Phoenix Viewer Fixes

Bunches of people have had problems getting Phoenix to run. Actually regardless of which viewer you use you are likely having problems. Tuesday Linden Lab rolled out a server upgrade, so hopefully some of the problems will stop.

For those having problems there are two things to consider. The Phoenix Viewer Wiki article: Troubleshooting and Quick Fixes. The other is the Phoenix Viewer Additional Downloads.

Quick Fixes

The Wiki page is under construction. So, not all the answers are there. However several important ones are there. You will see several of these fixes are in previous articles here. But, the wiki has them in one place. The most common fixes are:

HTTP Texture – Avatar Render Problems

Hopefully you know by now this is Linden Lab’s new way to download textures. It uses the same protocol that web pages use and is much faster than the UDP protocol previously used. But, it also involves some problems because of the way JPEG2000 images work. This has created lots problems for most TPV’s. Part of the problem is because of the restrictions on KDU (Kakadu), where SL viewers can use it and TPV’s supposedly can’t. Whatever TPV Dev’s are getting it sorted out.

The texture problem causes odd problems, the most annoying of which is your avatar does not render. So, change your HTTP Get Texture setting. If off, turn it on and try it. Of course if off, turn it on. (Edit->Preferences->[Phoenix]->[Advanced]->[Page 2]-[Advanced Graphics] and uncheck or check HTTP Get Textures) Once you change the setting, do a cache clear, relog, and once logged in: rebake (Ctrl-Alt-R). Hopefully that will fix up AV and region rez problems. You may need to rebake 3 times… that’s what I’m told… to get the AV to render.

If your AV is still not rendering after the HTTP Texture change then if you are wearing a bald, change to another bald. If you aren’t wearing a bald, put one on and rebake.

If that doesn’t work strip, everything; clothes, attachments… everything. Change your skin, eyes, the bald, and your shape, as in wear a new shape. Your avatar should rez with one of those changes. If not, then Ruth/Roth yourself. (Edit-> Advanced->Character->Character Test->Test Male/Female) This will put you back into full noob. But, I’ve never had this fail to rez my avatar.

Once you rez, you can redress your avatar. All should be ok.

Techno-babble: If you wonder what actually causes the problem it is in how the images are compressed and decompressed. KDU/OpenJPEG encode and decode a little differently as they compress the image. Decoding a KDU encoded image with OpenJPEG doesn’t always work as expected. Since encoding levels depend on the image content it is not possible to predict which images will be a problem. AFAIK all images are encoded server side with KDU. An image that is a problem with one viewer may not be with another viewer.

In the open source mailing list several people are tackling this problem. A collection of test images is being gathered. Those are then used to test and benchmark KDU/OpenJPEG image decompression. Test code is being made public to make testing and benchmarking easier for others.

The Bizarre Problems

Short of the viewer crashing on launch most problems are because of a cache problem. This is especially problem if you use more than one viewer and play in more than one world. All viewers use the SL default cache by default. I have no idea why it has not occurred to TPV Dev’s to create their own cache. Since they haven’t, you have to do it.

Open your viewer, you don’t have to login. In Edit->Preferences->Network browse for a new cache location. You will need to create a new folder for your cache. I suggest you name the cache the same as the viewer. If you use multiple viewers, you should have a cache for each viewer. Caches are typically located in:

C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Local\[cache_name]

Once created close the viewer and restart. Once logged in you will be reloading your inventory. I suggest you do NOT open it. Travel to an empty SIM or at least unpopulated one. Once there open your inventory and type in a search term. If your inventory is already downloading, do not TP until it completes.

Viewer Crashes on Launch – Additional Downloads

For many people there is a problem with the viewer crashing on launch. This generally comes from two causes. One is trying to use an SSE optimized viewer on a computer that does not support SSE. The Imprudence Viewer wiki has a good page on SSE and which CPU’s support it. See: SSE2 Optimization

The other is not having the Visual C runtime, a library usually found installed on Windows computers, but not always. Phoenix has a download that installs the VC2005 runtime in Additional downloads. Running that program often fixes the launch problems.

Related Problems

VWR-20946 – Snowstorm crash on launch…

VWR-12473 – Crash immediately at startup before login screen loads.

Can’t Login – Avatar Ghost

Regardless of viewer used many are hitting this problem. They are advised they will be logged out and try in 5 minutes or whatever, or something similar. Problem is later produces the same error. This is actually because a vampire stole your soul and locked it in a sim somewhere… not really.

Due to lag, a sim failure, network glitch, or some disturbance in the force you were not properly logged out. The last sim you were in thinks you are still there. Your login is being rejected because wherever you are attempting to land when you login is where your avatar is stuck.  To fix the problem you need to login into to some place different. So, visit the Second Life Destination Guide and pick a place.

You should be able to login. To clear your ghost, visit the sim it is in. Travel there and when you arrive you should absorb your ghost which solves the problem.

If you still cannot login, call support or file a ticket. Or wait until Tuesday when they rollout a new grid release, which essentially restarts all the regions and will vaporize your ghost. After the sim your ghost is stuck in restarts, you should be able to login.

Lost Inventory

This article gives you the details in recovering lost inventory: Second Life Lost Inventory and Missing Inventory Fix – Help

Summary

A large verity of problems is caused by a few core problems. A considerable number of these have to do with the viewer cache. Separate caches for each viewer and a cache clear before logging in with a new version of a viewer can do a lot to reduce problems.

22 thoughts on “Phoenix Viewer Fixes

  1. Pingback: Avatar Render Problems: Ghost Cloud Smoke Ball Ruth « Nalates' Things & Stuff Blog

  2. I lost avie skin and shape, but did the test of avie female got it back sunday morning, but now, i am dressed in clothes and everyone else is seeing me naked, i cant tell you how many times i have cleaned out cache, done it manually and yes even did a few times test avie …and still noone can see me with clothes on, my avie is dressed i see it, help me please i don’t know what else to do….thanks

  3. Edit panel does not show me the prim count or owner information.

    For many months ( back in Emerald days )
    when I use edit in the viewer to look at a prim not owned by me, it will not show me the prim count, object current owner or creator.

    When I first converted to Phoenix the problem was gone… for a while. now it is back. I’m running the latest Phoenix on windows vista on a pc.
    I tried a un-install and reinstalled but the problem persisted.

    I also occasionally use a Windows 7 machine. On that machine I also removed all copies of Emerald and installed Phoenix. Currently it does not suffer this problem. Though I suspect that it is only a matter of time.

    The place on the edit panel where the numbers should be is just blank as is the name and creator fields.

    I don’t experience the problem with the Linden Labs V2 viewer.

    • I think there are a lot of problems with the Phoenix viewer. I consider this the new Phoenix team’s early attempts as they get organized and clean up the Emerald code. Many seem to assume Phoenix is just Emerald under a new name and should work the same. It is not and it doesn’t, yet. The team and the code are both being reorganized. Plus the version 2 Linden code base requires rewrites of code Phoenix is using for their various features. So, while the Phoenix team tries to get things running smoothly the Linden team is knocking out fixes and changes at a surprising rate. The task the Phoenix team has is like shooting pool on a rocking boat.

  4. any advice you can offer to fix this problem, unable to connect to SL using the phoenix viewer keeps telling me unable to connect to the grid DNS could not resolve the host name. i have uninstalled and reinstalled the viewer without success I can connect no problem using the SL viewer.

    thanks in anticipation of a favourable reply.

    • I suggest you read through: Second Life Viewer Crashes While Starting Start reading at Re-Install Fix. Consider whether you have used all the steps listed for a reinstall.

      Phoenix has a wiki with a load of tips and fixes for the viewer. They also have an active forum where you can get specific Phoenix help.

      That DNS is not resolving the host name is a common problem for Phoenix-OSGrid users, but not when logging into SL. It may indicate that your Grid Management entry for SL is messed up. Make sure the Login URI is: https://login.agni.lindenlab.com/cgi-bin/login.cgi

  5. for the past five days i had proble with staying login and when it happen im being two second later im logout for some reason. as of dec the 1st at sl time of 900pm i missed my sl sister wedding because of it and dont know why the hell it happen and im upset and displease with the fact that for almost six month i never has such crashing problem until now been five day i counldnt login and stay in and i been try to find out what the hell going on. i missed the most importance moment of my sl i want to be in has ruin because some heads trying to interfer with account which never was wrong with begin. Therefore if notice would have been sent out letting people know that such difficult was happening i would not have feel this way and it bullcraps that this event was ruin because of lack of service. I deserve sone explaination of some kind why my account all the sudden acting up and it bullcrap.

    THANKS ALOT FOR ALL THE
    TROUBLE AND MAY GOD BLESS
    YOU FIXING THE PROBLEM.

  6. I am having the problem where ive rezzed up fine but everyone els is clouds. everything is rezzing up fine other then others av’s, I downloaded Emergance viewer and everything works fine in there, everyone rezzes up they just dont have some of the options Pheonix has. any sagestions on how to fix it, ive tried all sagestions if your av is not rendoring but they dont help.

    • I’ve put almost everything I know about avie rez problems in posts on this blog. With almost no information about how you have your viewers setup or the OS there isn’t much I can suggest. The likely best recommendation is to visit the Phoenix wiki or in-world group. The wiki has an extensive section on viewer problems.

      Also, look in the blog’s menu. I’ve just started moving my tutorial and help articles into collections on subject pages. Be sure you have read: Avatar Render Problems: Ghost Cloud Smoke Ball Ruth

      Good luck.

  7. Having problem with my screen freezing for a few seconds…then motion returns just fine…sometimes this can happen several times a minute…It’s getting really annoying. It’s been happening on SL Viewer 2 as well. I’m gonna try to uninstall the Viewer Two and just have the Phoenix viewer and see if that helps.

    • The Phoenix team is placing detailed instructions for their viewer in their wiki. Plus they have classes in using the Phoenix Viewer. So, I tend to only provide details for new features as they add them.

      What you are looking for is here: Phoenix Client Animation Override

      The only drawback to the in-viewer AO I see is the need for additional animations for each viewer one uses. I use multiple viewers, so it is a problem for me. The worn HUD type works across all viewers.

  8. Has been a problem for a couple of weeks, but while logged in my Phoenix viewer, my avatar cannot see where she is walking. The camera automatically goes up, to the ceiling. I haven’t been able to figure why it’s doing this but it is the only reason I haven’t been able to use the viewer. I downloaded Firestorm so I could be inworld without that problem, but I prefer Phoenix. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    • You can find answers to Phoenix questions in their forum or wiki. Be sure to check the wiki. They have loads of stuff there and a ton of work-a-rounds. Also, there is an in-world group for Phoenix-Firestorm. The FS/PH team has support people in the group. It is NOT manned 24×7, but you can often find a REAl support person to help you interactively. There is always someone there that will try to help.

  9. I have been having A LOT of trouble when it comes to logging in with Phoenix Viewer. People were telling me I have to have it up to date. Which I do. I try to log in and it tells me there is a problem connecting to the Grid. I don’t know what to do. I have restarted my computer, uninstalled it, re installed it. Patched it, fixed it. everything.. It still will -not- work.I have read everything and none has helped me. Now when I to try to log in and it is successful, my friend-list is gone along with my desired Screen name. I don’t know what to do to fix this problem. But now as I would try to log in, I am stuck at the . “Logging in” mode of the server… Can someone.. ANYONE.. Be of some help to this?

  10. i have been having a problem with voice even with the new update in phoenixviewer. ever thing is on line but when i go to talk nothing happens, i dont have the dot or anything cant press the talk button onscreen.i have done sever clean reinstalls and edit preferences everything is checked for enable voice reset voice still nothing is it phoenixviewer or what because before it was working now its not. these new updates have been nothing but trouble for me ever since i started trying them. i should have stuck with the older version that i had on here the 1591, at least my voice was working on that version just fine. i dont know about the rest of u and how phoenix viewer is working ofr u guys but as for me im going back to the old version where everything was workin. this newe version crap is not doing jack for me. next time i see get a new update for phoenix im ignoring it. and if things start to get worse i wont even bother to log in.

  11. When im on Phoenix viewer I can be on for 30 min and than I loose my internet connection everytime, I used to never have this happen… If im on firestorm i have no problem.. Does anyone no why this is happening to me?

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