SL on Vista

Is there any change that the brillant Linden-guys come up with a Vista compatible version?

Read this

"PC Minimum System Requirements:
Internet Connection*: Cable or DSL
Operating System: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
OR Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4)
------------>NOTE: Second Life does NOT currently support Windows Vista <-----------------
Computer Processor: 800MHz Pentium III or Athlon, or better
Computer Memory: 256MB or better
Video/Graphics Card**:
nVidia GeForce 2, GeForce 4mx, or better
OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better "

Ahhh... the Vista Virus!

Works fine on my Vista system.

They should just speed up the Mac client and force everyone to use OS X

It would be very nice if, if an update is going to happen, that a) it happens across the board, not leaving out Mac, Linux, or the FirstLook Viewer (which, after some kind SLer fixed, I was able to run on my Vista laptop) or b) the update not be required for the use of the program until it is certain that it won't cause such chaos.
Issues with the update aside, I would like to know, Lindens, when the rest of your clientele can expect to use your service again? And will I have to wait for someone else to fix a bug in the updated FirstLook Viewer before I get to play SL again?
Updates on status would be nice, from time to time, just so that we are aware that Linden is not ignoring it's customers.

Wishful thinking--the new version of SL would run with Vista...

good to hear that running 64 or 32?

Ditto on my Vista Home premium 32.

LL have expressed a willingness to delay betas if there are any major problems, but not enough people are trying the beta versions to find them. I expect that 100% of people who can't get on or are having issues didn't (and probably never have bothered) to try the beta versions before they come out, meaning their particular set-up may not have been tested at all as a result.

I do still feel that it's poor practise on LL's behalf to expect all major configurations to try the betas. Most people who do are minority groups, that is; people who are interested for a reason, and are more likely to have custom built computers, or better than average configurations. Or Mac and Linux users. The only times people really flock onto the betas are during downtimes, but many of these are FOR a new beta to be deployed.

I think perhaps non-update downtimes should maybe have a nice bold option to try the beta viewer while you wait, like a quick-link to the download page. It would even be cool if SL kept info on people's major hardware/software, such as graphics-card, OS etc. Then, if you are logging into SL and a new beta is available, and no-one matching your basic configuration has tested it yet, it will ask if you'd like to try the new version to ensure future compatibility.

I might post it in feature suggestions actually.

SL runs well on my new Vista (32-bit) Dell dual-core machine. Far better in fact then it did on my XP machine.

Used to crash routinely, now I can go days without a crash. We'll see if 1.15 keeps that tradition, but so far so good.

The thing is, until version 1.14 came out, SL ran extremely well on my Vista system. But I tried out SL on my fathers computer which is xp and crashed just as often.

They should ban every type/configuration of PC except the good old 386 with 512kb ram, 256 colours on board graphics, a whopping 32mb hard drive, 12" CRT monitors, a Dial up connection, and a 2 channel sound card, all running windows 3.11... then LL can play catchup LOL.. j/k....

That is the problem though, the permutations of systems, OS's, GC's, RAM, Connection speeds etc.... SL, like all programmes, tries to be a Jack of all trades. Add to that the flaky 3rd party drivers we stuff into the systems... poorly maintained systems.. overly marketed connection speeds.. DIY hardware installations.. etc.
It's amazing it works at all. There are no 'standards' in computing.

I've been trying to run the new version of SL on my Vista comp (it has all the system requirements) and have tried switching the file to run as XP compatible, but haven't had any luck. Has anyone else tried changing the file properties and had luck? Is there something else I can try?

I wish SL would let me run the version I was running instead of requiring an update... I can't even get Beta to run. I go to open the program and before it gets to the login screen, it crashes, with every version but FirstLook Viewer.

Help?

I found that the default Vista video drivers for my nVidia card did not work. I D/L'd and installed drivers from nVidia and all was OK. I did not need to set any compatibility flags for SL.

Just got a 32 bit Vista machine this past week - it runs SL fantastically.

Got a packard hell, dual-core machine.
80-100% CPU, how come some of the vista computers run better than mine??

Plse help!

Last night I was crusing the forums in my boredom, and was looking at the thread titled "Ati - Vista - OpenGL drivers out" and was checking if there was anything great going on in there that might help--there was! I went to the end and was backtracking through the posts and were reading about people who had downloaded someone's file that WORKED on VISTA!

Post # 279 (page 19) from Lockhart Cordoso:

" VistaSL 1.15.0.2: http://www.noxforum.net/files/Second%20Life%201-15-0-2%20Setup.exe

I switched over to the installer files that Linden includes with the sources. This means that the program will install as if it were the official version. So I suggest that you uninstall the official version if you plan on using this version. Shortcuts will no longer be VistaSL but just Second Life. If you have any questions, IM me in-game or post here. "

I downloaded it and was able to finally get on SL last night! My system is a Dell Inspiron E1505, more than meets system requirements, running an ATI Radeon X1300 with the latest drivers I could get installed. SL completely crashed on me once (maybe 20-30mins in) and then just before I decided it was bed time it was either running uber slow or my computer was running uber slow. Anyway, things weren't moving. But hey, I'm on. I can handle it being slow and a crash from time to time.

If you all use that file of Lockhart's, let him know and give him thanks. And as he said, he's willing to help you out!

::happy dance, happy dance::

I currently have a Dell 9100 laptop (I know a bit old) that has 2gig RAM and a Radeon mobile 9800 vid card and everything meets the requirements or more and run SL fine on XP. I bought Vista Ulta 32 and I can not get SL to even get to the login screen. I have done the ATI vid drivers that they mentioned in the blog but not even that worked.

I was wondering if anyone has the same laptop and got SL running on Vista or if there is anything I should try and know's that works? I really do not want to do a reinstall just to find out I have to back to XP again as it is long process to go back to xp as I found out

Thanks in advance.
Garr

Has anybody managed to run SL on a Vista 64-bit yet?
I can install it, I can run it, but after max 30 minutes either the computer comes to a complete deadlock, or it just reboots without warning, or it dumps me to a blue-screen.

Everything else works perfectly fine, even the Adobe CS3 designer suite I use for work.

The computer is a dual AMD Opteron dual core, 4GB memory and ATI X1950Pro graphics card.

Advice are extremely welcome!

Oh, the very same computer running Windows XP Professional managed SL just fine, so I rule out any hardware incompatibilty.

Suz

It works just tickety-split under Vista x64 Business edition. Machine specs are a simplistic Opteron model 140 (1.4 GHz, single core) with 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, ATI Radeon 9600 (I know, pokey slow) but dang if she doesn't work well with SL anytime I tried, even under 1.15.x. At home, the multi-core monster chews up SL on an SLI'd pair of 8800 GTX-OC's for quick performance under XP-Pro 32-bit. Both are as stable as expected. *shrug* Either machine is adept at it, though the Opty running Vista tends to run a little like a slideshow under stock visual settings. I have to turn them back a little to get smooth frames out of her.

SL actually runs a bit faster in Vista x64 than in XP for me, by about 10-20fps.

Back before the first look pipeline became standard SL ran like a snail in Vista, but with the firstlook pipeline I literally see a 10x increase in fps (from 6fps to 60fps).



That doesn't mean much actually. I haven't had a working ATi card in years so I don't know how their Vista compatibility is, but up until these past few driver releases nVidia's support has been sub-par.

If you get a "Driver stopped responding and has recovered" type error you might want to increase Vista's timeout detection time. Because of the new way Vista handles video drivers by keeping them separate from the OS it allows it to reset the drivers without needing to BSOD or restart the OS, unfortunately, it's detection for if the drivers have frozen is a bit too sensitive by default. Here's how you can tweak it to make it a bit less sensitive:



Also look around and make sure you have the latest beta driver. Sometimes the leaked versions that haven't been officially released yet work better than the official versions. I'm not sure about ATi drivers, but if you need beta drivers and reviews on how well the nVidia drivers run the nV News Vista forums are a good place for that: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Vista Ultimate 64-bit
nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX
(Other stats in sig)

SL is up and running just fine on my rig under Vista Ultimate 64 bit. No issues whatsoever, I am having problems with SL on XP 32 bit, but that is another thread.

Specs and Drivers:

AMD X2 6000+ Dual Core 3.00ghz
Asus M2NE-SLI board : Driver=Nvidia Ver 15.00
2 Gigs Corsair XMS Pro
Nvidia 7800 GTX 512 : Driver=Nvidia Ver 158.8
Creative X-Fi Platinum : Driver=youp-Pax 2007 Ver2 (Mod driver, only way to get an X-Fi to work anywhere close to properly on Vista)

SL Cache set to it's own 2 gig partition on a secondary hard drive, 1gb set in prefs. I have no clue why this makes a difference, but it did increase performance under both MS operating systems.

All graphics are set to max, anisotropic filtering is on. I run it full screen at 1280x1024.

I am seeing anywhere from 30-80FPS with the newest SL version on Vista 64, depending on where I happen to be. It is far more stable than my XP install, which I use when I DJ (due to non SL issue). It looks cleaner, runs smoother and the overall experience is better under Vista 64. Processor usage is also down, 80% opposed to 95-100 % under XP, although SL does seem to use a bit more memory, 300-350 megs where in XP it only seems to use 250-275 megs.

Now, mind you, SL seems to be the exception to the rule at this point, WoW runs slightly slower, BF2 was unplayable without severe tweaking, some other apps I run are either slower or virtually unuseable, but SL rocks.

My advice, if you are having problems, make absolutely sure you have the latest drivers, do a clean install of SL, and try again, it may suprise you.

Just a note, I also run Suse 10.1 and OSX on this rig. SL works on all 4 OS's, but Vista works best overall. I'd give OSX a second if my sound would work.

SL runs fine on my new Vista laptop, but gets' disc every 10-30 mins, can't fig it out :?

My vista home 32-bit is working fine on the main grid, however I discovered today that I crash 20 seconds after logging in on the beta grid.

Anyone else have this issue?

I am a bit worried about the update tomorrow.

I might be running out to buy XP tonight.......

Savorous