Disk cache help please

After using SL for a few days I am wondering in the disk cache is working.

I have it set to 1GB and as soon as I start it is full with 1 file called data.db2.x.22448 and a few other files.

When I visit the welcome area and move somwhere else but then go back to the welcome area it takes ages to reload everything. I thought that it would still have all the textures and graphics in this 1 GB cache file. I cleared the cache and tried again and its about the same time to load and area.

Why when I return to a recent place doesnt the cache make loading any quicker?

Any help please as my bandwidth usage is large.

Hey Rob, not just you. In my own usage (and these are just my observations), the cache has never persisted as much as I'd like. Sometimes, this is just because I go to a few other areas which are very memory-intensive (lots of textures which use the cache). Unfortunately, that means things will rez ("appear" slower than expected. There's been bugs in the past where the cache was really broken, but one way to test is: stay in the Welcome Area, let it load. Then, relog. Note the time it takes to appear, perhaps with a stopwatch or other objective means of time measurement. Then, do this again--but clear cache (PREFERENCES > NETWORK tab > CLEAR CACHE button) before relogging. Relog and compare it.

There are several things you can do to decrease bandwidth usage. One is to reduce draw distance, another is to go to NETWORK tab in the prefs again and turn down Maximum Bandwidth--it'll throttle the rate things load at.

Objects in Second Life are dynamically loaded and often subject to change, so you won't get things persisting in the cache for very long. (Wish we could "freeze" a scene in cache.) Our engineers will continue to find ways to make it better, tho.