Second Life Kills My Internet connection :(

Okay, this is really, REALLY, ticking me off. Whenever I access Second Life, I can move around normally and do regular things for maybe 5 minutes, but then the map turns red and i can only rotate in place. So I log off, then log back in, and says that it cant find the server. I go on Internet Explorer, and I get "Page Not Found". So, to get my internet connection back, I had to unplug my modem, and then plug it back in, in orger to get an internet connection.

Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

Dell DIMENSION DIM2400
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80 GHz
2.79 GHz, 256 MB RAM

What kind of internet service do you have?

The 256 megs is small.

I have DSL.
My friend has 256 megs ram and the game works nicley.

Call your ISP, ask what the deal is. All services cap upload/download, some even have bandwidth limits.

Also what kinda graphics card do you have?

256mb is small...it may run, but expect alot of lag because of it. Personally I think 512mb is too small (though I run alot of memory intensive programs)..but another 256mb ram stick shouldn't cost more than $20-$30 or so. http://www.newegg.com

Well, my bandwidth limit is around 600 kbps i think, and I have an Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV

I'd make a guess that maybe your usb port isn't getting enough power... I've seen that kind of thing when the PC is being used to the limits and the usb's get limited by the PC.
Like SuezanneC said, that 256MB is small and can end up with you having to use the cache more often than not... that'll add to the "stress" your PC can be under.

On the other hand, it could be that the modem drivers are out of date, (but I've never heard of them doing that before) maybe the modem can't handle the constant use, (had one like that... was fine for surfing, but online games? Forget it) possibly something else trying to use the connection causing a conflict... one reason for knowing the type and speed of connection.

Oh, and do you use AOL? If so, the browser can sometimes kill the connection itself with certain brands of PC. (that's why I recently removed the browser and just use the router connection... no more sudden disconnects from that cause)


All these are guesses... what I would check is in the Device Manager to see if the PC is allowed to turn the USB ports off to conserve power... that's something you can check quick and easily and could well be the cause. (once it's off, the unplug or reboot options are often the only way to get the connection back)

1-My friend has 256MB and SL runs fine on his computer.

2-No, no, NO. I hate AOL.

3-And, how would I do that?

Ouch, well some intel cards run SL ok, but most don't (and that one is probably gonna be in alot of pain) , if you do get past the strange connection issue your going to have alot of lag.
What kinda graphics does your friend have?

Uping your ram and getting a graphic card will make a big difference. If you can find a friend that is good with computer stuff, it doesn't take much to install. (Certainly don't pay someone, its too easy, and often ya get charged way to much to for it. )

Suggest atleast another 256mb(total 512) of ram and Nvidia GeForce Card of some kind (SL sometimes has problems with ATI).

If your a smart shopper probably cost ya $60.00 or less including shipping.

Edit: Your particular desktop model has 3 slots for PCI card (if ya do want to get an upgrade make sure the graphics card fits that kinda slot)

It also has 2 slots for memory modules, either it has two 128 cards or it has 1 256 card.
Your model takes DDR or DDR2 ram. Just info ya might need.

My friend has the same specs, just a different modem and router.

Motorola SB4200
SURFboard
Cable Modem

Intel
InBuisiness
5-Port Hub

I looked up your router, seems some people have problems with connections but got a fix by downloading the latest drivers.

Visit the manufacturers website and download the latest firmware, hopefully it will fix your problem.


edit: direct link http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/SB4200/downloads/v2.4.5_WHQL_Drivers.exe

Well, truthfully, he may think it runs fine, but you'd be amazed. As I have said many times, I had 512 MB when I first began, and I upgraded to 1.5 GB about 6 months ago (actually for Photoshop performance reasons, not considering what it would do for my SL), and was utterly shocked at how much faster SL was immediately after adding the RAM.

P2

I wish I could help you better but I'm no technical wiz.

I'm confused, you said you have DSL, and later mentioned a Surfboard 4200 cable modem.

Is the Surfboard your's or your friends?

Well... win XP it would be press the windows and pause keys together, then in the new window, click the hardware tab, then the device manager button... Scroll down to the USB controller, open the tab, then richt-click each of the USB root entries and click preoperties...
On the new window, click the power management tab and see if there's a tick in the "allow the PC to turn this device off" box.
If so, remove the tick, click ok... and repeat for all the USB entries there. Once done, close the windows and off you go.

I just went through a similar issue.

I took my old US Robotics CMX (which was getting very warm, btw) modem in to the ISP, and they gave me a new Motorola Surfboard.

Problem solved, and I am one happy camper.

Ditto.

get more ram. about 2-3 GB more. throw out your 256MB stick.

I meant to suggest that. I took my Surfboard back to Roadrunner twice for a new one. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with it, I just wasn't satisfied with, well, Second Life incredible slowness. Both times they exchanged it instantly no questions asked.

It didn't solve the problem but it did eliminate one variable at no cost.

I do seem to recall hearing of similar problems in the forums here but our seach function is so crude you almost need to be getting paid to make it worthwhile to look up a problem that's not yours.

the D845 series boards use the Intel "Extreme" Graphics Accelerators. I would -strongly- recommend you get an upgrade.

BTW, you should have an AGP port on that board. Of course, the description is a little vague, so it is possible you do not. There were several boards in that series. I myself own an Intel D845GEBV2. I would recommend that you purchase at least an Nvidia 6200 series AGP card, or higher. Your board does not support PCI-Express.

On the flip side of things your board should support dual-channel memory. So, if you are going to do an upgrade, match your memory size and speed. If you are currently using slot 1 as a 256MB module, put the matching module (dosent have to be same brand, but same speed, timings, etc) in slot 3. Your board should support PC2100-3200 speed DDR memory modules. If you need help figuring out which speed of RAM you have, there are several programs to do this, or you can check your CMOS settings at boot.

I hope this is helpful. If you need any additional help, I worked professionally with this series of boards for nearly 2 years.

Its not a hardware problem or an ISP problem. SL tends to scroo your DSL occasionally, requiring the router/modem to be reset. I experience it quite often when opening the map and the bandwidth peaks and it disconnects.

In addition to the recommendations above, such as upgrading your router's firmware and possibly exchanging your DSL modem, keep an eye on the sim stats. Do this by clicking CONTROL+ALT+1 and click CONTROL+SHIFT+M to close the minimap. The section to keep an eye on is packet loss. Many ISPs get away with having connections with packet loss since most people just use a web browser, which when it loses a packet, it just asks for another, so the end user doesn't notice. SL requires a fairly persistent connection, so if it drops packets, the results can be "pink map" as we call it. If you do see the packet loss meter rise above 0% more than occasionally - and anything above 10% - call your ISP and let them know you're suffering from packet loss. They should fix it up.

Regards,

-Flip

Have you tried lowering the SL bandwith throttle so that SL doesn't take up all of your available connection?

Preferences > Network ... take it down to about 200 and see if that makes any difference, then if it does solve the problem, increase it slowly until you start getting problems - then take it back down a bit.

Lewis

Ugh. This is the card in my craptastic work computer, and it can barely run SL even with all settings at minimum. Getting a decent vid card may make a massive difference, and they are not that expensive. I got an ATI 9700 for $50CAD used. It's a couple of years old, but runs SL quite well with most settings maxed.

Alright, guys, and thanks. Second Life works now! I',m so happy, now I don't have to go over my friend's to play

Any idea what made it start working?

I also have 256 memory, and I'm saving all this for reading carefully later.

I also have all my settings real low. This may be irrelevant to everything here, but I am assuming you have your draw distance down to 64 and whatnot?

coco