Groups and Teleport don't work (ever)

One of my computers has serious trouble with SL,
even though the other computer works fine.

1. These symptoms all happen, all the time.
(NOT intermittent -- total failure, 100% reproducible.)

2. The problems are not new (at least a few months), and I've tried several
different versions of the client. Doesn't depend on the region or account, either.

(Of course, Clear Cache and other assorted vodoo doesn't help.)

3. The differences between the two machines are that:
(a) the problem computer runs Windows, but the good one is a Mac;
(b) the network configuration is different.

I strongly suspect my problem to be network related -- probably
something in a firewall. The PC is attached to the network via
"Internet Sharing" on the Mac. This all used to work, but then I replaced
the PC with a new one. Both old and new are XP. (SL on the Mac works fine.)
I suspect Windows firewall or something is configured incorrectly for SL.

THE PROBLEM is that Teleporting and Groups don't work:

* Cannot Teleport: disconnects me from SL ("You have been logged out..."

* Groups do not appear in the Communicate>Contacts>Group menu,
so I can't activate any group; also, I see no Notices or Group IMs.

Other than that, I haven't noticed anything terribly broken.

Anyone recognize this? For someone who knows how SL networking
works, I bet the answer is pretty obvious...some kinds of packets are
not getting through or something?

I don't recall ever seeing a question about this exact situation.

If it's a problem with Windows Firewall you should be able to test that simply by turning off Windows Firewall for long enough to try SL and see if it works.

Then if it works you can turn the firewall back on for security and and try to fix the problem with that.

You might need to open ports on your router. http://suezannecbaskerville.wordpress.com/second-life-firewalls-routers-ports-udp-tcp/ might help.

I tried that already of course, I guess I should have said.

I opened a bunch of ports on the router (which is the Mac), and things are working now.

I wonder why I never had to open them before in the last 2 years?

What's this one?

ipfw: 12190 Deny TCP 192.168.2.3:1203 209.51.162.162:23384 in via en0

Here is the KB article for the ports SL needs to have open.

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=4355

I had that problem. No TP, no groups.

Turns out I needed a new modem. My ISP replaced it no charge.

Would work for a while if I rebooted it, but it would eventually act up again later.

Bit torrent clients are hard on old modems.

Oh, and 12190 is an catch-all rule for OS X's ipfw, it's 'deny tcp from any to any' for ports that haven't had holes punched out.

What, my link wasn't good enough? http://suezannecbaskerville.wordpress.com/second-life-firewalls-routers-ports-udp-tcp/

has the information from the knowledge base article but you don't have to be logged in to see it.

Those KB links in that form tend to produce a page with the following message on it:


That's why I give a link that actually works to that same information.

He's already solved the problem, by the way.

Heh, I had to put a space in the word "selec t" to keep from getting the FORBIDDEN error.

To make a KB link you use this template:

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=

and add the 4 digit topic number to that as in this link to the KB article on how to link to KB articles:

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=5402

Sorry, was faked out by the on topic post.

I find it interesting that a problem with groups not showing up at all would be fixed by opening ports.

FD Spark said he wasn't seeing what he should be seeing when doing group searches. I wonder if he has a port problem as well.

i've had that problem with a friend's computer, though not certain about the 'groups' not showing. i've assumed it was a firewall issue as it's a pc he uses for when he works from home. i've found that, though it logs me out while teleporting, when i relog i've arrived in whatever sim i was teleporting too.
however
on top of this teleportofun is the phenomenon of sim-singularity... meaning i can't even WALK into the next sim... why? because there never is a 'next sim'. wherever i am, that's all there is to the world. all sim edges just drop off, sometimes creating an enormous cliff. it's made for some interesting photo ops. someday, i'll have to have someone walk from one sim over into the one i'm in, just to see how the visual processes...

Maybe related to "Capabilities", I'd guess.

That port, which I did not open, is just some parcel's audio stream.

(The TCP and UDP ports I opened that solved the problem were all the
ones mentioned in the KB articles, including the new Capabilities TCP port.)

Lately I have been traveling, visiting family for the holidays. I have not had my usual high speed access but have been using slower internet access. I fully expected SL to work very slowly, if at all. I have not been surprised.

One thing that I noticed is that while some things were not seriously affected, I could not always TP. Sometimes it worked, often selecting and trying to TP from in landmarks or from searches simply did not work. I would click on Teleport and nothing would happen. Other times it would appear to TP but just as I would "arrive", I would be logged off. Today I have broadband, and TP works OK.

So apparently teleporting is one thing that is particularly affected by network speed, while other features are not affected as much.

I did not try groups.

Mary