Some common problems: Please look here first.

WARNING: Can't open VFS data file
Couldn't open vfs data file after trying many alternates
Second Life is unable to access a file that it needs.
This can be because you some how have multiple copies running, or your system incorrectly thinks a file is open. If this message persists, restart your computer and try again. If it continues to persist, you may need to completely uninstall Second Life and reinstall it.
This probably means that your extraction util skipped the empty folders. cd into the folder where you saved the file, then run

tar -xf SecondLife_*.tar.bz2

or
go into the already extracted folder and add the folders, SecondLife, and audio
Inside of SecondLife make, cache, logs, and user_settings.



WARNING: Unable to create window, be sure screen is set at32-bit color in Control Panels->Display->Settings
Well go to control panel-> display->settings ** pause for laughter **
lol but seriously, First check your drivers.

glxinfo | grep "version string:"

I can verrify that the Nvidia version 76.67 works with SecondLife Under Ubuntu 5.10, But its always good to get the latest stable version that you can.

glxinfo | grep "direct rendering:"

it should say 'direct rendering: Yes'

Also with Nvidia make sure you disable 'DRI' and enable 'GLX'
I cant speak for ATI, I dont own one. But im sure the ATI proprietary drivers dont use dri
If your using Xorg have a look at your xorg.conf file. Probably /etc/X11/xorg.conf .
Under 'Section "Device"', it should reference your driver, example for nvidia it should say: Driver "nvidia"
Also the default depth should probably be set to 24.
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If you can add any helpfull info to this thred, be it for noobs, advanced users, or whatever, go for it. Ill add things in the, 'error message then answer' format to this post as I see them.