Log in with curious 'spokelike' flickering - unable to connect

I am not the most technical of people but I will try my best to describe the problem: I have tried to log in on both the latest optional beta version and versions 1.18.0 1.18.2. In either case the log in attempt fails.

Most times I get a very fast flickering window in a spokelike pattern originating from the centre of the screen that extends to the edge of my SL window. This happens before or during the connection process until a freeze results. I am unable to press ctrl-alt-del to terminate the process and resort to rebooting my pc via on-off switch.


Steps I have taken to remedy this include

*Clearing caches/cleaning pc with tracks eraser, ace utilities etc.
*Making sure my latest graphics drivers are installed correctly
*All updates from MS have been installed
*Reinstallation of SL (optional and main viewers)
*Switching off cable connection and turning on after a recommended period of time including unplugging pc and modem.
*Check for spyware/viruses

Otherwise my pc and internet connection functions perfectly well. I am at the end of my little tether - please advise me if you know why this is happening and what I can do to fix this frustrating issue. PS I have sent any number of crash reports to LL during the last four hours just to be 'helpful'

Hmm doesn't sound familiar. Did you change anything at all about your computer before this started happening?

If not, is your graphics setup marginal enough that it has been running warm? It almost sounds like your graphics card/chip fried.

Do you play any other 3D games, or can you bring up any other program that attempts to render?

My graphics card is NV 6600 (512MB graphics memory) and is less than a year old. It has been working perfectly well and the working temperatures are cool. They are monitored and I am warned if they abnormal. It's definitely not a hardware issue. I can play HDTV movies without any problem on full screen. I have 2GB Ram - I have been running SL without this kind of problem for over 6 months.

I've tried to log in straight after starting up so for sure it's not a temperature problem. Thank you for your reply.

Happens with alts and no matter what sim you login to, also?

Yes I have tried three sims with same results - one where there was very little activity. I do not have an alt.

The only things I can recommend take a little time, regrettably.
1. Make an alt (actually it's pretty quick, just sign up a new account for your same email address). Alt's are handy for debugging problems if nothing else. It would be fascinating if your main AV had a variant of Sky's problem.

2. Try it from another computer. That'll completely eliminate any question of unforseen environment or software interactions.

I can certainly try the first recommendation, thank you Nika.

But for the second I have just one pc.

No luck I'm afraid

OK, that's actually good news. It indicates that the problem is some recently-emerged incompatibility between your setup and SL, and not a broken AV. Perhaps your virus checker or some other software (including drivers) did an upgrade in the background and became incompatible. But I don't have any good ideas on how to find it ...

Perhaps you could change the name of this thread to include your graphics card/version and see if that attracts the attention of people with similar setups? It sure sounds like it's that subsystem.

Sorry!

could you by any way/mean take a screencap? using digital cam/mobile phone etc? would be helpful.

Thank you for your replies. I have provided a screenshot of the display - this is taken at the last moments before an imminent crash. I allowed the display to deterioate even before attempting to log in. I could not make a thumbnail display but the link shows a near 1:1 image...

http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screen01ja7.jpg

Device Technology Raster Display
Resolution 1280 x 1024
Color Depth 32-bit
Color Planes 1
Font Resolution 96 dpi
Pixel Width / Height 36 / 36
Pixel Diagonal 51
Vertical Refresh Rate 60 Hz


OpenGL Properties:
Vendor NVIDIA Corporation
Renderer GeForce 6600/AGP/SSE/3DNOW!
Version 2.1.1
Shading Language Version 1.20 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
OpenGL DLL 5.1.2600.2180(xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-215
ICD Driver nvoglnt.dll (6.14.11.621
Multitexture Texture Units 4
Occlusion Query Counter Bits 32
Sub-Pixel Precision 12-bit
Max Viewport Size 4096 x 4096
Max Cube Map Texture Size 4096 x 4096
Max Rectangle Texture Size 4096 x 4096
Max 3D Texture Size 512 x 512 x 512
Max Anisotropy 16
Max Draw Buffers 4
Max General Register Combiners 8
Max Texture LOD Bias 15
Max Vertex Array Range Element Size 1048575

Draw Range Elements:
Max Index Count 4096
Max Vertex Count 4096

Extended Lighting Parameters:
Max Shininess 128
Max Spot Exponent 128

Framebuffer Object:
Max Color Attachments 8
Max Render Buffer Size 4096 x 4096

Imaging:
Max Color Matrix Stack Depth 2
Max Convolution Width / Height 11 / 11

Vertex Shader:
Max Uniform Vertex Components 1024
Max Varying Floats 32
Max Vertex Texture Image Units 4
Max Combined Texture Image Units 16

Fragment Shader:
Max Uniform Fragment Components 2048

Vertex Program:
Max Local Parameters 256
Max Environment Parameters 256
Max Program Matrices 8
Max Program Stack Depth 1
Max Vertex Attributes 16
Max Instructions 512
Max Native Instructions 512
Max Temporaries 48
Max Native Temporaries 48
Max Parameters 256
Max Native Parameters 256
Max Attributes 16
Max Native Attributes 16
Max Address Registers 2
Max Native Address Registers 2

Fragment Program:
Max Local Parameters 512
Max Environment Parameters 256
Max Texture Coordinates 8
Max Texture Image Units 16
Max Instructions 4096
Max Native Instructions 4096
Max Temporaries 32
Max Native Temporaries 32
Max Parameters 1024
Max Native Parameters 1024
Max Attributes 16
Max Native Attributes 16
Max Address Registers 1
Max Native Address Registers 1
Max ALU Instructions 4096
Max Native ALU Instructions 4096
Max Texture Instructions 4096
Max Native Texture Instructions 4096
Max Texture Indirections 4096
Max Native Texture Indirections 4096
Max Execution Instructions 65536
Max Call Stack Depth 4
Max If Statement Depth 48
Max Loop Depth 4
Max Loop Count 255

Nika - the only background update would be my ESET Nod32 AV. This has been installed for 2 years and has never given me any problems. Thank you for the suggestion.

woooowwwwww. what a picture. I have taken the liberty of posting a pointer to this thread over in Resident Answers, perhaps someone will recognize the phenomenon.

Of course this thread actually belongs in Technical Issues, but there aren't a lot of folks over there.

Personally, I have no clue what's up. If it's not your graphics card, I'm stumped.

I believe you said you had re-installed SL. Did you completely un-install it before it re-installing it?

What version of SL are you running?

You might try installing the various versions of SL LL has around and see if the results vary, like the beta grid version, the current, voice enabled version, and the older version that still runs - and then the non-Linden ones like the nikolaz ones and so on.

You might try removing your video card from Windows and physically removing it from your computer and putting it back it. At the least, pull it out and put it back in, i.e., reseat it.

Possibly you can get to to a friends place to try logging in from a different computer. if so, maybe you can borrow their video card for a while and see if your computer works with a different video card in it.

Is there an onboard video chip on the motherboard? If so, see if it can run SL, just for the sake of information.

Might run with the case open and verify visually that all fans are running properly. I had some weird video behavior once when a fan was in the process of dieing. Only happened with SL running.

Try booting Windows in Safe Mode -- first without network. If that works, then try safe mode again with network. I have NOD32 as well, and that isn't an issue.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222

If the video is distorted like that, it's probably your video card overheating. Try taking the side off your case and placing a fan to blow air on the video card.

Might try setting the video card settings to the defaults in whatever one calls the nVidia control program, nView or whatever it is, if they got set weirdly by mistake.

Have you tried changing screen resolutions say to 800 x 600 and shut down/restart like that to see if anything changes with SL?

It seems that it would be a video card issue. Have you cleaned the inside of your case lately? Try shutting down the PC for a few hours, then boot back up and start SL right away, see if you still get this issue. You may also may want to reinstall the drivers for your video card.

Thank you to all who replied overnight. There has been some success but a minor problem remains which is likely to be an SL configuration issue. I have enclosed a picture of my avatar to illustrate it! There is a mesh texture extending from neck to waist on my skin Clothes do cover it to an extent - anyone have any idea to fix this glitch? Again I cannot post a thumbnail but here is the link to a 1:1 screenshot:




To answer all your great suggestions: I have a fan on my graphic card and another two in the side of the case as well as two more internal fans. Temperature I do not think was the issue, however, the suggestion that I reset the card by reinserting it was followed. I also had the opportunity to dust the insides. Thank you for that idea Dnate, I'm sure that will make my pc more efficient.

Afterwards I reinstalled video drivers with an earlier versions which I found in the nvidia download archive. Some of the other suggestions I had tried including Nicholaz's alternate version of the viewer but to no avail. I only have one card so there was no alternative - thank you for that idea too Suezanne.

So at the moment I am treading very gingerly around the grid for just a few minutes at a time (to run in so to speak). I am still not fully confident but there has been some considerable improvement.

Thank you all again for your patience and advice.

Just to add if anyone knows why I seem to have a fishnet tattoo over my upper half I would be very pleased to know

Try turning off VBO (Vertex Buffers) in preferences. In the nVidia control software, set every 'feature' filters, bump mapping etc to 'Let Application Decide', or even off.. then turn on eachone, one at a time (you will have to relog for them to take effect).

Also try running a registry cleaner.

Check your PC power supply has enough capacity.

At 60htz refresh rate, I assume you are running a LCD/TFT monitor and not a CRT? 60htz is the correct one for LCD/TFT, but too low for CRT, 75htz+ is better.
If you are running a CRT, you may suspect the internal power supply, when the voltage controllers go, they cause screen distortion when put under heavy load.

Also turn down Composite layers in preferences to 2.. your avatar maybe caching previous clothing layers.

I'm sure you have hit on something there AWM Mars

I reduced my screen resolution from 1280x1024 to 1152x852 so that my ageing Dell CRT monitor could perform at 75Hz as you recommended. That point you made could likely explain the extreme distortion I was experiencing last night. Nonetheless, I'm sure it will reduce the overall stress. My default resolution in SL has always been 800 pixel width which is quite adequate so it will not make any difference inworld. Sorry if my technical terminology is not great but I'm trying my best!

Yet to solve that clothing/skin glitch but I will ask around in SL and let you know if I get a solution before anyone here thinks of one. I have never worn such a top so I don't think it is an old clothing layer. I have cleared the caches and used reg cleaners such as c-cleaner, eusing reg, ace utilities and the like.

The very good news is that I have just spent 30 quiet minutes in SL and so far so good.

Thanks to all again.

Yes I also experienced the 'screen sucking distortions' when I used to use CRT monitors, its a sign the power supply is straining/failing.

The fact you have never worn any clothing like you now see.. doesn't mean you cannot get overlay distortion with alphas. Composite layers is where the cache holds previously worn layers of clothing, reducing that to 2 and rebaking should sort out any rouge layers that maybe still locked in the cache (not to be confused with client side cache).

Having a screen resolutuon of 1152x852, may not be supported natively by the OpenGL standards, try a more common one lower down. If you want to increase the 'screen footprint' of SL, decrease the UI scale to 0.9 in preferences.

Have someone check out the power supply/voltage controllers of the screen, although with the price of CRT monitors these days, would probably cost you more to find out its on its last legs.

Thank you very much for this advice AWM Mars. It worked perfectly. It seems everything is working quite well now. I am very grateful to you and everybody that took time and trouble to reply to my queries.

But I will certainly be looking for a monitor that'll match my graphics card