Crashing every 60 seconds after log on

System Details:
CPU: Intel P4 3.0GHz
Ram: 2Gb
Video: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (128Mb)
OS: XP Service Pack 2


Hi,

Lately I've been encountering more crashes since the last update (6.4), but they have only occurred twice a night; the system freezes and produces an 'ATI VPU' error in the background. Last night (SaturdayApril 30th) I only had one crash in 4 hours of playtime - the same 'ATI VPU error'.

This afternoon when I logged on, however, I walked into a corner of a friends house and crashed repeating the typical 'ATI VPU Error'. This happened repeatedly until my friend suggested I update my video drivers (I use an ATI 9800 Pro) and try reinstalling SL. I did both and the problem seemed to get worse. I even tried the Omega Drivers, but they had no effect.

Now when I log on I no longer get an 'ATI VPU error'. Instead SL freezes and the SL Windows Console (which runs in the background) produces the following errors:

WARNING: sendmessage - trying to send AgentUpdate on unknown circuit 69.25.104...etc(my isp i presume)

WARNING: Setting subimage on image without GL texture.

What happened between last night and this afternoon that could make the game virtually 'unplayable'?

Have you disabled shadows?

Cloud,

I've had a hellish couple of days myself. I have no idea whether this will help you or not, but if you want to punt:

- do a fresh install of the SL client,

- turn off shadows before you go in.

I've been freeze-free ever since I turned off shadows a few hours ago. But I'd had them on for months, and yet, the past couple of days, they've apparently been killing me.

Other than that, I got nothin'. Somebody who understands video hardware more than I (translation: who understands it at all) may come along and post something genuinely useful. Until then, hope this helps

== danny d.

Edit: Oops...if Catherine made the same suggestion, I feel better

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions, but I always have shadows disabled. It's just so odd that it had been working with no problems - then boom. I've tried everything, but even a fresh Windows install produces the same problems

Cloud, A few friends also had many problems with crashing lately. Most were related to laptop computers, but you may wish to check your motherboard drivers as well, especially if you have the VIA chipset. After upgrading to the proper ones, their computers stopped crashing constantly. Check the SL website for more info

Here is the URL to get started: http://secondlife.com/downloads/drivers.php

I am having the exact same problem. I cannot log into the game for more 30 seconds without crashing. I have tried a rollback, disable shadows, new ATI drivers a fresh windows install and a fresh SL install.

I've tested it on other games and my system seems fine leading me to believe there is something seriously amok with SL.

It may be that the ATI driver's incorrectly detecting a lockup, and shutting SL down with that error. (In which case, it mistakenly thinks SL's crashed when it hasn't, and crashes it as a result!)

Try turning off "VPU Recovery" in the ATI drivers (Control Panel, under Display, then Settings, then Advanced).