product of a viewer crash.

Also, the cache hit rate reported in the viewer is questionable. Oz Linden tells us a 'cache rebuild' project is on the To Do Soon list. The viewer is often downloading items already in cache. If you watch the Texture Console and the Cache Hit Rate, you'll see some oddities in the information that I think indicate inconsistencies. It could also explain why I often see mesh in my home have a problem rendering quickly or mis-rendering while it re-downloads, yet I see a 100% Cache Hit Rate. Whatever is happening with cached files, it isn't what it should be or what we expect.

When a new scene is rendering some objects, especially sculpties, mis-render as huge things. Sculpties tend to mis-render as squished spheres. Large mesh objects can mis-render when the LoD model needed is only partially downloaded. They tend to appear as spiky things extending across the region.

I generally have a great Internet connection to the SL servers. Over the last couple of weeks and sense the big DDoS attack I have periods of horrible service, several hours. Then it is back to great.

If the Internet performance is progressively degrading, hardware may be failing or there are more attacks or something consuming bandwidth in the lines between you and the SL servers. Is someone streaming video to your TV? Lots of possibilities.

 

 

[Fionalein]

Can you install Linux on the  Macbook? As pointed out in another thread it could also be the hardware overheating... Macbooks are not really made for gaming. Here's some things to find teh culprit:  Does it get better if you turn it off for some hours?-> Heat! Does manually clearing the cache bring it back to normal?-> Bad texture cache management...

[MotherofDragons1208]

It doesn't get better. I don't think I can install Linux on this MacBook. I use it for work and I don't want it to interfere with any of that stuff. 

How would I clear the cache? Also, if it makes a difference, it happens more in certain areas, Enchanted Thicket being one of them.

Edited April 16, 2018 by MotherofDragons1208

[Rolig Loon]

Clearing your cache will not help.  If anything, ir will make things worse. Cache is your friend.  It's your viewer's method of stored recently viewed textures so that it doesn't need to reload them again from the servers.  Your cache should be as large as you can make it and should not be cleared unless it's clear that there is actually something wrong with the cache itself.

Just looking at the image you posted, the gray boxy thing in the foreground looks like a large prim.  If you didn't put it there, someone else with building privileges did. If it's on your land, delete or return it. If it's on a neighbor's land, you can't do much about it. It's hard to tell what else is going on in that image.

[MotherofDragons1208]

It's not on my land. I like visiting places with fairy tale/fantasy themes, and I was excited when I found this shop. But every time I try teleporting there, I get those kind of graphics. I've messaged the owner but gotten no answer. 

 

So what you're saying is that, if it's only happening in certain areas, the problem isn't on my end?

Edited April 16, 2018 by MotherofDragons1208

[Rolig Loon]

28 minutes ago, MotherofDragons1208 said:

So what you're saying is that, if it's only happening in certain areas, the problem isn't on my end?

That's almost certainly true.

[velvetgurl]

i had a issue on my windows based pc, with another game it was getting pixalated , strange shapes etc it was a graphics card issue drivers was the fault 

 

[cykarushb]

4 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

Clearing your cache will not help.  If anything, ir will make things worse. Cache is your friend.  It's your viewer's method of stored recently viewed textures so that it doesn't need to reload them again from the servers.  Your cache should be as large as you can make it and should not be cleared unless it's clear that there is actually something wrong with the cache itself.

Just looking at the image you posted, the gray boxy thing in the foreground looks like a large prim.  If you didn't put it there, someone else with building privileges did. If it's on your land, delete or return it. If it's on a neighbor's land, you can't do much about it. It's hard to tell what else is going on in that image.

This may be a cache issue, cache should actually be cleared fairly often. Not daily at all but maybe after each update if the update doesnt automatically clear it. The Cache stores textures and other information about a place you have visited and uses it for the future when you visit again. If something is wrong in there and it cant load from cache, it may not load at all. The fact that its happening with different visits/logins implies it may be cache actively corrupting itself.

Though this usually results in things like gray or pink textures. I have seen it basically leave users with the lowest resolution textures and sometimes just straight up missing objects.

Heat wouldn't cause this issue, heat would result in worse overall performance rather than things not loading correctly.

If it is space specific, it may be just related to that single place.

For OP, i suggest doing really just a full re-install of SL, cleared cache and all, see if that helps. Worst case scenario you're out 5-10 minutes of time.