Oh No! Particles

[Hathoria]

So I am having this issue with SL, whenever I go anyplace with particles my computer will freak out. It doesn't happen immediately but withing a few minutes, it happens on either the Linden viewer or Firestorm although the screen looks different on each. I turn maximum particle count down to zero and everything works fine. I am curious if anyone knows what might cause this and how to fix it.

[belindacarson]

As a short term fix have you tried turning particles off?

[Qie Niangao]

Right, an alternative to setting the max count to 0 is what I think @belindacarson suggests: turning them off altogether with Ctrl+Alt+Shift+= which appears a couple places under the Advanced menu.

Particles in small quantity are about the simplest thing viewers have to draw; they usually only cause trouble when there are lots and lots of them, but it sounds like any is too many for this machine, somehow.

My only easy suggestion is to make sure the graphics card drivers are updated (but everybody always says that about anything that affects multiple viewers).

Might get some hints from the configuration details available with "Copy to Clipboard" the text in "Help" / "About Second Life" and pasting it here.

[Hathoria]

7 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

it sounds like any is too many for this machine, somehow.

True but it wasn't always, the computer was recently reset which should have restored the drivers but it didn't fix it

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

I hate when people fire off effects that cover the whole screen.  Some of us get seizures from that crap.

[Nalates Urriah]

1 hour ago, Hathoria said:

True but it wasn't always, the computer was recently reset which should have restored the drivers but it didn't fix it

That's not as true as you probably think. Unless you do a lot of esoteric tech updating a RESET will restore the drivers the computer came with. The older the computer gets the more out of date they are.

When Windows goes online to update drivers it does a rather poor job. Plus the people making drivers tend to post to their own websites first to pull people they can show their NEW stuff. too. So... good up-to-date drivers are harder to find, I suspect, than most people think.

Check your graphics driver versions.

[belindacarson]

21 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

That's not as true as you probably think. Unless you do a lot of esoteric tech updating a RESET will restore the drivers the computer came with. The older the computer gets the more out of date they are.

When Windows goes online to update drivers it does a rather poor job. Plus the people making drivers tend to post to their own websites first to pull people they can show their NEW stuff. too. So... good up-to-date drivers are harder to find, I suspect, than most people think.

Check your graphics driver versions.

I found that out the hard way, when I restored my own PC.  The graphics were appalling to the point I couldn't even log onto Second Life.

 

However, when I went onto the manufacturer's website for my graphics card (in this case Nvidia) they had a tool to scan for the card, and give you the most up to date driver.  Now my Second Life graphics are turbo charged.