We got several complaints this week. I’m not sure how many of them are real. But, when the foundation shifts everything shakes. The HTTP Inventory Services made it to the main grid. That type of fundamental change usually comes with some problems.
Critical OS Updates Complete
Oskar Linden announced that about 3 PM Thursday this update process completed. All LL servers have now been updated.
The additional restarts for the COS updates are over.
It appears this update may have partially or completely solved SVC-5040 – Script performance dropped on regions deployed on class 7 hardware since rolling restart.
Main Channel
Last Tuesday the Le Tigre release channel was promoted to the main grid. Most regions are now running it. Estate Managers are seeing much better Time Dilation and Physics FPS rates. Some in Class 7 simulators are seeing much higher script performance.
Preliminary information is that the TimeWarp problem is fixed. Users cannot tell whether a crash is TimeWarp caused or not. Only the Lindens’ logs reveal actual TimeWarp issues. Since the TimeWarp term is such a unique and handy term we may see many people start to use it as a general catchall for lag. Remember. If it is a true TImeWarp issue, you likely won’t be online any you’’ have no idea if it was your connection, some lesser SL problem, or a viewer crash.
The AIS (Advanced Inventory Services?) roll out has gone well.
Some think regions are more failing to come back on after a crash or Estate Manager restart. Coyot Linden says the stats show an improvement in that area, meaning fewer regions fail to restart. Whatever the case, it is a very small number that fail to restart and require support services help.
Le Tigre & Blue Steel
This week Le Tigre and Blue Steel both get the same package with more estate management tools.
llManageEstateAccess(integer action, key id)
- Use to add or remove agents from the estate’s agent access or ban lists or groups from the estate’s group access list.
- Only works for objects owned by the Estate Owner or an Estate Manager.
- Calls are throttled at a rate of 30 calls per 30 seconds.
- Returns TRUE is action is sent to the database.
- Returns FALSE if throttled, invalid action, invalid or null id or object owner is not allowed to manage the estate.
Actions for llManageEstateAccess:
- ESTATE_ACCESS_ALLOWED_AGENT_ADD: Add the agent to this estate’s Allowed Residents list.
- ESTATE_ACCESS_ALLOWED_AGENT_REMOVE: Remove the agent from this estate’s Allowed Residents list.
- ESTATE_ACCESS_ALLOWED_GROUP_ADD: Add the group to this estate’s Allowed groups list.
- ESTATE_ACCESS_ALLOWED_GROUP_REMOVE: Remove the group from this estate’s Allowed groups list.
- ESTATE_ACCESS_BANNED_AGENT_ADD: Add the agent to this estate’s Banned residents list.
- ESTATE_ACCESS_BANNED_AGENT_REMOVE: Remove the agent from this estate’s Banned residents list.
It is expected that it is this update that will roll to the main grid next week.
Magnum
This channel continues with a server update package from last week. We get some new LSL function features:
New parameters for llGetObjectDetails(), to allow LSL scripts to view mesh prim accounting:
- OBJECT_STREAMING_COST returns streaming (download) cost
- OBJECT_PHYSICS_COST returns physics cost
- OBJECT_SERVER_COST returns server cost
- OBJECT_PRIM_EQUIVALENCE returns prim equivalent weight
There are bug and crash fixes plus the previous week’s stuff. See #SL Server News Week 41
Direct Delivery
Now that the Inventory Services (AIS) have rolled to the main grid, we should be getting close to the release of Direct Delivery. The current Development Viewer has a user interface with the new Receive Items section in the inventory panel.
Asides
When the agenda items and news have been handled the meeting often turns to other interesting SL topics. Some Lindens have commented about liking the new 3.2 User Interface (UI). Also Runitai has merged the new UI with his OpenGL3 branch. The few that have tried the OpenGL fixes say they rock.
Major Oops
A mistake on the Lab’s part destroyed a number of builds in SL. This was a grid sweep to remove a DMCA violation or griefer object. Unfortunately the Lab got something wrong and removed a large amount of legitimate items used in numerous builds.
Apparently the Lab is painting the SWEEP Button red and buying a rack from a local BDSM store as a deterrent to this type of mistake in the future.
One can have the region rolled back to a pre-sweep date, if the damage is extensive. Parcel can’t be rolled back, only entire regions.
Wednesday Restarts
This is changing a bit. Wednesday restarts for the release channels will be starting around 7:00 AM SLT/PT. Magnum is updated first, then Blue Steel, then Le Tigre. There will be no pauses in between. The restart window is 7:00 to 11:00 AM SLT/PT. The Calendar schedule is sort of a …hint.
Said another way, Blue Steel, Le Tigre, and Magnum will be upgraded sometime between 7 and 11 AM.
Voice
Maestro Linden says one of the channels will get a Voice Services update. There are no new features. It is what is known as refactoring, meaning the code changes but does the same thing. It is a new way of telling the computer a new way to do the same thing. This is usually done to make computer code more readable, efficient, or modular.
Parcel Encroachment Return
This feature rolled out to the main grid some time ago. However, it is only available in newer viewers. Older viewers can only return encroaching prims if the center of the prim encroaches.
While it has been rolled to the main grid, Maestro says it apparently has not been enabled on all regions. So, if you have prim encroachment problems ask Concierge/Land services to enable the feature on your region.
2011 Development Agenda Complete
Oskar tells us that all the planned updates and fixes for the Second Life servers and simulator software have been completed. The remainder of the year will be spent on performance issues.
Once Thanksgiving arrives production in tech companies comes to a stop… well degrades significantly. Too many holidays and winter vacations mean key personal are unavailable. We won’t see new major server side projects until after the first of the year.
Physics Changes
We will still the physics changes coming through in the coming weeks. Havok 2011 is still in testing on ADITI. This will be the last major project of the year.
Summing It Up
It appears the server foundation for the coming changes we hear rumored are in place. Viewer changes remain. We will probably see a few more surprises coming yet this year. We will also see some performance upgrades. Most of the new information will be coming from viewer development and that team has gone silent.
Pingback: #SL Scripting News Week 43