Viewer - Disconnects - Internal Browser still accesses the internet for edit/save after viewer disconnects?

[Kyrie Deka]

Hoping for some understanding of how/when viewers dis/connect to the internet.  Not a complaint or an issue, and Firestorm is mentioned only because that is the viewer I use and saw this in.  

 

Today:

• So-when I am logged out unexpectedly using Firestorm viewer, we/I am asked if I want to view IM and CHAT first before quitting.  I usually say no what the hey right, and I log back in whatever.  Today I just happened to be typing in what I *thought* was a viewer-managed "browser" window in an avatar profile in the "Notes" section - you know the window: the browser that we cannot drag "outside" the viewer, when this surprise-disconnect of the FS viewer happened.  K so what I see when the viewer disconnects on me unexpectedly: The FS viewer top right X turns to a red background indicating (my words) a weak internet connection for 2-8 seconds or so > I see viewer visuals go generally grey-overcast like usual > I see tiny pop-up window offering to see IM and CHAT or just go straight to QUIT, and I still have that viewer-browser window open with half text still there but not yet saved... So I thought oh man do not make me type that again and in the profile in the viewer browser window I take my chances and click the [Save} button, and shock-of-shocks it works!      Works = after the FS viewer tells me I have disconnected, I can both view nearby chat and also type text entries into the profiles form box and click save on the web profiles page, over and over, and it saves successfully (on the live internet page).  I mean, either I am disconnected or I am not was my guess, but that seems not to be the case.  Surmise:  I am not "disconnected" from the internet "please check my connection" - I am instead disconnecting from something else in between... Noting that in this state I realize/cannot travel to another web page profile I can only edit in the one that was showing when the viewer froze/disconnected from something... but that still indicates something in the viewer is still very connected to the internet enough to allow me to edit and edit and resave again and again..   Not expected, but this is not my expertise, and I am now intrigued how the viewer can disconnect from the internet, but not disconnect the browser it seems to rule.  Adding if the Firestorm > Developer > Show Info > Show Time (fps) means anything, then fps is not the trigger for what cuts me out. Though I recall the ICK days of 20 fps average sighhhh, on this pc generally/today I am 100-140+ fps easy.  Until something triggers a surprise disconnect.  

 

So after all that blah blah, the question: 

 

If I am being disconnected from FS viewer=SL because I have lost a connection to the internet, 

and the FS viewer internal browser window is controlled by the FS viewer,

then why would I be connected *in the internal browser* enough to keep typing and keep saving new info typed,

when the viewer managing the browser has said I have lost connection to the internet...

 

Is the viewer's internal browser managed by other-than-the-FS-viewer (so it has a stream of its own maybe, but the viewer graphics do not)?  

Is the timeout span on the FS/SL/viewers shorter/cuts out quicker, than the separate stream/timeout on the internal viewer-managed browser and its contents (including my accessing the web-based profiles)?

Initial raw guess would lead me to ask - if I have edited the default viewer PORT in the viewer, would these two run across two ports and maybe one port is struggling when the other (internal browser) is not?  

 

Grateful for anyone who might offer a short perspective, of why one could stay internet-connected enough to still edit/add text, but the viewer otherwise has frozen is not functioning and seems like it has already logged me out of SL.

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by Kyrie Deka

[Rowan Amore]

2 hours ago, Kyrie Deka said:

Hoping for some understanding of how/when viewers dis/connect to the internet.  Not a complaint or an issue, and Firestorm is mentioned only because that is the viewer I use and saw this in.  

 

Today:

• So-when I am logged out unexpectedly using Firestorm viewer, we/I am asked if I want to view IM and CHAT first before quitting.  I usually say no what the hey right, and I log back in whatever.  Today I just happened to be typing in what I *thought* was a viewer-managed "browser" window in an avatar profile in the "Notes" section - you know the window: the browser that we cannot drag "outside" the viewer, when this surprise-disconnect of the FS viewer happened.  K so what I see when the viewer disconnects on me unexpectedly: The FS viewer top right X turns to a red background indicating (my words) a weak internet connection for 2-8 seconds or so > I see viewer visuals go generally grey-overcast like usual > I see tiny pop-up window offering to see IM and CHAT or just go straight to QUIT, and I still have that viewer-browser window open with half text still there but not yet saved... So I thought oh man do not make me type that again and in the profile in the viewer browser window I take my chances and click the [Save} button, and shock-of-shocks it works!      Works = after the FS viewer tells me I have disconnected, I can both view nearby chat and also type text entries into the profiles form box and click save on the web profiles page, over and over, and it saves successfully (on the live internet page).  I mean, either I am disconnected or I am not was my guess, but that seems not to be the case.  Surmise:  I am not "disconnected" from the internet "please check my connection" - I am instead disconnecting from something else in between... Noting that in this state I realize/cannot travel to another web page profile I can only edit in the one that was showing when the viewer froze/disconnected from something... but that still indicates something in the viewer is still very connected to the internet enough to allow me to edit and edit and resave again and again..   Not expected, but this is not my expertise, and I am now intrigued how the viewer can disconnect from the internet, but not disconnect the browser it seems to rule.  Adding if the Firestorm > Developer > Show Info > Show Time (fps) means anything, then fps is not the trigger for what cuts me out. Though I recall the ICK days of 20 fps average sighhhh, on this pc generally/today I am 100-140+ fps easy.  Until something triggers a surprise disconnect.  

 

So after all that blah blah, the question: 

 

If I am being disconnected from FS viewer=SL because I have lost a connection to the internet, 

and the FS viewer internal browser window is controlled by the FS viewer,

then why would I be connected *in the internal browser* enough to keep typing and keep saving new info typed,

when the viewer managing the browser has said I have lost connection to the internet...

 

Is the viewer's internal browser managed by other-than-the-FS-viewer (so it has a stream of its own maybe, but the viewer graphics do not)?  

Is the timeout span on the FS/SL/viewers shorter/cuts out quicker, than the separate stream/timeout on the internal viewer-managed browser and its contents (including my accessing the web-based profiles)?

Initial raw guess would lead me to ask - if I have edited the default viewer PORT in the viewer, would these two run across two ports and maybe one port is struggling when the other (internal browser) is not?  

 

Grateful for anyone who might offer a short perspective, of why one could stay internet-connected enough to still edit/add text, but the viewer otherwise has frozen is not functioning and seems like it has already logged me out of SL.

 

 

 

When I get that grey screen and view IM and chat window, it tells me I'm logged out/disconnected from SL, not the internet.  Never tried any of the other stuff you mentioned as I just log back in.  Or if it's internet, It's a blimp outage that disconnects me.

Edited December 26, 2020 by RowanMinx

[Wulfie Reanimator]

I'm no networking expert and I certainly don't know about the intricacies of how Firestorm's netcode works, but:

3 hours ago, Kyrie Deka said:

If I am being disconnected from FS viewer=SL because I have lost a connection to the internet, 

and the FS viewer internal browser window is controlled by the FS viewer,

then why would I be connected *in the internal browser* enough to keep typing and keep saving new info typed,

when the viewer managing the browser has said I have lost connection to the internet...

 

Is the viewer's internal browser managed by other-than-the-FS-viewer (so it has a stream of its own maybe, but the viewer graphics do not)?  

It doesn't sound like you've "lost connection with the internet." (Where internet = the whole outside world.) You've simply lost connection with the sim.

Programs can have multiple network connections at once. One connection would be between the viewer and the sim you're currently in. Other connections would be the built-in web browser, music streams, media streams, etc. You can lose connection with any of these independently of each other, in theory. What actually happens is entirely dependent on how Firestorm programmers have defined that behavior.

In the case where you've lost connection to the internet as a whole (so absolutely everything disconnects) and then regain connection, you'll be able to open the built-in web browser and open a connection to whatever website you want. This is "easy" because you don't need to log into anything to do that. Getting back inworld "automatically" isn't possible for that reason.

Here, I forced my viewer to disconnect. Then I opened the built-in web browser and it was working just fine because my connection to the sim doesn't affect my connection to the website. The music stream (which you can't hear) didn't stop either, but after I paused it myself I wasn't able to resume it. (Again, this could be "fixed" but it's hardly necessary.) Sorry for the bad resolution, I was using a small window to save space.

TLDR: As long as they're separate connections, they can work independently.

Edited December 26, 2020 by Wulfie Reanimator

[Kyrie Deka]

35 minutes ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

my connection to the sim doesn't affect my connection to the website. The music stream (which you can't hear) didn't stop either, but after I paused it myself I wasn't able to resume it.

Makes perfect sense thank you!  Thanks for checking!  It just never happened that I actually tried that before, and I thought the firestorm "pop-up" telling me to quit or check chat said similar to [check my internet connection] which to me mean disconnected from the internet was the cause.  

38 minutes ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

What actually happens is entirely dependent on how Firestorm programmers have defined that behavior.

Yes, no way to know that outside of that group.  

Thanks for sharing!!

[arabellajones]

I choose to use an external browser, and that can certainly carry on with an operation while the viewer has lost the connection. Maybe uses more RAM, but I have plenty. I am not sure that the internal browser is any advantage. I think it's in the Chrome/Chromium family, and so may do some things I am wary of.