Firestorm Experience 8/21 – Update:

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I’m playing a lot with Firestorm Viewer these last couple of days. After a bit more use I am finding a few more things.

~ Quite Happily Stranded ~
~ Quite Happily Stranded ~

Yesterday I wrote:

After 30 minutes or so I start to get mini freezes and black screens. I get that with the Linden viewer too… this may be me and not the viewers.

I am seeing a few more people experiencing the same problem in FS Support. One was Windows 10 user who’s anti-virus was apparently the problem causing 100% disk use while the viewer ran. In Windows 10 the Task Manager has a resource monitor built in. You can see how busy the CPU, disks, network, and etc are. So, it is easy to check to see if you have resource over-use as a problem or performance issue. 

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Firestorm Experience

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I have gotten to use the viewer (4.7.3 x64) for a bit now. There is too much new stuff to step through item by item. So, this my limited experience take. Regardless of whether I like the viewer, its having Viewer Managed Marketplace  (VMM) compatibility makes it a must have for many Firestorm users.

Firestorm Logo
Firestorm Logo

Download and Install – Nothing unusual. All smooth and no problems. I did do an uninstall before adding the new version.

Performance – It is too early to say, but in general my Frames Per Second (FPS) are about the same as with the Linden 3.8.3 version, provided I use similar settings. I am finding it seems a bit faster in areas where I am alone. It has problems in areas built with heavy mesh use, but so does the Linden viewer.

After 30 minutes or so I start to get mini freezes and black screens. I get that with the Linden viewer too… this may be me and not the viewers. I notice that once the memory use at launch (300+/-k) climbs into the 2 GB range I start having problems.

Some users are having problems with no-copy avatar skins. They don’t render. A default Ruth skin renders. It is not very many. So, it is likely a hardware related problem.

The chat panel no longer has a minimize button. It is either open or closed.

Firestorm Update Week 34

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The Firestorm team has a new release out, version 4.7.3-47323. It is the viewer Managed Marketplace capable viewer. The team has post up on the blog: Firestorm Viewer 4.7.3-47323 Release! They explain they had some problems getting this version out and it is therefore a bit latter than they wanted. But, it is here now. 🙂

Rise of the Dragons, Opus I
Rise of the Dragons, Opus I

The VMM news is good. Also Experience Tools, attachment fixes, and other problems are added or fixed.

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Server Update Week 34

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Calab Linden has taken over posting information about Second Life™ server updates. We get a lot less information than we did with Simon Linden. Whether that is the difference in people or just that less work is being done on server updates, I don’t know.

Client: In the wind - cropped
Client: In the wind – cropped

This week there was no roll to the main channel this week. 

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Windows 10 Update Week 34

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As Second Life™ users you are likely to be interested in others experience with their Windows 10 installs. I’m working with a number of RL clients as I help them with their upgrades. We are mostly at the point of contacting the authors of the software they are dependent on.

Windows 10 Logo
Windows 10 Logo

I have found that the new Microsoft web browser is different. I am still figuring it out and I am undecided on whether I like it. My first impression is it is slow to load. After that it seems OK. Every menu item I use is in a new place.

Whatever, Shug has a post up on her experience upgrading 4 computers to Win 10. See: Windows 10 (and you thought Second Life updates were chaos!)

If you have problems with your DVD after a Win 10 update, these steps may help:

From Windows Support for the DVD drive:

  1. Run Command Prompt as an Administrator. Press windows key + x and choose command prompt (admin)
  2. Type following and press enter: reg.exe add “HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0” /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
  3. Reboot the system

Second Life’s Lumiere Noir

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I don’t know how well known the name is in Second Life™. I think the name Ivory Tower of Prims is probably better known. Lumiere Noir was the builder of the Ivory Tower Library of Prims. I’ve been to the Tower a number of times. It was a big help in my learning how to build with prims. I believe it is the best prim tutorial going.

Ivory Tower Staue
Ivory Tower Staue
Lumiere Noir - Ivory Tower Library of Primitives
Lumiere Noir – Ivory Tower Library of Primitives
Ivory Tower Statue
Ivory Tower Statue
Ivory Tower from Weapons Testing Area
Ivory Tower from Weapons Testing Area
Fans' Memorial Thoughts
Fans’ Memorial Thoughts

August 10, 2015 Lumiere Noir passed away. Separation and loss are painful. There are  degrees of grief. It seems to depend on ones beliefs. Whatever they are, no one seems to have words that adequately express our sense of loss or the empathy we have for those closest to Lumiere. Trying to express our feelings and comfort others in these matters shows how little we can actually do. But… we do what we are able. I can empathize, regret the loss, and deal with grieving my small part of the loss.

A number of Second Life Bloggers have covered Lumiere’s passing and in-world memorial. One of those is Daniel Voyager. He has pictures up from the memorial. Mine were taken after the memorial.

As to the Tower, no one is saying what will happen to it. However, most things Tower related are group owned. So, there are others to care for it. If you are looking for more information, contact Avi Arrow.