03-15-2006 15:34
Having problems connecting to Second Life right after a version update? Look here.

1) When are you logging in? Check the Announcements section of the forums. If you're logging in within about three hours of the grid's opening, you will invariably run into login issues.

When the grid opens, the thousands of residents who would normally be logging into Second Life all try to enter at the same time. Like a rush-hour traffic jam, everyone gets backed up.

The good news is, residents do log in successfully, although gradually. If the world re-opened a few hours ago, wait about fifteen minutes between login attempts; you will get in eventually.

This information usually covers any login message you get right after the world re-opens, including:
* Can't connect to server.
* The system may be down.
* Something has gone wrong.
* Despite our best efforts...
* Check your system date and time.

2) Do you have Norton, McAfee, or ZoneAlarm software installed? If so, a few simple steps could help avoid some major headaches. Occasionally, these software products incorrectly identify a Second Life software update as a virus infection. Sometimes, instead of blocking Second Life or giving you a notification, the program will monitor and interfere with Second Life's network traffic, leading to all sorts of problems.

If you have this software installed, just follow these steps to reconfigure it after each Second Life update. It may not be the source of problems you're having, but it's an easy step to troubleshoot.
http://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=TechConfigFirewall

3) Have you done a clean install of Second Life? Every so often, a leftover temporary file for Second Life may cause problems with a new version. It's a simple task to remove your Second Life installation and download it again from the website. Don't worry about your inworld items, inventory, appearance, etc.; that's stored on our servers. (You don't lose any inworld belongings by uninstalling the program.)

Be sure to uninstall the program from the Add/Remove Programs utility in the Windows Control Panel. You can download the software from the Second Life website.

4) Have you updated your graphics drivers? With the new graphics features in 1.10.0, it's now very important that you have the most recent graphics drivers available. If you don't, you may run into very strange graphics issues, poor performance, or crashes!

Check the Minimum System Requirements first. If you don't meet them, Second Life may not work. In particular, the graphics card MUST match up. Make sure you know what your graphics card is!

Get the latest drivers from either nVidia or ATI. Do NOT go to your computer's manufacturer (Dell, etc.) for updates! Do not use Windows Update to updated your graphics drivers; they will not work with Second Life. Laptop users may need additional steps to use SL.

Once you've tried these steps, you may walk through the specific error you're having with the Technical Support FAQs.