Freezing up - my problem or grid problem?

Often when I'm in SL, the movement controls stop and I can't move any more. Is this likely caused by having a cheap, old computer with low memory or is it because of too much activity going on in world?

Both. SL needs a LOT of memory and a good graphics card, plus a broadband connection is recommended, but grid activity also affects performance, and every so often Sims will just crash.

My guess would be both. lol Do you have to relog, or are you able to move again after a second or two?

Sometimes I can move after a second or two.

Sometimes I go flying off somewhere out of control and end up stuck underneath a building or deep underwater.

Usually, I have log out (which usually involves SL crashing), reboot, and come back.

Both.

This is called "lag" and is the bane of SL. Lag is caused by lots of things: too many people in the area, too many scripts running, etc.

I upgraded my computer last december and noticed a huge difference, but lag always happens to even the best computer, so unless you want to fork out money for a new computer, it's easy to just accept it. There are some settings that you can use to reduce lag.

The one that I personally have noticed to make a difference is the "draw distance" in edit/preferences (I forget which tab.) Lower it to 64 and your computer won't have to draw all the stuff in the background.

There was an acknowledged bug a while ago which caused that to happen...I'm not convinced that they completely fixed it because my computer specs are quite good and I still sometimes get micro-freezes.

I was having problems with my DSL disconnecting a few months ago. It always surprised me when it happened in SL, because SL never told me that I had lost my network connection.

Instead, I would see just what you are describing. My av could turn around in the same place and do the normal stand animations, and I could move the camera around, but I could not actually walk anywhere. Attempting to sit on something would make bad things happen, and attempts to teleport failed or crashed the client.

While in this state (before crashing) I can't rez or edit anything, and can't get any information that requires a call to an SL database. No chat and no IM either, of course. And if I stay long enough, the mini-map will show the region I'm in as red (offline).

Looking back, it is obvious to me now that this was caused by losing my internet connection, but at the time I was all "Gosh durn SL, you so laggy!"

I do still lose my connection occasionally, but can usually bring it back in a minute by rebooting my DSL modem. First I check the connection either with the Network Diagnostics Tool (I'm on a Mac), or just by opening a browser and trying to connect to Google and Yahoo -- can't connect means it's the DSL and not SL.

And sometimes if I get the DSL running again, it will even reconnect to SL without me having to relog.

I'm glad it wasn't just me! This has been happening to me over the last few weeks. I'll be completely frozen for up to a minute then everything is fine. This will happen even in relatively low lag areas for me.

I have a new processor, motherboard and ram coming to me and I was hoping that was gonna fix it. I'm now both happy because it wasn't just me and sad because my new stuff may not fix it!

QUIT PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS PHILIP ROSEDALE!!

I've never had it last more than a couple seconds, so maybe the new items WILL help...and new computer stuff is always fun, right?

Have you tried the Nicholaz viewers? I haven't had any crashing or freezes since I switched.

I did notice a slight difference but it doesn't have voice and I already use that feature frequently enough that it's a pain to relog. I tried!

But yeah, I definitely have performance issues on my system but it's been a trooper with it's 786MB RAM and 1.2ghz processor! It sure makes all the people I've blown up in Carnage Island feel even more defeated when they know what I'm working with!

I can't wait to see what the world is like once I break the 10fps barrier!