SecondLife on Slamd64 (Slackware for 64bit)

I've been playing SL on my Windows machine, so I can use my Linux machine for "work" things. I managed to get a virus on the Windows box (imagine that), so while it's in safe mode trying to scan for the virus, I wanted to play on my Linux box.

The machine is a AMD64 3200+, 1Gb RAM, Radeon 9200, running Slamd64 10.2.0

I know some things won't work right, so I'm not completely expecting this will either. Can someone better than me have a look at the outputs below, and see if it's something I should fix, or wait for a future release.

I've tried both versions 1.12.3.6 and 1.13.0.2. Both outputs are below. My locale language is en_US

root @ amd64 (/root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2) locale
LANG=en_US
LC_CTYPE="POSIX"
LC_NUMERIC="POSIX"
LC_TIME="POSIX"
LC_COLLATE="POSIX"
LC_MONETARY="POSIX"
LC_MESSAGES="POSIX"
LC_PAPER="POSIX"
LC_NAME="POSIX"
LC_ADDRESS="POSIX"
LC_TELEPHONE="POSIX"
LC_MEASUREMENT="POSIX"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="POSIX"
LC_ALL=POSIX

root @ amd64 (/root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6) ./secondlife
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: GTK LLFilePicker::reset()
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Checking marker file for lock...
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Marker file isn't locked.
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Checking marker file for lock...
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Marker file created.
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Removing message.log
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Exiting init_marker_file().
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Opening debug file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/logs/debug_info.log
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Second Life version 1.12.3
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Local time: 2006-11-15T18:03:20 EST
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: CPU info:
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z processor : 0 vendor_id : AuthenticAMD cpu family : 15 model : 12 model name : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ stepping : 0 cpu MHz : 2202.856 cache size : 512 KB fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 1 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext lm 3dnowext 3dnow bogomips : 4415.72 TLB size : 1024 4K pages clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: ts fid vid ttp
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Memory info:
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z MemTotal: 1023588 kB MemFree: 60064 kB Buffers: 35332 kB Cached: 561788 kB SwapCached: 0 kB Active: 514940 kB Inactive: 387128 kB HighTotal: 0 kB HighFree: 0 kB LowTotal: 1023588 kB LowFree: 60064 kB SwapTotal: 128512 kB SwapFree: 128512 kB Dirty: 200 kB Writeback: 0 kB Mapped: 381980 kB Slab: 44080 kB CommitLimit: 640304 kB Committed_AS: 666900 kB PageTables: 8476 kB VmallocTotal: 34359738367 kB VmallocUsed: 1148 kB VmallocChunk: 34359737211 kB HugePages_Total: 0 HugePages_Free: 0 Hugepagesize: 2048 kB
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: OS info: Linux 2.6.14 #1 PREEMPT Wed Nov 2 21:31:40 PST 2005 x86_64
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Loading feature tables.
2006-11-15T23:03:20Z INFO: Applying Feature Mask: CPUSlow
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Loading configuration file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z WARNING: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z WARNING: LLXmlTree parse failed. Line 1: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z WARNING: Unable to open control file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Failed to load settings from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Loading legacy settings from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.ini
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: LLControlGroup::loadFromFile unable to open.
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z WARNING: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/crash_settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z WARNING: LLXmlTree parse failed. Line 1: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/crash_settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z WARNING: Unable to open control file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/user_settings/crash_settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Loading art table from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/app_settings/viewerart.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Loading base colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/app_settings/colors_base.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Loading user colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/app_settings/colors.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Failed to load user colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/app_settings/colors.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Loading legacy colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/app_settings/colors.ini
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Default vfs data file not present, found /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1164317588
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Old salt: 1164317588
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Renaming /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1164317588 to /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1480364776
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Renaming /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1164317588 to /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1480364776
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: VFS: Using index file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1480364776 and data file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1480364776
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: VFS: Using index file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/app_settings/static_index.db2 and data file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6/app_settings/static_data.db2
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Initializing window...
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: createContext, fullscreen=0 size=800x600
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: createContext: creating window 800x600x32
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: createContext: window creation failure. SDL: Couldn't find matching GLX visual
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: destroyContext begins
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: shutdownGL begins
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: SDL_QuitSS/VID begins

(<unknown>:8525): Gdk-WARNING **: locale not supported by Xlib

(<unknown>:8525): Gdk-WARNING **: can not set locale modifiers
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: Creating a dialog because we're in windowed mode and GTK is happy.

(<unknown>:8525): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8525): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8525): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8525): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8525): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8525): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8525): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING

** (<unknown>:8525): WARNING **: No builtin or dynamically loaded modules
were found. Pango will not work correctly. This probably means
there was an error in the creation of:
'/etc/pango/pango.modules'
You may be able to recreate this file by running pango-querymodules.
Fontconfig error: "conf.d", line 1: no element found

(<unknown>:8525): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: file gobject.c: line 1561 (g_object_ref): assertion `G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed

** (<unknown>:8525): CRITICAL **: file pango-engine.c: line 68 (_pango_engine_shape_shape): assertion `PANGO_IS_FONT (font)' failed

** ERROR **: file shape.c: line 75 (pango_shape): assertion failed: (glyphs->num_glyphs > 0)
aborting...
2006-11-15T23:03:21Z INFO: remove_marker_file()

*********************************************************
This is an ALPHA release of the Second Life linux client.
Thank you for testing!
You can visit the Linux Client Alpha Testers forum at:
/invalid_link.html

root @ amd64 (/root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_12_3_6)

root @ amd64 (/root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2) ./secondlife
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: GTK LLFilePicker::reset()
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Checking marker file for lock...
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Marker file isn't locked.
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Checking marker file for lock...
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Marker file created.
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Removing message.log
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Exiting init_marker_file().
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Opening debug file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/logs/debug_info.log
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Second Life version 1.13.0
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Local time: 2006-11-15T18:03:57 EST
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: CPU info:
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z processor : 0 vendor_id : AuthenticAMD cpu family : 15 model : 12 model name : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ stepping : 0 cpu MHz : 2202.856 cache size : 512 KB fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 1 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext lm 3dnowext 3dnow bogomips : 4415.72 TLB size : 1024 4K pages clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: ts fid vid ttp
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Memory info:
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z MemTotal: 1023588 kB MemFree: 52484 kB Buffers: 35380 kB Cached: 561784 kB SwapCached: 0 kB Active: 522492 kB Inactive: 387168 kB HighTotal: 0 kB HighFree: 0 kB LowTotal: 1023588 kB LowFree: 52484 kB SwapTotal: 128512 kB SwapFree: 128512 kB Dirty: 24 kB Writeback: 0 kB Mapped: 389948 kB Slab: 44144 kB CommitLimit: 640304 kB Committed_AS: 676320 kB PageTables: 8500 kB VmallocTotal: 34359738367 kB VmallocUsed: 1148 kB VmallocChunk: 34359737211 kB HugePages_Total: 0 HugePages_Free: 0 Hugepagesize: 2048 kB
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: OS info: Linux 2.6.14 #1 PREEMPT Wed Nov 2 21:31:40 PST 2005 x86_64
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Loading feature tables.
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Applying Feature Mask: CPUSlow
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Loading configuration file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z WARNING: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z WARNING: LLXmlTree parse failed. Line 1: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z WARNING: Unable to open control file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Failed to load settings from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Loading legacy settings from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.ini
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: LLControlGroup::loadFromFile unable to open.
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z WARNING: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/crash_settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z WARNING: LLXmlTree parse failed. Line 1: Couldn't open file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/crash_settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z WARNING: Unable to open control file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/user_settings/crash_settings.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Loading art table from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/app_settings/viewerart.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Loading base colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/app_settings/colors_base.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Loading user colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/app_settings/colors.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Failed to load user colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/app_settings/colors.xml
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Loading legacy colors from /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/app_settings/colors.ini
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Default vfs data file not present, found /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1277859621
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Old salt: 1277859621
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Renaming /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1277859621 to /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.201851567
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Renaming /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1277859621 to /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.201851567
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: VFS: Using index file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.201851567 and data file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.201851567
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: VFS: Using index file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/app_settings/static_index.db2 and data file /root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2/app_settings/static_data.db2
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Initializing window...
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: createContext, fullscreen=0 size=800x600
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: createContext: creating window 800x600x32
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: createContext: window creation failure. SDL: Couldn't find matching GLX visual
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: destroyContext begins
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: shutdownGL begins
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: SDL_QuitSS/VID begins

(<unknown>:8554): Gdk-WARNING **: locale not supported by Xlib

(<unknown>:8554): Gdk-WARNING **: can not set locale modifiers
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: Creating a dialog because we're in windowed mode and GTK is happy.

(<unknown>:8554): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8554): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8554): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8554): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8554): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8554): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",

(<unknown>:8554): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "smooth",
2006-11-15T23:03:57Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING

** (<unknown>:8554): WARNING **: No builtin or dynamically loaded modules
were found. Pango will not work correctly. This probably means
there was an error in the creation of:
'/etc/pango/pango.modules'
You may be able to recreate this file by running pango-querymodules.
Fontconfig error: "conf.d", line 1: no element found

(<unknown>:8554): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: file gobject.c: line 1561 (g_object_ref): assertion `G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed

** (<unknown>:8554): CRITICAL **: file pango-engine.c: line 68 (_pango_engine_shape_shape): assertion `PANGO_IS_FONT (font)' failed

** ERROR **: file shape.c: line 75 (pango_shape): assertion failed: (glyphs->num_glyphs > 0)
aborting...
2006-11-15T23:03:58Z WARNING: *** Caught signal 6
2006-11-15T23:03:58Z INFO: remove_marker_file()

*********************************************************
This is an ALPHA release of the Second Life linux client.
Thank you for testing!
You can visit the Linux Client Alpha Testers forum at:
/invalid_link.html

root @ amd64 (/root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_0_2)

Llauren

A1) It's a ATI Radeon 9200 SE, using the Xorg Radeon driver, with a 1600x1200 screen @85Hz. The generic driver won't go that far.

root @ amd64 (/var/log) lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 SE] (rev 01)

From the last Xorg log:

X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.9
[SNIP]
(--) Chipset ATI Radeon 9200SE 5964 (AGP) found
[SNIP]
(II) RADEON(0): Primary V_BIOS segment is: 0xc000
(--) RADEON(0): Chipset: "ATI Radeon 9200SE 5964 (AGP)" (ChipID = 0x5964)
(--) RADEON(0): Linear framebuffer at 0xe8000000
(--) RADEON(0): BIOS at 0xfd100000
(--) RADEON(0): VideoRAM: 131072 kByte (64 bit DDR SDRAM)
(II) RADEON(0): AGP card detected

After writing the last message, I upgraded a whole bunch of packages, and the kernel. It still throws the same errors.

I may try going to Slamd64 11.0, but I have to get some real work done first.

Oh, and it only took about 4 hours to get the damned malware off the Win32 box, so I can play there again. I'd still like to see it work on the Linux box, it a much faster machine.

A2) I know. I'm a sysadmin, and get annoyed when I can't just do something, so a long time ago, I weighed the options, and decided to be lazy. The only "bad" things that have happened, I would have done as an unpriviliged user or not. Just because I'd have to su to replace libs that I shouldn't be touching doesn't mean it won't still happen. I do make everyone else work as an unpriviliged user on their machines (*nix or Windows). Do as I say, not as I do.

I see a few people have been reading this thread, so I thought I'd update my situation.

I upgraded to Slamd64 v11.0 last week, and decided to give SecondLife another try on here.

This time it is with SecondLife_i686_1_13_3_2 . I know, 32bit binary, 64bit os, but I have all the 32bit libs installed, so all is ok.

root @ amd64 (/root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_3_2) cat /etc/slackware-version
Slackware 11.0.0 (x86_64)

root @ amd64 (/root/Desktop/SecondLife_i686_1_13_3_2) uname -a
Linux amd64 2.6.20 #4 PREEMPT Sun Feb 4 22:13:29 EST 2007 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

root @ amd64 (/root) cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 15
model : 12
model name : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+
stepping : 0
cpu MHz : 2202.912
cache size : 512 KB
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext lm 3dnowext 3dnow
bogomips : 4410.87
TLB size : 1024 4K pages
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid ttp


I thought I may have a video issue, but glxgears seems happy. I was using SL in a 800x600 window (my screen is 1600x1200)

at 300x300
root @ amd64 (/root) glxgears
3472 frames in 5.0 seconds = 694.288 FPS
2605 frames in 5.0 seconds = 520.995 FPS
2956 frames in 5.0 seconds = 591.100 FPS
3161 frames in 5.0 seconds = 632.147 FPS
2795 frames in 5.0 seconds = 558.944 FPS
3105 frames in 5.0 seconds = 620.916 FPS
2408 frames in 5.0 seconds = 481.519 FPS

at full screen (1600x1200)

197 frames in 5.0 seconds = 39.311 FPS
197 frames in 5.0 seconds = 39.312 FPS
197 frames in 5.0 seconds = 39.312 FPS
197 frames in 5.0 seconds = 39.312 FPS
197 frames in 5.0 seconds = 39.312 FPS
197 frames in 5.0 seconds = 39.313 FPS


It loads, lets me log in, but when I play the game, it's very VERY lagged. Someone started sending me IM's, and it was even very slow when I was typing into the text input area. I was typing at about 80wpm, but it would have only displayed 3/4 of a line when I finished typing the line, and backspacing was slow. Kinda like a shell over a sad 9600 baud connection.

I don't know if that's the game environment tonight, or the program. I don't have much time to experement tonight, but I'm very pleased to say that it does at least load.

Try the binary ati drivers. Someone who runs games as root sure doesn't bother to run proprietary kernel modules


Don't. If you're lazy, use sudo. It's not about you knowing what you're doing but about you knowing what the programs might do. cp, ls et. al. are considered to be almost bug free. SL obviously isn't. So don't run it as root unless you have read and fully understood its source and are after that knowing it won't do anything bad in any possible or impossible case. (To prove you understood it you might for example fix all the current bugs )


Might have been the grid, the following day there were even more trubles: see http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/02/11/grid-experiencing-technical-difficulties/

So you might as well try again with your current setting.