Viewer trouble. Auto update changed my Preferences settings for Graphics, etc. Takes forever to load

[Farzaneh Eel]

Those constant Auto updates of SL Viewer changed my Preferences settings for Graphics, etc. Now it takes forever to load graphics.  Usually my avatar is a particle cloud or white oval for a long time.  Prims & builds appear as big gray blobs & gray geometric shapes.  Colors (sky, etc) are very muddy / dark.  When I adjust Graphics preferences higher, the sky etc turn pitch black - even my avvie's skin turned black.  When I adjust bandwidth higher, everything chokes instead of improving.  Even with all settings as Low as you can go, regardless of what I do, everything is super-laggy now and takes *forever* to load - and sometimes never loads.  Yes, I have an older laptop but it worked "fine enough" as of 1-2 weeks ago.  Yes, cleared cache etc.  No, I can't afford a new laptop right now.  Nothing is changed regarding my network, etc.  Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

[Rolig Loon]

Yes.  You almost never have to upgrade to the next version of a LL viewer.  Reinstall any previous viewer (or a TPV) now.  If you install a LL viewer, open Preferences (CTRL + P) >> Setup and UNcheck the box the authorizes automatic downloading of viewer upgrades.  That way, you can keep on using the one you installed as long as you want.

Get a previous LL viewer at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Category:Release_Notes  Click on the link to the viewer you want, and then select Download.

To install one of th eexcellent third party viewers, see >> http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory

[Ferd Frederix]

I would check with NVidia or ATI for an updated graphc card driver before I went back to an older viewer.  The older viewers  have bugs and eventually yopu will have to update anyway.  The latest releases of the viewer have new GPU tables in them and the system is probably recognizing your card's older driver and downgrading.   

You didn't say what video chipset or driver that your laptop is using or I could send a link to the latest driver.   If your laptop is a Dell or other OEM ( Original Equipment Manufacurer)  brand, the OEM driver such as Dell's  is invariably being used.   These drivers are rarely updated to the latest version.    In cases where the OEM driver is used, I strongly recommend using the generic chipset manufacturers driver instead.

If on a Windows PC, right click My Computer and select Properties.Click on Device Manager in the upper left.  Open the Display Adepters setting and get your video card number from there. Right click the card and select Properties.  You will see the Driver tab, and in it is the driver.  for example, mine is HD3870 version driver 8.872.0.0.  Write that down, and go look for the latest driver.  

Once you find it and download it, right click the video card and Uninstall it.  Windows will fall back to a generic VGA driver.  Then install the new driver.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rolig Loon]

Hehe.... The new version has at least as many bugs as the old one...... they just upgraded them.