Avatar Problem

I sent in a bug report on this, but was hoping someone here might have some insight into the problems I am having with my Avatar.

I entered the beta a week ago, so I am still kind of new to all this. Here’s what I did that lead up to the problem (I believe) and how it is affecting my avatar.

When I first started beta I downloaded and install the 0.5.0 client. I logged in and did all my newbie stuff just fine. I set up my Avatar and played for a bit, then had to log for the night. The next day, I loaded in fine, took the beginning building class. I set up the default newbie cabin, built some furniture, uploaded a texture, and everything went just fine.

just loaded the old version to play online that night. Again, everything was working fine.

The next day I tried installing again. Still getting the error, so I uninstalled the old version – using the Uninstall that came with the game. This is where I think the problem occurred. It deleted everything. I STILL got the can’t upgrade with the old version running. So in order to play again, I installed the old 0.5.0 version. I logged in, reset up my avatar, which I expected, played around with my house a little bit, then logged for the night.

The next day, I logged in and my Avatar was blank gray with short default hair. I thought it was because I had not upgraded, so logged out to puzzle this over again. After getting the error and rebooting a few more times and checking the process I figured out the problem. I had put the 0.5.1 upgrade in a folder named “Second Life” in my downloads folder. It thought the folder was an old version of the game /sigh. Renamed the folder and the 0.5.1 installed just fine.

I logged in again to a blank avatar and spent the next hour recreating it again. I then went to work on my house and tried uploading a texture. I was charged, but all that came up was a foggy “smoke” like texture. I tried again thinking maybe the texture was too big. Same problem. I talked to a couple people in game and they couldn’t tell anything I was doing wrong. I tried again using a different file format and still got the same thing. I tried 6 or 7 other graphics, and they were doing the same thing. I logged out and logged back in to see if that would clear it up. When I came back, my Avatar was blank again. I deleted the old avatar files from my inventory and created all new ones from the appearance menu. I also did a “save as” on them then copied them all into a separate file for back up. I figured I could at least drag and drop them or select wear from the backups when I logged on each time. I logged out and back and again, blank avatar and none of the back ups were usable. I can’t drag and drop them, and when I choose “wear” from the right-click menu it does not show up on the avatar nor does it turn to “worn” status.

Today I uploaded and installed 0.6.0 and logged on. I am continuing to have a blank avatar – though now it’s all white with the words “missing texture” all over it.

Here’s the list of the problems that occurred at the same time as the avatar messing up, but some I didn’t find until I tried to use them a day or two later. All worked fine before I did the uninstall and reinstall.

1. Avatar looses all settings when I quit. Can’t use backups either.

2. Can’t upload textures or sounds. For textures all I get is a texture missing graphic.

3. Can’t use any (forgot the name) Map markers to teleport or fly to them. I can create new ones, but they won’t set up a marker, nor can I fly/teleport to them, though the option comes up. I can’t teleport home either from selecting my land “card” or from the menu.

These problems have been constant through versions 0.5.0, 0.5.1 and 0.6.0 since I did the uninstall and reinstall. I am guess that the first uninstall removed some items that were not included in the reinstalls – maybe items I received on the starting island.

At this point I am afraid to fly far because I may get lost and can’t get back home. I CAN create and build stuff on my property, but night before last everything I did poofed. The following night I made sure to copy everything into my inventory and when I logged back on it was all there and fine. It’s difficult to create anything unique without being able to upload textures. I am learning a lot though, so I don’t feel the time is totally wasted. I’m just kind of embarrassed to be running around in a missing texture avatar, but spending an hour recreating my look every time I log in is just a waste of effort at the moment.

So, any ideas on how to fix this? Since reinstalling hasn’t worked, I am thinking it might take wiping the account and starting over from scratch for whatever it is that happens on either first time load or on newbie island.

Thanks for any help!

wow... this is a new one to me. Just out of curiosity, when you finish customizing your avatar, do you/have you ever hit the make outfit button? it sounds like your inventory is doing ok(minus the texutres), and if that is so, you can save all your avatar settings into a folder which you can drag on to your av to instanlty change to those settings. It is a bandaid(if you haven't been doing it, i am not sure what they tell you on prelude) that will at least make it so that you don't have to spend the time making your avatar over and over again.

Opps, thought I said that above. Yes, I deleted all my non-working files from my inventory and chose all the create new skin, create new hair, etc. Then copied all the new ones to a folder as backups. When I log back in the avatar is still missing all the settings, and the backups I created won't work - can't wear them at all, they do nothing.

Thanks for the idea though

Just fyi, Kolli's problem has been fixed - she did a fresh install of the latest version, and her problems went away.

ave

Yes, After talking with David, he suggested I do a clean install - not just an uninstall, then reinstall like I did before. I backed up the previous install, then installed the version 0.6.0 into a new directory.

I still can't use old mapmarkers, but I can now create new ones and use ones people give me. My avatar is also holding it's settings, though all the default skins and clothing don't work anymore. And I was able to upload and use a texture.

Thanks again David for the help!