Second Life Forums Archive - My shadow has caught me, help with viewer please :)

Cat Gisel

Registered User

Join date: 28 Nov 2006

Posts: 33

02-13-2008 13:31

Howdy, I am new to the forums but was directed here by a few people. Please forgive me if this is the wrong place to post this issue.

I have SL running on and IBM ThinkPad. It's all I have, so feel free to tell me I need a new computer. I won't be shopping for another year

Anyway, 3 days or so ago, I noticed that when I went into appearance mode I turned black. When I came out of appearance my clothes and everything else went black too. This has remained since then, and anything that is not a prim is black. (Skin, clothes, etc.). *NOTE* "Prims" look fine, and have never appeared out of the ordinary expect fot the triangles (see below). Also, when I do go into appearance mode all the windows look striped and or blank. The skin window appears normal but everything else IN the window is odd. The rest of SL as far as I have checked is working ok.

I have also done each of the following at least once. Note that I am not a computer geek so if these aren't listed right please forgive me for that too. I was been given directions and did my best to follow them implicitly

Here they are, in no particular order:

Try a different skin.

Try different clothes.

Delete Cache and Restart.

Delete the cache folder in C:\Documents and Settings\Second Life\

Reinstall SL.

Reinstall Windlight

Uninstall and Reinstall either of the above.

Uninstall and delete all the remaining folders and files I could find and Reinstall either of the above.

Turn off all video settings.

Turn ON all video settings.

Muss with different combinations of the aforementioned video settings.

Reset video settings to their factory defaults.

Upgrade to latest video drivers.

Uninstall and reinstall video card drivers (it says it's an ATI Radeon X 1400).

Uninstall and reinstall OLDER video drivers (the new ones caused some interesting triangles, but that went away when I changed and turned off setting I can't remember).

Ran PC Doctor (it says everything is ok).

Ran SL on a DIFFERENT computer with a different video card and all that. No change

Thanks for any help anyone can provide. I am sure this is a PICNIC
(Problem In Chair, Not In Computer)

Hehe.

(Added, thanks to Harrie I was able to add this!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16432267@N00/2263844124/

(it's a pic of what I am seeing, and others too) Note that I am wearing a knee length skirt in this picture. This is not Windlight, though it looks the same in either viewer.

Nika Talaj

now you see her ...

Join date: 2 Jan 2007

Posts: 5,449

02-13-2008 13:42

Hi, Cat, welcome to the forums! SL is one of the few products where the problem most often is not in the chair

Your avatar may have gotten messed up during a crash or something ... it sometimes helps to start over from a new default one. Fortunately, this is easy. First make sure you have a copy of your shape, and you know the name of it, your skin, and your eyes. Take off all attachments and clothes.

Then bring up the Client menu (on your top toolbar - if you don't see toolbar choices for "Client" and "Server", press ctrl-alt-shift-d). Then choose Client > Character > Character Tests > Test male (or female). Now relog. You should have a default avatar. Put on your shape, skin, eyes and everything else, and you should look exactly as you used to.
.

Nika Talaj

now you see her ...

Join date: 2 Jan 2007

Posts: 5,449

02-13-2008 13:45

Oh, and one other thing: are you using dual monitors? If so, that has been been known to cause black-this-and-that issues. Let us know if you are, and one of us will dig up the relevant thread(s).

Cat Gisel

Registered User

Join date: 28 Nov 2006

Posts: 33

02-13-2008 14:23

Wow that was fast, and thank you very much. I will try this when I am home. I actually WAS using a dual monitor for a while, and I have not tried the new avatar thing. It's nothing more than an embarrassment, and kinda funny actually. I found some avatars that are all prims covering me so it's been an adventure since that's something I don't normally do. Curious as I recall, they have skins that DID seem to work for a moment or two.. I will try

Kitty Barnett

Registered User

Join date: 10 May 2006

Posts: 5,586

02-13-2008 15:31

From: Kitty Barnett

* If they have multiple monitors:
a) rebake is an obvious suggestion, but it's usually only a temporary fix
b) clear cache, close SL, open it again and drag SL over to the *other* monitor before logging on (in most cases seems to be a semi-permanent solution, in some cases after being "normal" again, people can drag it back over to the normal monitor without problem)
c) if neither two works (seems to be rare), the only real solution would be to disable multi-monitor altogether

* If they don't have multiple monitors:
a) a rebake usually fixes it
b) or a clear cache and a relog and a rebake will do the trick

In both cases you have a chance to run into the bug where your skin/baked textures will actually be "broken" for some odd reason and then there's the whole steps from:

/327/45/227602/1.html#post1786752

(That's actually a general "fix bad skins or bad baked textures" solution. If you have someone who's naked but still wearing clothes, or someone who stays naked/topless/pantless no matter what they wear those steps will fix it for them as well. The hardest part is usually convincing them to do something that seems redundant and not skip out on a step )

...

Oryx Tempel

Registered User

Join date: 8 Nov 2006

Posts: 7,663

02-13-2008 16:04

Either that, or join the SL Leper Colony.

Seriously, if you've tried it on a completely different computer, at least we know it's not your system; it's SL being funky. I guess I was sort of confused as to whether it IS Windlight or is NOT Windlight... I feel like I read two different things there and just wanted to double check...?

_____________________

Roxi Bingyi

SL Music Association

Join date: 25 May 2007

Posts: 27

02-13-2008 17:17

I think this is the same issue I had. Everytime I downloaded a new upgrade, I was full of shadows. Just me, not objects and facelights didn't help.

When a new version is downloaded, it sets your graphics to what it thinks your computer can handle. This simple tweak was all I needed to do:

Edt, Pref, graphics, It's probably on the low end of the slide bar. Move it up to mid.
For me, it did not lag my performance, just got rid of the shadows.

Hope that helps!

_____________________

Kira Cuddihy

Registered User

Join date: 29 Nov 2006

Posts: 1,375

02-13-2008 19:13

This may help you.

/111/40/180785/1.html

_____________________

Cat Gisel

Registered User

Join date: 28 Nov 2006

Posts: 33

I made some progress thanks to you all

02-14-2008 05:48

I did what Nika suggested and it worked sorta! Every time I change (non prim) clothes I go all black again. BUT, for now, it's workable, I just have to reset the shape and skin to something else and then back again, or wear the same outfit for days (ugh). I refuse to let SL frustrate me. Now I can try what the rest have suggested. I got caught up because it snowed last night, whee!! Thank you all so much for your help.

--Cat/hugmonster

Cat Gisel

Registered User

Join date: 28 Nov 2006

Posts: 33

02-14-2008 06:40

From: Kitty Barnett

...

Thank you also Kitty. As you can see, I tried all the other options besides the dual monitor thing. I disconnected it however, and didn't see a change. I HAVE been crashing a lot, and my friend in NL says I have something called "Packet loss" that's at a terrible level in her opinion. While that may not fix it, it makes sense to me that all these crashes would cause something to get lost.

Aleister DaSilva

insert witty phrase here

Join date: 19 May 2005

Posts: 168

02-14-2008 16:49

If I remember correctly from when I had the same bug, it stemmed from NOT running SL on your primary monitor

_____________________

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

My shadow has caught me, help with viewer please :)
Cat Gisel Registered User Join date: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 33	02-13-2008 13:31 Howdy, I am new to the forums but was directed here by a few people. Please forgive me if this is the wrong place to post this issue. I have SL running on and IBM ThinkPad. It's all I have, so feel free to tell me I need a new computer. I won't be shopping for another year Anyway, 3 days or so ago, I noticed that when I went into appearance mode I turned black. When I came out of appearance my clothes and everything else went black too. This has remained since then, and anything that is not a prim is black. (Skin, clothes, etc.). NOTE "Prims" look fine, and have never appeared out of the ordinary expect fot the triangles (see below). Also, when I do go into appearance mode all the windows look striped and or blank. The skin window appears normal but everything else IN the window is odd. The rest of SL as far as I have checked is working ok. I have also done each of the following at least once. Note that I am not a computer geek so if these aren't listed right please forgive me for that too. I was been given directions and did my best to follow them implicitly Here they are, in no particular order: Try a different skin. Try different clothes. Delete Cache and Restart. Delete the cache folder in C:\Documents and Settings\Second Life\ Reinstall SL. Reinstall Windlight Uninstall and Reinstall either of the above. Uninstall and delete all the remaining folders and files I could find and Reinstall either of the above. Turn off all video settings. Turn ON all video settings. Muss with different combinations of the aforementioned video settings. Reset video settings to their factory defaults. Upgrade to latest video drivers. Uninstall and reinstall video card drivers (it says it's an ATI Radeon X 1400). Uninstall and reinstall OLDER video drivers (the new ones caused some interesting triangles, but that went away when I changed and turned off setting I can't remember). Ran PC Doctor (it says everything is ok). Ran SL on a DIFFERENT computer with a different video card and all that. No change Thanks for any help anyone can provide. I am sure this is a PICNIC (Problem In Chair, Not In Computer) Hehe. (Added, thanks to Harrie I was able to add this! http://www.flickr.com/photos/16432267@N00/2263844124/ (it's a pic of what I am seeing, and others too) Note that I am wearing a knee length skirt in this picture. This is not Windlight, though it looks the same in either viewer.
Nika Talaj now you see her ... Join date: 2 Jan 2007 Posts: 5,449	02-13-2008 13:42 Hi, Cat, welcome to the forums! SL is one of the few products where the problem most often is not in the chair Your avatar may have gotten messed up during a crash or something ... it sometimes helps to start over from a new default one. Fortunately, this is easy. First make sure you have a copy of your shape, and you know the name of it, your skin, and your eyes. Take off all attachments and clothes. Then bring up the Client menu (on your top toolbar - if you don't see toolbar choices for "Client" and "Server", press ctrl-alt-shift-d). Then choose Client > Character > Character Tests > Test male (or female). Now relog. You should have a default avatar. Put on your shape, skin, eyes and everything else, and you should look exactly as you used to. .
Nika Talaj now you see her ... Join date: 2 Jan 2007 Posts: 5,449	02-13-2008 13:45 Oh, and one other thing: are you using dual monitors? If so, that has been been known to cause black-this-and-that issues. Let us know if you are, and one of us will dig up the relevant thread(s).
Cat Gisel Registered User Join date: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 33	02-13-2008 14:23 Wow that was fast, and thank you very much. I will try this when I am home. I actually WAS using a dual monitor for a while, and I have not tried the new avatar thing. It's nothing more than an embarrassment, and kinda funny actually. I found some avatars that are all prims covering me so it's been an adventure since that's something I don't normally do. Curious as I recall, they have skins that DID seem to work for a moment or two.. I will try
Kitty Barnett Registered User Join date: 10 May 2006 Posts: 5,586	02-13-2008 15:31 From: Kitty Barnett * If they have multiple monitors: a) rebake is an obvious suggestion, but it's usually only a temporary fix b) clear cache, close SL, open it again and drag SL over to the other monitor before logging on (in most cases seems to be a semi-permanent solution, in some cases after being "normal" again, people can drag it back over to the normal monitor without problem) c) if neither two works (seems to be rare), the only real solution would be to disable multi-monitor altogether * If they don't have multiple monitors: a) a rebake usually fixes it b) or a clear cache and a relog and a rebake will do the trick In both cases you have a chance to run into the bug where your skin/baked textures will actually be "broken" for some odd reason and then there's the whole steps from: /327/45/227602/1.html#post1786752 (That's actually a general "fix bad skins or bad baked textures" solution. If you have someone who's naked but still wearing clothes, or someone who stays naked/topless/pantless no matter what they wear those steps will fix it for them as well. The hardest part is usually convincing them to do something that seems redundant and not skip out on a step ) ...
Oryx Tempel Registered User Join date: 8 Nov 2006 Posts: 7,663	02-13-2008 16:04 Either that, or join the SL Leper Colony. Seriously, if you've tried it on a completely different computer, at least we know it's not your system; it's SL being funky. I guess I was sort of confused as to whether it IS Windlight or is NOT Windlight... I feel like I read two different things there and just wanted to double check...? _____________________
Roxi Bingyi SL Music Association Join date: 25 May 2007 Posts: 27	02-13-2008 17:17 I think this is the same issue I had. Everytime I downloaded a new upgrade, I was full of shadows. Just me, not objects and facelights didn't help. When a new version is downloaded, it sets your graphics to what it thinks your computer can handle. This simple tweak was all I needed to do: Edt, Pref, graphics, It's probably on the low end of the slide bar. Move it up to mid. For me, it did not lag my performance, just got rid of the shadows. Hope that helps! _____________________
Kira Cuddihy Registered User Join date: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 1,375	02-13-2008 19:13 This may help you. /111/40/180785/1.html _____________________
Cat Gisel Registered User Join date: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 33	I made some progress thanks to you all 02-14-2008 05:48 I did what Nika suggested and it worked sorta! Every time I change (non prim) clothes I go all black again. BUT, for now, it's workable, I just have to reset the shape and skin to something else and then back again, or wear the same outfit for days (ugh). I refuse to let SL frustrate me. Now I can try what the rest have suggested. I got caught up because it snowed last night, whee!! Thank you all so much for your help. --Cat/hugmonster
Cat Gisel Registered User Join date: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 33	02-14-2008 06:40 From: Kitty Barnett ... Thank you also Kitty. As you can see, I tried all the other options besides the dual monitor thing. I disconnected it however, and didn't see a change. I HAVE been crashing a lot, and my friend in NL says I have something called "Packet loss" that's at a terrible level in her opinion. While that may not fix it, it makes sense to me that all these crashes would cause something to get lost.
Aleister DaSilva insert witty phrase here Join date: 19 May 2005 Posts: 168	02-14-2008 16:49 If I remember correctly from when I had the same bug, it stemmed from NOT running SL on your primary monitor _____________________ Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

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My shadow has caught me, help with viewer please :)