Today we found out for sure the software update running in the RC channels rolled to the main channel. This was a maintenance package with some bug and crash fixes and the improved region restart notification. For now the main channel and all the RC’s are running the same code.

There are a few regions like Linden Realms and the Wilderness that are running different code. But, otherwise everyone is on the same code.

That sameness will be broken when the RC channels ALL roll to the same new package. The only published change is the repair of a crash mode that popped up a couple of weeks ago, this probably means a griefing fix. My guess is this fix touches multiple parts of the systems and needs as big a test base as possible. Or it could just mean no other packages made it through QA. We might find out later today or Thursday. 

Sporadic Problems

BUG-355, the sudden massive lag event managers complain about, continues to be a problem. When I went into Borrowdale for the Content and Mesh meeting the region was messed up. Names were not appearing in local chat, but pictures were. The standard name tag floating above one’s head was missing from all but a couple of people. Mesh worn by avatars was not rezzing.

A region restart fixed the problems. But, those of us standing off in other regions for the restart never saw the region come back. I saw the region was on the World Map with people in it. But from outside the region it never became visible. I have no idea how long that lasted.

Some people are seeing triangle arror symbols appearing on avatars, which signals the mesh they have attached could not download or for another reason could not be rendered.

Still much of the reporting of problems comes from people during the Tuesday and Wednesday restarts. I suppose those people are simply oblivious to a process that has been running for a couple of years now.

Materials System

The server side code for the Materials System is now running on most regions, all the main and RC channels. There is still no project viewer for Materials… other than the private development versions.

I’ve noticed there has not been any recent updates to the Development viewer

 

BUG-1280

BUG-1280 – Teleporting using the World Map puts you underground upon arrival.

Description: You arrive underground and moments later are popped up above ground.

There is a fix for this problem in QA. So, we will see it move to an RC channels pretty soon.

llSetAlpha

llSetAlpha is not working as expected in some cases. It is unclear if it is affecting SetLinkPrimitiveParamsFast or llSetColor or just which is the problem. Tiberious Neruda is having some problems with a full body mesh avatar that fails to change color as expected. Andrew Linden is getting a copy to test to check if it is Interest List related.

BUG-1767

BUG-1767 – Interest List changes cause scripts in editing to go “out of range” if camera moves too far away.

Description: I am editing a script in a std. cube that’s right in front of my avatar.
Someone comes into my sim, and I “cam in” on them as I often do and suddenly my script window claims the script is “out of range” despite neither the object with the script nor my avatar moved.

This problem is being looked into. The QA people were able to reproduce the error. So, a fix should happen quickly. But, no solution yet. So, be aware.

Wengen Crashes

This region has been seeing an exceptionally high number of crashes. Kelly Linden suggested they take a look at the physics Runtime Collision Control System. It has been some time since it was checked and there have been a number of updates that affect it. Hopefully this will help out Wengen.

The Runtime Collision Control System (RCCS) acts as a safety net to catch performance issues before they become crashes. It is part of the Havok Physics Engine. See the SL Wiki: Simulator Physics Statistics.

I am speculating from the conversation that this is used in some ways to stop some griefing efforts.

There is a possibly related problem: BUG-903 – Region runs out of Havok memory / allocated memory (Region: Rainbow Cove).

Description: 28/11-2012 Made another wierd discovery after much much testing on the region. If I as an estate manager have the region restart and TP in as it’s done, I see an extremely stabile memory allocation (during testing it stayed at only 52mb) Navmesh was not asking to be rebaked. I monitor that for quite a while, and even had 2 other of EM’s enter the sim to confirm it wasn’t just because there only was 1 avatar there.

• Then the client TP’s into the sim, not doing anything at all or wearing anything that should be doing anything on the sim – and within 1 minute the navmesh asks to be rebaked, memory allocation starts jumping up and down, and generally raising to over 100mb.

The whole sim is deeded to group with the client as group owner – I’m also a member of the group. I’m using Firestorm viewer 4.2.2 and the client is using LL viewer 3.4.2

Regardless the memory leak or bloating for sure seems tied in with the navmesh – both during actually baking and just for it to detect a change (if there really even is one). During the test we did not rez anything on the sim, or alter terrain or PF linksets in any way.

Interest List

There are some more new things coming to the Interest List. Andrew Linden says, “I’ve got some changes that should make region scenery load faster (more correct really) upon first arrival. I’m trying to wrap these up today to get them into QA.

The terrain now shows up all at once when you first connect. We used to cull the terrain patches based on where your camera was located. But now (on all of the main grid) we just send all the terrain data at once.

~30m Jump

I saw this a couple of times but had not seen it often enough to think much about it. But, some others are walking across region boundaries and bouncing 30± meters into the region. This happens when traveling west but not when traveling east.

Those reporting it are adamant that it happens 100% of the time and is very consistent. However, I have been able to reproduce the problem.

LSL Syntax Updating

Some time ago there was an effort to make the Linden Scripting Language updates more automated. As it is now someone has to add new LSL features to the viewer’s syntax highlighting file. The plan was get the current information from the region server. Thus, when programming in a region you would have all the features the region could support being highlighted in the editor as soon as the info was available in the server.

That project is still in progress. It just seems to be moving slowly.

Updated Region Shut Down Alert

The alert is more noticeable. For some the notice remains on screen. For others it quickly disappears into the chiclet. There is a sound that is played. None of this seems to be enough to catch my attention if I am busy with other things.

In the Second Life Debug Settings of the SL Viewer is a value UISndAlert, which is: Sound file for alerts (uuid for sound asset). So, theoretically we can change the sound. There are a number of setting that start with UISnd that allow one to assign different sounds.

In the Firestorm Viewer the setting is somewhere in Preferences. In Debug it can be found as: UISndRegionRestart.

Some people in the meeting were not hearing the alert sound. For some the notice stayed on screen and for others of us it disappeared into the chiclet.