Game Unplayable Due to Getting "Frozen" Frequently

Since the upgrade, I tend to get "frozen" at random times. I might be working on a build or chatting or whatever - it doesn't seem to matter. If I'm chatting, the other person might appear to be typing away, but I don't see the text. If I type and hit enter - I don't see the text either. My av cannot move, but sometimes can rotate in place. I can access all the offscreen things - inventory, IM etc. and I hear the sound loops that were running, I just can't do anything inside the "world" and I get no new visuals or sounds. The only solution is to login and logout, but this is happening to me a couple of times an hour and making the game unplayable.

Is anyone else having this problem?

It sounds like you're getting disconnected, the behaviour you describe is consistent with an dsl line or connection dropping out.

( might be worth checking your cables if it's happening very often, or even contacting your line provider to get them to check the line, if you're using Airport it could be that dropping out too )

It could be a firewall problem. What sort of firewall are you running? (This includes hardware routers.)

Hmmm. I can get/send emails and surf while things are "frozen" so it sounds like I am losing the connection to the SL server somehow and not the whole Net connection. I have been getting logged out on teleports - but it tells me when it does that. I'm running cable through a Belkin Router, which I have to check the software for to see what kind of firewall it is running. Maybe the timing is just coincidence. (Fingers crossed.)

Thanks!

Sometimes, you pick up and drop connection...
It doesn't effect all things the same, some chat programs are more sensitive than others. Browsing even more so is less affected by this. But with SL you have a program that is constantly sending lots of information back and forth and so a milisecond makes a big difference.

hehe don't you just love saying that ? I'm sure if I said it I'd be flamed ! ( 'scuse the pun )

you might try turning down the "bandwidth" preference by 50/100/150 (sorry, can't remember exact name of pref, but it's something like that - a throttle for your real-world connection speed).

try it in increments and see what gives you max workable speed... just 'cuz you can get max 384 on that cable modem, don't mean you should leave sl set to draw at max - can lead to choke-outs/stalls like you're getting. hope that helps!

I'll have to look at the bandwidth setting. I have a 5 Mbps down/348 Kbps up. What should I set the bandwidth to be?

Thanks for all the answers, everyone. It's nice not feeling like I am struggling with this alone.

to see what's ideal for your situation... reduce it a notch to experiment; reduce it further if it doesn't help enough. there is a 'stats' menu item with a neato graph that gives specifics on your connection, amongst a lot of other technical stuff - might be able to glean your actual ideal setting from it. good luck!

I found the stats, but the problem is happening today, so I'll to wait until it comes back. Hopefully it was just a glitch. Thanks!

didn't quite follow that, 'glitch' getting online? maybe the system popped - that still happens, no matter how good you get the preferences set...

i think all along we've been assuming that this is 'packet loss'/firewall/other network probs; have you been watching the bars in the upper-right corner? (the red one's 'packet loss' - ideal is 'no red'.) if so, you should see improvement as you drop the max bandwidth. just keep notching it down 'till there's very little, if ever, red...

if you already have no red though, then you're likely in a very busy area - i developed the habit of watching the minimap constantly to see how much of the surrounding area had loaded up. if it hasn't all dl'ed to your sl app, then turning in place results in new requests for tiles, which will suddenly makes things a bit jumpier, until all the pieces have arrived.

also very useful to watch the minimap while flying somewhere, as you can easily outpace the tile downloads... helpful sometimes to just 'stop for the red light' and enjoy the scenary below, until the way ahead catches up.

good luck; have fun!!

I meant "glitch" as in something temporary, but I think I may have figured it out. The bad news is there wouldn't be a solution. We have somewhat unstable power here. I run my computer/monitor from a universal power supply to deal with the micro-outages (less than 1 second) that happen far too often. The power went out yesterday for several hours, and I happened to be on when it clicked over to the UPS. The computer stayed up (for a couple minutes until I could log out), but SL froze just as it did before. I'm wondering if SL is particularly sensitive to a disruption like that. One of the things I have been checking are the bars at upper right. Either they are frozen too, or I don't have an issue with that.

-that- can't be much fun...

read a few threads back that the kind of symptoms you're having can be also caused by having mac os x's "file vault" feature on... are you using that???

Nope, nothing top secret on my computer, so I don't use "File Vault".

Your SL experience is totally limited by the amount of resources you can provide....MORE MORE MORE is better. And don't even think about a laptop.

sexy lil' things. the 17" w/128vram ain't bad; once i'd worked out my prefs (and modified my own behavior - watching the minimap and making sure i didn't fly into areas that hadn't loaded yet), i had a great time...

but i don't think i want to see what it'd be like with less, lol... crowd scenes, lots of effects going on, 4fps, roundabouts...

Forgive me if I'm asking the obvious, but are your modem and network devices also plugged into your UPS?

Morgana, this sounds exactly like what is happening to me. See this thread for the solution that worked here. Well, temporarily anyway. They really need to fix this.

/111/7f/56226/1.html

My first thought was - "Of course!" My second thought was - "Maybe I should check just what I did with the more than dozen cords around my desk last time I rearranged it all." Duh - thanks!

Cienna - That could very well be happening to me. I am both building a house and sorting through what seems like a thousand freebie textures I got here and there. I made sure my cache limit is as high as possible.

I don't have a PB, but my roommate joined SL last night, so I set up the second computer to run SL - 733 MHz (below spec), 1.5 GB RAM, 32 MB card. It is workable if you turn off everything fancy and drop most of the grahic settings to their minimums. It is not the same experience - avatars are dull, you have to fly by the minimap, etc., but it does work and it's nice to both be on at once sometimes.

I've found if you manually delete all files in the /cache directory before each session, you can usually extend the time you can stay connected.

Hope this helps.