Are my problems caused by my client or computer

I am having a few problems, particularly with moving around, including:

Problem nr 1. I get stuck. I fall into a pool or behind some rocks. I fly, but I can't go up. The only way out is to teleport.

Problem nr 2: I fell into a deep deep hole yesterday. When I landed, I could not teleport anywhere, I just got a message to log off, back on and try again. This solved the problem.

Problem nr 3: When I teleport, I often appear far above the ground, falling from a dizzying height, but not always. Is this specific to the place I teleported to, or something else?

Problem nr 4: Sometimes I walk into the ground, or into the air. When this happens, it usually (always?) appears as if the SL world has lost track of where I am, due to a temporary network glitch?

On all of these, do you think it is me (Do I need to learn a skill in navigating), is it my computer/client (I use a beta test version of the software as I don't have windows, nor do I care to acquire windows), or is this just a quirk of the world that everybody gets used to.

I am also experiencing crashes and lag. I've started experimenting with "client-side" lag optimization settings, but I think my hardware is keeping up, my network connection is too slow.

indeed most problems could be caused by your network connect, are you wireless ?

problem 3 depends on your hight when starting the teleport, and if the parcel you tp to has set a landing-point yes or no.

problem 4 is most common when crossing a sim border, but could be your network too


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To fly up, use the F key or the Home key. There's also an on-screen controller you can use, but that's not so great. Sounds like you're too high, though. After around 200 meters, you can't fly up any more without a flight assist. I recomend you get the free version of the Mystitool. Search places for 'Mystical Cookie' and go there to get it. It's a wonderful tool. Flight assist, radar, and tons more. Maybe eventually spring for the (Still cheap) full version, it's the best investment I've ever made.


Not quite sure here. If you got a 'You've been logged out of Second Life' message with a button that says 'Quit' and one that says 'Continue', then you've lost your connection to Second Life. This is usually a network or ISP problem, occasionally it's a firewall turning on and blocking that connection for some reason.

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe if you're higher before you teleport than after, you'll stay at that height, if going by the map. If from a landmark the same may still occasionally apply, and being offered a TP that's never happened to me, so meh.


This is usually from crossing a SIM border. If you look up in the top bar, it has sim name and coordinates (X,Y,Z. X and Y range from 0-256, Z can go from 0-basically anything). If you look at the map, each named square is an individual SIM. When you cross SIM borders, you're actually being handed off to another location on the network, and it usually takes a split second for it to register, causing the 'floating'. Sometimes it'll take longer, and on bad days will just say the handler timed out and set you back in the first SIM.

What client EXACTLY are you using, if I may ask?

SL can be laggy..it's just how it is, due to the amount of downloading constantly going on. A faster connecction helps, but sometimes it's just SL being wonky. Crashes, same thing. Sometimes it's your computer disagreeing with SL, sometimes it's just a problem with SL. If you're using a Beta viewer, however, then it's not as stable as a full release viewer, and is more likely to crash.

Also, check out this page:
http://secondlife.com/support/downloads.php

It has the latest released 'stable' client, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It sounds like you're probably Linux, since that's the only pure beta one. But added this bit on just in case you're a mac user ^-^

Good luck, and hope you stick around for a while!

ETA:: I wrote this as if for someone brand new to SL, not almost 3 months old... for some reason I thought you'd said that you were. Oh well, it's useful for more people now ^-^

Hope I didn't come off as condescending.

Sounds as if that's the problem in general: network slow and maybe a little flaky. Assuming there's nothing to be done to improve the network, you might try tweaking the viewer's network bandwidth slider downwards. SL doesn't deal particularly well with dropped packets, and much of the symptoms sound like they could be caused by that.

The "rubber banding" effect--just continuing to glide for a while in the direction you started moving--is very common at sim crossings (where the receiving sim hasn't yet picked up the handoff, so there's no position update to the viewer), or where the network is just preventing those updates from getting to the viewer reliably.

(Not sure which "beta test viewer" being used here. If it happens to be the Linux client from LL--a *lot* of people are using it, myself included. The most common crash-maker there is the OpenGL driver from the graphics card manufacturer; it's generally a very good idea to have those as up-to-date as possible.)

Oh, the teleporting thing: If you teleport using the Map, one often arrives at the height of the point of origin. I don't know why, but sometimes the Map fills in the correct destination altitude, sometimes it uses "2", and often it just leaves it unchanged. So, teleporting from skybuilds I've learned to enter a "0" for the destination Z, which generally gets me to ground level.

Hi Johan,

No.1 If you get stuck some place, try choosing a sit target (could be any prim or the ground) just outside of where you are stuck. That should get you out.

No. 2 Sounds like a lost connection, maybe your connection or could be SL

No.3 I think that's an SL glitch. It happens when your destination is at a much lower altitude than your leaving point.

No.4 That happens when you cross from one sim to another. If it happens all the time it may indicate a poor or slow connection at your end.

So..I don't think it is you, but I'm guessing you may have a slow Internet connection.

First off thank you all for the help full responses.

Despite my 3-month old birth date, I had viewer/client problems preventing me from signing on, so I'm really brand new to SL!

I will consider the difference-in-Z-between-source-and-destinations, though I thought I saw this even when just TP-ing from one spot to another on the same piece of land.



Thank you, I will do that!




A Solaris client, essentially a re-compile/patch/hack of the Linux client. It is a dirty hack according to all reports, and difficult to get to compile. Maybe there's a better port out there somewhere... I'll try some in-game searching.



I will do. I have a few ideas which I assumed might be original objects that I could make and sell, but so far I've pretty much found that other people already thought of it.



See above - I am new!



More like knowledgeable.

My experience today has been much better. I do think my lag is time-of-day related, suggesting that I am contending with a congested network.

I have discovered the stats panel and will start to compare what I see during problem times with other times to see if there is a pattern.