Damsel can't wear miniskirts!

Have I got your attention now? I've had a new video card installed - PNY GeForce 9800 GTX+ - as a surprise for hubby returning home after being overseas with his work. But now all my system skirts (not prim skirts) default to full length, whether existing or newly created ones. I've cleared cache, uninstalled and reinstalled, but that hasn't helped.

More detail: When I go into Edit Appearance/Skirt the little picture for both 0% and 100% length appears as a full ankle-length (this is bad!) and the slider makes no difference which suggests a corrupted data file somewhere - hence my uninstall and reinstall attempt. However, people in-world see the skirt as the default New Skirt short length ... but only whilst I'm in Edit Appearance.

Having checked the System Requirements & Recommendations I notice that the most recent nVidia card listed is the 8800 series. Is my new 9800 card too new and only partially compatible with SL? Has anyone else had bother with a 9800 series card?

Can someone please take the scissors to my skirts! I really do have legs worth showing off ... and I might even offer them on a platter to whichever kind gentleman (or gentlewoman?) can solve my problem.

The newest Release candidate fixes this bug, I suggest updating to it.

Workaround incase you don't want to:
Disable this setting: Advanced >> Rendering >> Features >> palitized textures

Then Rebake, Advanced >> character >> rebake textures


You must rebake each clothing peice that was affected by this, and you must follow these steps at each login.

Again, please just update to the new RC instead

Do you mean the latest download? Sorry if I'm being a bit ditzy lol.

I tried my laptop and it was the same, but I was able to workaround it and 'rebuild' the offending skirts. But then when I relogged on my pc, nothing has changed. And that's with the latest version installed just a few hours ago - ver 1.21.6 (99587).

The viewer version you've got now is the last official release (not a release candidate). It's got a bug in it, which prevents palletized textures from working properly with certain nVidia drivers. That is why your skirts appear to go full length when you go into appearance mode. It's got nothing to do with how the skirts themselves were made. It's a rendering problem.

There are three ways to deal with it, ranging from simple to moderately complicated. Here they are, in order of complexity:


1. DISABLE PALLETIZED TEXTURES

Press ctrl-alt-D to add the Advanced menu to your menu bar at the top of the screen. Then click Advanced -> Rendering -> Features -> uncheck Palletized Textures. Now rebake your avatar outfit by clicking Advanced -> Character -> Rebake Textures. Your skirts should now look normal.

You'll need to do this every time you log in, as the palletized texture settings do not persist after you close the program.

-OR-


2. DOWNLOAD AND USE THE LATEST RELEASE CANDIDATE VIEWER

Release candidates are sort of sneak previews of the next version of the SL viewer software. They often contain bug fixes, and new features, that aren't present in the main viewer. The downside to using them, of course, is that they're unfinished (which is why they're "candidates" instead of actual releases), so they're not always fully functional. If you use an RC, it's best to check for updates to it as often as possible. And if you want to do your part to help the community (which you should), be sure faithfully to report all bugs you discover, so that they can be fixed before the RC goes main.

The particular RC that is out right now contains a fix for the palletized texture bug. To grab it, go to the Downloads section of the SL website, http://secondlife.com/support/downloads.php . About half way toward the bottom of the page, you'll see a section called Test Viewers, with three columns under it. The very first column is labeled Release Candidate Viewers. Simply click the link to download the appropriate one for your OS.

Use the latest RC, and your skirts should look normal.

-OR-


3. USE A GRAPHICS DRIVER THAT IS UNAFFECTED BY THE BUG

The last few nVidia driver series are susceptible to the bug. Slightly older versions are immune. At present, the most "SL-friendly" is the 175 series. 175.19 is best, if that version is available for your particular graphics card. If it's not, then try 175.16.

To get an older driver, go to nVidia.com, and enter the one you're looking for into the Search nVidia field at the top right of the page. It helps to include your specific card and your OS version in the search terms. For example, I have GeForce 8800's in this machien, and I'm running Windows Vista 64-bit. So to find the driver I needed, I typed the following:

"GeForce 8800 175.19 driver Vista 64-bit"

Just substitute your video card model, and your OS version, do a similar search, and you'll find the driver you need. Then uninstall your current one, restart your machine, and install the new one. Run SL, and your skirts should look normal.


Pick whichever one of those methods you prefer. All three will work to solve your problem.

Yippee! I've got my legs back!

Dante's workaround and Chosen's option 1 both sounded much too complicated so they got binned. I wasn't keen on Chosen's option 2 rolling back the video driver as hubby will probably immediately install the latest before he loads his flight sim. So that left the Release Candidate which has cured the problem - the only extra thing was I had to edit the length and re-save the skirts ... but that was no big drama, just a little snip with the scissors and re-sew the hem

Gentlemen - Dante and Chosen - I am most grateful that you have restored me to my full feminine glory and please say Hi if you catch me online. I owe you both a big kiss! Mwah!