Laird ❤ Linden Lab=True

So many improvements have been made in SecondLife over the last couple of years, that I have been thinking it was time to consider updating the landscaping at Southern Charm. As some of you may already know, the time lapse between me thinking of something to actually doing it is sometimes extremely long. However, at other instances, I just get tired with myself and do it right away.

Early yesterday I had been experimenting with my newly acquired snow HUD and Guyke, the Prince of Paradijs, had come over to assist me. I then realized that winterifying the landscaping convincingly would require so much more than just falling snow. The ground textures would also have to be changed and the all the trees and plants would need to be updated to the kind that change according to the seasons. It seemed rather overwhelming and I was a little hesitant.

The Prince of Paradijs started - ever so sweetly and subtly - informing me about the great developments that had been made by the gardeners and creators in later years to make trees "that don't look flat".

I let it slowly sink in and then I started asking him if he thought specific trees all over the place looked flat. Even if he tried his very best to be delicate about it, I came to the realisation that my son thought all my trees and plants were antiquated, flat and awful "even if they were once the best you could get...". My son is careful never to hurt my feelings and he knows how attached I am to Southern Charm, but I can always expect him to - eventually - tell me the truth.

Later Guyke and I were joined by my boyfriend Tomais and the three of us took a tour around the Arrival Area. "To hell with it", I thought to myself, and began returning or deleting trees as we went along. This is when I got called up by brother in-law Dej. "I see you're doing landscaping... if you have a moment could you remove some things here also", he said. My sweet Dej had been suffering for three years so I went over to his parcel and removed a load of ugly stuff.

After Guyke had left us to cater to Ziggy's needs and urges, and his own also no doubt, Tomais, Dej and I started looking for more eyesores to attend to. I then remembered the strange and ugly hill that was a remnant from when the sim had been subdivided into parcels, but now just looked weird. I asked Dej if he would mind if it was flattened out, he told me he would welcome it because he had always thought it looked strange.

Although I have never previously terraformed during my entire existence in SecondLife I thought, "How hard can it be, really, everyone else does it. You are the only one you know who leaves it to others. Come on, just do it!" Thought and done, I unblocked terraforming and started to level out the hill. I thought I was absolutely amazing at it and that it was really easy, even if I heard Dej talking to me in the background telling me to be careful.

A few minute later I looked at my work, It was astounding! The hill had been perfectly flattened. Unfortunately, as Dej and Tomais pointed out to me very kindly, the rest of the land all around us had been raised. The big lake on the sim was gone, the canals and waterways also and the seating at the Arrival Area was now under the ground. Hell and damnation what had I done!

"Call the Lindens for a rollback", I thought just as the other two suggested it. So I went on the SecondLife website and chatted with the kind Izzy Linden at customer support. He kindly informed me that I would need to submit a ticket about it. I did that promptly and told them that I had experienced a terraforming disaster, as I had not heeded by wise brother in-law Dejerrity Mycron's warnings to be careful.

With the holiday weekend and all I was not expecting anything to happen before Monday, but lo and behold, within five minutes of submitting the ticket I got a message from the wonderful and clever Elijah Linden that the sim was going to restart in five minutes.

As I told Tomais and Dej, the Lindens know that I love them and this shows they love me back. I would not be surprised if they actually have my portrait up in the company lunchroom right next to my darling Philip Linden's.

Izzy Linden and Elijah Linden have definitely made my Holiday cards list this year for their courteous and speedy assistance!

Strange Messages

Lately when I log in to Second Life I have been getting these messages (see image). On these occasions I do not get the inworld IMs or notices that I have been able to see in my mail.



When I relog I am mostly OK and don't get the message and everything works perfectly.

"It grows mysteriouser and mysteriouser", as Alice said in Wonderland.

I have reported the issue to customer support to Linden Lab and am looking forward to hear from them soon.

Miraculous Recovery

Some of you may still remember my problems in world named Support Ticket #01587329

• repetition of my own chats in local and Instant Messages,
• repetition of purchases and tips,
• repetition of movements,
• repetition of teleports,
• etc. etc.

The problem remained whichever viewer I used (Yes, I did clean installations every time!), the official Linden viewer 3, other Linden versions or their beta-versions, Firestorm or Singularity etc. 

Linden Lab's customer support could not help me to completely get rid if the issue, but helped me with a few useful workarounds to alleviate the problems it was causing. I am now happy to inform you that the problems are now completely gone. 

This miraculous recovery happened after I had installed the latest major update of Firestorm (4-4-0-33720). I read about this on my buddy Ziggy Starsmith's blog Ziggy On The Edge Of Second Life.and thought I might as well try it. Lo and behold I am cured!

Support Ticket #01587329 XX - Hopefully Last (Updated)

Om my, while I was being busy gathering all the information to answer the questions Whirly posed in the latest email relayed by Theresa Linden at Linden Lab I think I may have stumbled over the solution to my repeat-problems all by myself.

It has nothing to do with bandwidth, my computer, HTTP Textures or whatever but the default settings of the viewer in combination with the Bock-avatar. (As you may remember my alt Lady Cruella has no problems and never had.)

Since a few months I get these graphic settings by default.

Please notice particularly that "Quality and speed" is set to somewhere between "High" and "Ultra" .
Well, I never bothered to change that once it turned up that way, but when I went to the Miss. Wigstock 2013 contest on Sunday January 27, 2013, I was expecting loads of lag so I though I better pull down the "Quality and speed" to at least "High" and uncheck shadows. All that evening I did not repeat one single time!

After the the contest I did not access SecondLife until after I returned home again from a business trip and there was an email waiting for me from Theresa. Before starting the tests I reset all the settings to default.

It was at this time that Whirly had asked me to uncheck the HTTP Textures, as you may remember that was quite successful during my testing after the first three or four minutes. However, when I logged back in one of the following the repetitions came back even though I kept the HTTP Textures unchecked.

That made me very despondent, sad and weary, I thought I may have to trash my Bock avatar and everything that was tied in with it. I stayed away from SecondLife a couple of days to think about it. Anyway, while I was in first life I began to think about the contest and what a great time I had without any repeats and that made me remember that I had changed the settings.

So today I tried it, and lo and behold, glory, glory, hallelujah it worked! Actually it worked well when I pulled down Quality and speed to High or if I pulled it up to Ultra, the only time I got repeats was if I set it in between High and Ultra.

...the only problem now remaining is that I freeze up after almost every teleport and cannot move or speak and then crash. But that is actually a problem I can live with - I think...

I am sending these results to Theresa Linden now!

Update February 7, 2013.
The improvements still last.

I can recreate the chat repeats if I change the graphic setting to in between High and Ultra. And when i change back to High or Ultra it goes away.

Support Ticket #01587329 XIX (Updated)

I got this email from my friend Theresa Linden at Linden Lab this morning. It is quite a lot to respond to so I am posting the response I am sending when I have gather the information that Whirly wants.

Illustration from PCCare

Somehow they seem to be under the impression that the unchecking of the HTTP Textures did not help, I cannot understand why because I thought I told them in my report that it actually worked very well, except for the first four minutes or so. 

I blame myself, my English must be poorer than I thought and I will have to clear up that misunderstanding in my response to them. So here goes with the email from Linden Lab.

"A comment has been added to your Case.. 

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hi Bock!

More fun and more suggestions from Whirly here:

Sorry to hear Bock is still having problems.

Some more thoughts...

When did this problem start for Bock? Can he think of anything that changed at his end that coincided with this issue starting?

eg) Change of ISP, moving house, new computer, new router/cable modem, change of router configuration, installing different firewall/antivirus, installing any "gamebooster" type software, Kitty walking on the keyboard...

His system info is taken when not logged in so doesnt show packet loss.

When he is seeing the repeating chat etc, if he goes to Help -> About Second Life, what does his packetloss show on the last line?

Where did he actually take his connection readings to?

Are his readings looking as good if he measures to where LL have their servers?
Follow these links, then select "Your Preferred Server":
Dallas,TX: http://softdallas.speedtest.net/
Phoenix,AZ: http://brinkster.speedtest.net/
Reston,VA: http://reston.speedtest.net/

Does he have another computer in the house connected to the same network and can he reproduce his problem on that?

He has reported that he created an alt LadyCruellaMcMillan, and there are none of these issues happening with it.

Is he totally sure about that?

It seems this problem can seem cured & then reappears the next day. Did he test long enough on the fresh noob before declaring there was no problem?

If his problem really is account specific, that seems quite strange & probably isnt a good sign for a hopeful cure lol Is there anything unusual about his Bock account that could possibly have an effect on his problem? 

eg) Does Bock have a massive inventory size and is he maybe clearing his cache each login? (People do this often >.<) or was Bock a reactivated account after being deleted?

It sounds like Bock has already been put in test character & that didnt help the issue, so I guess t...

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"

---

Support Ticket #01587329 XVIII (corrected)

Today I have been testing as required by my friends at Linden Lab. This is the full report that I am sending to my dear friend Theresa Linden today. It is essentially a copy/paste from my SecondLife chat log.

I have corrected the post as I noticed my first stop at KMADD had somehow been lost (10:01-10:04 in the chat log).

Please do not forget to turn on your music at the bottom of the post before reading, as prescribed by +Eddi Haskell.

"Hello again dear Theresa,

I hope you are having a wonderful Super bowl weekend. I have been busy conducting the tests the developers recommended and am sending you a copy of the report with pictures enclosed.

So it seems the suggested changes have cured my repetitions of chat/purchases/teleports but instead I am crashing all the time. 

However, I will ask that you please keep the support ticket and the Jira open until I have tried again tomorrow, because there have been a few times earlier that I thought the problems were over but when I logged in the next day they had returned. 

I would also like to know how long I must keep the HTTP Textures unchecked and remain in the Male Test Avatar.

Hugs,
Bock
---

The Test Report February 3, 2013.
[2013/02/03 09:57] Bock McMillan: This is the Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm and prince of Cascade Falls, speaking.
[2013/02/03 09:58] Bock McMillan: Greetings my friends at Linden Lab!
[2013/02/03 09:59] Bock McMillan: As you see from the enclosed picture (Test 1) I have unchecked HTTP Textures in the Develop Menu and I have also reverted to the Male Test Avatar.

Test 1

[2013/02/03 10:01]  Bock McMillan: Let the testing begin! I wish you all the best of luck in solving the problems I have encountered lately, may your intelligence, your skills and your creativity be with you in assisting me with these annoying problems.
[2013/02/03 10:02]  Bock McMillan: It is time for the first teleport, here we go!
[2013/02/03 10:02]  Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Southern%20Charm/238/53/33
[2013/02/03 10:03]  Bock McMillan: We have now arrived at the KMADD store.
[2013/02/03 10:03]  Bock McMillan: We have now arrived at the KMADD store.
[2013/02/03 10:03]  Bock McMillan: Testing 123
[2013/02/03 10:03]  Bock McMillan: Testing 123
[2013/02/03 10:04]  Bock McMillan: Ahhh as you see the repeats are still occurring
[2013/02/03 10:04]  Bock McMillan: Ahhh as you see the repeats are still occurring
[2013/02/03 10:04]  Bock McMillan: Let us move to another sim
[2013/02/03 10:04]  Bock McMillan: Let us move to another sim
[2013/02/03 10:04]  Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kmadd%20Enterprise/188/90/26

CRASH-BOOM-BANG

[2013/02/03 10:12] Bock McMillan: OK, I crashed soon after I arrived here at the Sey Main Store. The local chat did not go through. I have cleared my cache and come back to the last location.
[2013/02/03 10:13] Bock McMillan: I could not move either.
[2013/02/03 10:13] Bock McMillan: Both those problems seem to be gone now,
[2013/02/03 10:14] Bock McMillan: And it seems the chat is not repeating either...? But sometimes there is a short delay...
[2013/02/03 10:15] Bock McMillan: Let me try buying a Demo here
[2013/02/03 10:15] Second Life: :SEY =Mesh= Vest+T-shirt [DEMO ver.] owned by an unknown user gave you ':SEY =Mesh= Vest+T-shirt [DEMO ver.]' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/GREED/116/147/26 ).
[2013/02/03 10:16] Bock McMillan: well no buy, but a single click gave me a single demo
[2013/02/03 10:16] Bock McMillan: Lets go back to KMADD and see what happens there
[2013/02/03 10:17] Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/GREED/84/169/26
[2013/02/03 10:17] Bock McMillan: Back at KMADD
[2013/02/03 10:17] Bock McMillan: Lo and behold, no repeat?
[2013/02/03 10:18] Bock McMillan: I bought Shape Demos
[2013/02/03 10:18] Bock McMillan: and I actually only got one set
[2013/02/03 10:19] Bock McMillan: Lets try an IM
[2013/02/03 10:24] Bock McMillan: OK I am pasting in my IM with my son in-law Ziggy here.
[2013/02/03 10:25] Bock McMillan:
[10:22] Bock McMillan: Greeting son in-law! Be courteous as I am going to ask you to copy and paste our conversation so that I can send it to my friends at Linden Lab who are examining and trying to help me with my problems.
[10:22] Bock McMillan: Do you get repeats, darling?
[10:22] Ziggy Starsmith: no repeats at all you seem fine
[10:22] Bock McMillan: Yeahaaaaaaaaaaaaw!
[10:23] Bock McMillan: Could you please copy and paste?
[10:23] Ziggy Starsmith: ok 1 sec
[10:24] Bock McMillan: Thanks so much sexy!
[2013/02/03 10:26] Bock McMillan: Moving along
[2013/02/03 10:26] Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kmadd%20Enterprise/157/81/26 
[2013/02/03 10:26] Touch For ROF iNFO OR TO JOIN gROUP:
Hello Bock McMillan!

CRASH-BOOM-BANG

[2013/02/03 10:33] Bock McMillan: OK I crashed again and am back after clearing cache
[2013/02/03 10:34] Bock McMillan: As you see from the screenshot marked Test 2 I was at the Remembering Our Friends sim

Test 2

[2013/02/03 10:34] Bock McMillan: When I arrived there I could not chat in local and I could not move
[2013/02/03 10:35] Bock McMillan: With "could not chat" I mean, I sent a message in local but it never showed up on my screen
[2013/02/03 10:36] Bock McMillan: When I tried to move away from ROF to Moa, I crashed
[2013/02/03 10:36] Bock McMillan: I will go back to ROF now and see what happens
[2013/02/03 10:36] Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Southern%20Charm/238/53/33
[2013/02/03 10:36] Touch For ROF iNFO OR TO JOIN gROUP:
Hello Bock McMillan!
[2013/02/03 10:37] Bock McMillan: Back again at ROF
[2013/02/03 10:37] Bock McMillan: This time I can chat and move
[2013/02/03 10:38] Bock McMillan: I will try donating by buying candle light for my Ars
[2013/02/03 10:39] BDG - ROF - Gas Light (low Prim) V2: THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND DONATION,WE REALLY APRECIATE
[2013/02/03 10:39] Bock McMillan: Excellent, I only paid once and chat is still not repeating...
[2013/02/03 10:40] Bock McMillan: OK, I am buying another five weeks of oil for the candle
[2013/02/03 10:40] BDG - ROF - Gas Light (low Prim) V2: THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND DONATION,WE REALLY APRECIATE
[2013/02/03 10:41] Bock McMillan: Working fine
[2013/02/03 10:43] Bock McMillan: Cannot seem to find the donation boxes here at ROF, they are not rezzing for me
[2013/02/03 10:43] Bock McMillan: I will come back another time
[2013/02/03 10:43] Bock McMillan: OK off to Moa
[2013/02/03 10:44] Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Remembering%20Friends/91/128/21

CRASH-BOOM_BANG

[2013/02/03 10:49] Bock McMillan: OK back again after a third crash, see picture Test 3.

Test 3

[2013/02/03 10:50] Bock McMillan: I am now at Moa, I can move and I can speak in local
[2013/02/03 10:50] Bock McMillan: no repetitions either
[2013/02/03 10:57] Bock McMillan: OK I am going to a meeting at Second Pride HQ now, after I have reloaded my Inventory
[2013/02/03 11:00] Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moa/67/198/81
[2013/02/03 11:01] Kiosk.Net Greeter: Welcome Bock McMillan! Enjoy your visit.

CRASH-BOOM-BANG

[2013/02/03 11:04] Bock McMillan: OK I crashed again here at Second Pride HQ, before crashing I could not see my local chat here and could not move either
[2013/02/03 11:04] Bock McMillan: Chat and movement work again
[2013/02/03 11:04] Bock McMillan: Hello everyone!
[2013/02/03 11:04] Rocky Constantine (rockridge.constantine): Hi Bock
[2013/02/03 11:05] Tylo Mabellon: hey Bock
[2013/02/03 11:05] Tylo Mabellon: hey Rocky and Axel
[2013/02/03 11:05] Khar (kharissa.indigo): Hi there Mister Bock
[2013/02/03 11:05] Doc Spad: Was your barber drunk or something Bock?
[2013/02/03 11:05] Axel-the-fox (axelfoxthefoxyfluff): Hi
[2013/02/03 11:06] Bock McMillan: You must excuse my appearances; I am following Linden Labs orders

Bock at the Second Pride meeting
(not included in the report to Linden Lab)

[2013/02/03 11:06] Axel-the-fox (axelfoxthefoxyfluff): he's wearing a box for a head
[2013/02/03 11:06] Doc Spad: boxes are easy to hold onto
[2013/02/03 11:06] Bock McMillan: Well, with that single addition of my own
[2013/02/03 11:07] Kyle Beckett: I'm back, but I will be invisible because I had to clear cache and reload inventory, lol
[2013/02/03 11:08] Rocky Constantine (rockridge.constantine): fun fun
[2013/02/03 11:08] Khar (kharissa.indigo): wb Kyle
[2013/02/03 11:08] Khar (kharissa.indigo): Hi SquirtN
[2013/02/03 11:08] Doc Spad: afternoon Squirt'n
[2013/02/03 11:08] Tylo Mabellon: sure Kyle... you just can't find anything to wear : P
[2013/02/03 11:08] Bock McMillan: Hi Kyle and Hello Squirt
[2013/02/03 11:08] Bock McMillan: Oh just so you all know, parts of this chat will be sent to Linden Lab - so mind your language...

EDITED OUT THE REST OF THE MEETING

[2013/02/03 12:19] Tylo Mabellon: i second Khar's motion to adjourn
[2013/02/03 12:19] Doc Spad: Those in favoir?
[2013/02/03 12:19] Khar (kharissa.indigo): aye
[2013/02/03 12:19] Tylo Mabellon: aye
[2013/02/03 12:19] Baz Ceawlin: aye
[2013/02/03 12:19] Tootsie Nootan: Aye
[2013/02/03 12:19] SquirtN Wonder: aye
[2013/02/03 12:19] Doc Spad: This meeting is adjourned
[2013/02/03 12:19] Kyle Beckett: aye
[2013/02/03 12:19] Khar (kharissa.indigo): Thank you all for coming
[2013/02/03 12:20] Bock McMillan: Thanks everyone, this has been a great meeting!
[2013/02/03 12:20] Doc Spad: Thank you everyone for being here...lending your voice and caring about Pride
[2013/02/03 12:20] Bock McMillan: Byeee
[2013/02/03 12:20] Second Life: Teleport completed from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/N%20District/239/173/23

CRASH-BOOM-BANG

[2013/02/03 12:23] Bock McMillan: Ughhh when I teleported from the Second Pride HQ to home I crashed again
[2013/02/03 12:24] Bock McMillan: I could not chat in local and move before I crashed after I had arrived to home
[2013/02/03 12:24] Bock McMillan: then I crashed
___

Support Ticket #01587329 XVII (Updated)

When I got home from work on Friday I had the following message waiting for me from Theresa Linden ant Linden Lab.

Please start the music at the bottom of the post before starting to read!

Illustration from NYSE Magazine

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hi Bock!

Here are some suggestions to try:

Another cause we have found of this duplicating chat/purchase issue is HTTP textures - it can make a users connection bug out with these symptoms if it cant handle HTTP data well.

Bring up the develop menu with CTRL+ALT+Q Then Develop -> HTTP Textures -> Untick this Then relog (essential) and see if the problem is any better

When the duplicated chat/purchase issue is caused by HTTP textures you will sometimes find that the problem doesnt start until after a user has teleported during a session. Sometimes it needs more then one teleport for the issue to start. Sometimes it will only start when a user enters a region where he doesnt already have the textures cached or if several new avatars arrive on a region where he is, downloading all their new textures over HTTP can set it off.

If it does not help at all then re-enable HTTP textures as its best left enabled if their connection can handle it.

Also, try setting your affected avatar back to the default test character by going to Develop>Avatar>Character Tests>Test Male. They seem to think if your alt is not encountering any issues that reverting this avatar to the basics may provide some clues if you try this.

Let me know how it goes!

Theresa Linden"

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"

---

This evening I sent Theresa the following reply:

"Hello dear Theresa,

I will do as the developers ask - of course - although You and I both know we have already tried the reverting to the test character before, without avail.

I will get back to you a.s.a.p. with reports after having tried out these recommendations from the developers!

Hugs,
Bock"

Update
Music for your pleasure while reading this post (as suggested by +Eddi Haskell)

Support Ticket #01587329 XV

I received an email from dear Theresa Linden on Friday morning:

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hugs Bock,

I am determined to get you some decent help resolving this! I am going to update Alexa and that Jira with your info. I have you computer specs (thank you very much!) a full description of the problem (of course) and the step by step on how you have reproduced them. All I need now to send this to her (or whichever developer will be investigating this) is some screenshots. Do you think you are able to provide me with one for each incident if possible? I would be very appreciative :)

Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"

---

I sent Theresa this answer just a few mintes ago,

"Hello dear Theresa.

First of all I would like to ask your pardon for my delay in answering your message which I received on Friday morning. I had a rough week in first life and by Friday my brain had turned to mush, even if everything had gone much better than I had anticipated and been anxious about.

I will of course do as you ask me and take Bock and Cruella for a tour around SecondLife, at the same places on the same time, and get you screenshots of their experiences.

There are two other things I should inform you about.
1. Today I have reinstalled Windows 8 Pro on my computer; it was actually not the hassle I had feared.
2. I got an offline message from my friend Zigadena Gabardini, who as I have told you before has had a bout of the same problems. She told me that she had first yanked her bandwidth up to 5 000 as I had suggested to her and then too full speed and that seemed to have solved all her problems. That reminded me that I have always had my bandwidth on the viewers on full throttle until a few months ago when I was temporarily using the Firestorm viewer and was told that setting it to over 1 500 was useless. Thinking back, it could perhaps coincide in time with when my problems started, so I am going to try going full throttle on the bandwidth also and see it helps. I will get back to you on how that worked out.

I am so grateful for your time, interest and determination in helping me and hope we will get these issues solved. My confidence in you and Linden Lab remain undiminished! 

Hugs,
Bock"

Support Ticket #01587329 XIV

It´s the middle of the night here now and I woke up after a nightmare and needed to drink, so while I am airing out my bedroom and cooling it down I checked my email.

There was a new message from Theresa Linden at Linden Lab waiting for me:

Illustration from Gliffen Designs

"A comment has been added to your Case.. 

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hi Bock!

Thanks again and again for the info. I love details! I hate that you had to delete your inventory to see if it were associated with this. Any new updates since this has happened? Or are you on a very well deserved hiatus? LOL!

Warm regards,

Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"

----

I sent my dear tech support the following reply:

"Hello dear Theresa,

You´re most welcome, after all we are in this together and I must do my part!

No, nothing new to report really. As Bock I keep on repeating in local chat, IM and with payments on most venues except when at home on Southern Charm. The newly created alt (LadyCruellaMcMillan) doesn't have any problems at all. She is fine wherever they both go while he is a stuttering fool, although still very dashing and charming of course...

I have a Swedish friend Zigadena Gabardini, who had the same problems. After I had been on the Second Pride meeting on Sunday with my bandwidth set to 5000 and been free of any problems for two hours, I told her to yank up her bandwidth (which was set to 500) up to 5000. She tells me that she has had no problems with repeats in local chat, IM and payments since she pulled up the bandwidth. Bock of course, as I have already told you, was not so lucky.

Hugs (we Swedes hug a lot and all the time),
Bock"

Support Ticket #01587329 XIII

Further developments as more pieces are added to the confusing puzzle.

Illustration from Wonderware

I received this email from my dear Theresa Linden at Linden Lab today.

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hello Bock,

Welcome back and thanks for the updates! Your last reply unfortunately got cut off for some reason as you were saying: "This got me totally con..."

I don't know why the system has cut you off but I do need the rest of that information. So, if you are able to, please paste the rest of it to me. I would be grateful. Also, if you can please include in your next reply your computer specs (from Help, About Second Life).

Thanks a bunch and I hope your headache is gone :(

Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"

To which I responded as soon as I read the email.

"Hello Theresa,

Thank you, yes the headache finally decided to leave me on Sunday morning. I was extremely grateful for that! ;)

The part missing from the previous email is:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
"This got me totally confused and to the brink of total madness (as you may notice I sometimes like to exaggerate wildly). I had two accounts running on the same computer, one with problems and one without! Well, even if I was not quite at that point I was still feeling absolutely despondent and felt that we would never get control of this problem. We stopped the testing for the day and I ended it with deleting everything in my Inventory that I had amassed since September 2012. Luckily I have not been shopping a lot lately...

I am going back in today, feeling refreshed and eager to try again. I will get back to you with a new report on the results later today.

Hugs,
Bock" 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

And this is what it says under Help, About Second Life, Info:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Second Life 3.4.4 (268697) Jan 3 2013 19:48:48 (Second Life Beta Viewer) Release Notes
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz (3392.31 MHz)
Memory: 12269 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit (Build 9200) Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 580/PCIe/SSE2
Windows Graphics Driver Version: 9.18.0013.1090 OpenGL Version: 4.2.0
libcurl Version: libcurl/7.21.1 OpenSSL/0.9.8q zlib/1.2.5 c-ares/1.7.1 J2C Decoder Version: KDU v7.0 Audio Driver Version: FMOD version 3.750000 Qt Webkit Version: 4.7.1 (version number hard-coded) Voice Server Version: Not Connected Built with MSVC version 1600"
---------------------------------------------------------------

I hope the information will be helpful and am waiting to hear from you soon again, meanwhile I will keep on experimenting...

Take care,

Bock"

And then the following postscript:

"P.S. As you can see from the info I yesterday tried switching to the Beta-viewer to see if it would help, it didn't.

Bock"

Support Ticket #01587329 XII

Illustration from Vintek.net

"Hello Theresa,

I hope you had a great weekend and Inaugural Day.

Let me give you an update on what has been going on and the results of my testing with invaluable help from my family members Guyke Lundquist and Dej Mycron. They have been very patient and supportive and have also given me assistance through it all.

On Thursday evening, after I had pulled down the bandwidth on Bock from 1,500 to 500, as recommended by Alexa in the Jira, it seemed that we might have gotten the problem in hand. The repetitions in local chat, IM and payments seemed to have gone away even at laggy stores and I was very happy but did not dare rely on it until further testing had been made, so as you may remember I told you I was cautiously optimistic.

Friday and Saturday I spent in first life nurturing an end-of-the-workweek-coma on Friday and a head splintering headache on Saturday.

When I returned to SecondLife again on Sunday the repetitions also returned when I left the home sim without any of the settings being changed (i.e. the bandwidth was kept at 500 initially). I then got so frustrated that I yanked up the bandwidth to 5,000 and went to a two hour long membership meeting of the Second Pride. Lo and behold, I did not repeat once, neither in local chat, nor in IM.

However, after the meeting had finished I went out shopping and to my utter dismay and confusion the repetitions returned again, first at 5,000 and they remained even after I had pulled down the bandwidth to 500. This happened while testing at the stores of KMADD, Burley, Kalrau and Greed (Sey). When I was at Greed Guyke suggested I create a new alternate account and that we do some parallel testing with the new account and Bock. So I created LadyCruellaMcMillan (someone had been talking with me about animal-abuse earlier that day). Well, the strangest thing happened while Bock kept repeating in local chat and IM and with payments the new Lady Cruella had no problems at all, none in the least.

This got me totally confused and to the brink of total madness (as you may notice I sometimes like to exaggerate wildly). I had two accounts running on the same computer, one with problems ad one without! Well, even if I was not quite at that point I was still feeling absolutely despondent and felt that we would never get control of this problem. We stopped the testing for the day and I ended it with deleting everything in my Inventory that I had amassed since September 2012. Luckily I have not been shopping a lot lately...

I am going back in today, feeling refreshed and eager to try again. I will get back to you with a new report on the results later today.

Hugs,
Bock"

Support Ticket #01587329 XI (Updated)

This evening I had an email from the sweet Theresa Linden waiting for me when I got home from work.

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hi Bock,

That is pretty cool info! I have just sent Alexa an email for you :)

Please let me know how it goes with the bandwidth test!

All the best,
Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)

---

I sent Theresa this answer

"Dear Theresa,

Thank you very much for greeting Alexa from me!

As far as the bandwidth tests go, I am cautiously optimistic but would like to do some further tests this weekend. Among other things I am planning a shopping tour to some of the lagiest shops I know in SecondLife. 

I will get back to you with a full report of the full results of the testing on Sunday. However, the tests I have conducted so far with extremely helpful and patient friends are very encouraging and positive since I reduced the bandwidth to 500.

Have a wonderful weekend and keep your fingers crossed for me.
Bock"
---

Update
A little later I received the following response.

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hello Bock!

I have my fingers crossed for you! Either way, have a good weekend no matter what and we will talk soon :)

Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"

Support Ticket #01587329 X

Illustration from EPKhosting.com

During the past night I received two emails from my dear Theresa Linden.

The first one was sent at 00:31 CET (3:31 PM SLT).

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested

Hi Bock,

You and I work well together as a team. I have to say, you are one of the most helpful SL cases I have ever come across! I only wish I could resolve this for you once and for all, but since I was not able to replicate this issue as your avatar inworld it is hard. I was thinking about having a developer look at this issue through a Jira case, but if like me if they can't replicate these issues, then I don't know how much more help we can be.

Is there any way to see if your ISP can run a check on your connection? Is there a friend's computer that can be tried to see if you are able to replicate the issues from that same connection, different computer?

Thanks Bock, let me know...

Theresa Linden
Second Life Support

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)

The second one was sent at 02:18 CET (5.18 PM SLT).

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested

Bock,

Good news! Someone filed a Jira on this issue today, and I have discovered now two other residents who have this issue now. You may not be able to see the Jira, but here it is: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/BUG-1343. If you are not able to see or post to it, please let me know. This is what a developer had to say about this issue without having a bunch of details of the users specs:

Alexa Linden added a comment - 14/Jan/13 1:26 PM
The symptoms suggests this is related to packet loss in your network/internet connection: If you are on a wireless connection, try a wired connection to see if it solves your problem. Reduce/lower the bandwidth setting in Edit -> Preferences -> Network 

Could we try this last part and see what happens? Reduce/lower the bandwidth setting in Edit -> Preferences -> Network. If this does not help the situation, let me know, and we will need to update your info to this Jira. 

Thanks Bock,

Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"

I sent this response to my dear friend Theresa when I had read her messages.

"Hello again Theresa,

I was not permitted to read the Jira or post to it. However Alexa Linden is an old acquaintance of mine. We have met on several occasions in-world and her first life husband with the SL name Taco Rubio is an old friend of mine. The three of us have usually met at the Swedish Lucia celebrations on December 13 at the Swedish Embassy in SL because Taco has been a member of the traditional pageant since its first time in SL. Unfortunately the pageant was cancelled 2012 and the Swedish Embassy was shut down on January 1st 2013 so 2011 was the last Lucia Pageant on the Swedish Embassy sim.

If you should happen to run into Alexa, please convey my greetings to both her and to my dear friend Taco.

I am hardwired and have my bandwidth set to 1500 on my SL-viewer at the moment. When I get in-world I will reduce it to 1000 and we shall see what happens. However, throughout the time when I have had these problems I have from time to time checked the performance thingy (the one under Lag Meter) and I have especially looked at the packet loss - I don´t know why really, maybe it was something someone told me - but I could never see that happening. All the same I will do as you ask me to and reduce to 1000 at first, and then try even lower bandwidth if that doesn´t help. I will tell you how it works out a.s.a.p.

On your questions in the previous email today I would like to say, that of course I could ask my ISP to run a check on my connection if I only knew what to ask them to check for. As far as trying on another computer, I will ask around and see if I can get to use a friends computer for an experiment. I will get back to you a.s.a.p. on this also.

From my point of view Theresa, you have been extremely helpful, kind and it has been a great pleasure to work with you. Then again I have always been exceptionally well treated whenever I have been in contact with customer support at Linden Lab. Alas the two I had most contact with Belinda Linden and Keira Linden have both left, Belinda during the terrible layoffs by M Linden and Keira later for unknown reasons.

Of course I hope we will - and still believe we can - resolve the problems I am having but even if we shouldn´t I am convinced that you have done everything possible from your end to sort it out and that they have nothing to do with the viewer or SecondLife itself. The rest will be up to me.

I hope to be able to get back to you soon, Theresa!

Bock"

Support Ticket #01587329 IX (Updated II)

My conversation with Theresa Linden continues:

Illustration from Neaspec

"A comment has been added to your Case.. 

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested
Hi Bock,

I am racking my brain here. Before this started happening a few weeks or more back, had there been any changes in connection or software/hardware, or anything on this computer that you can recall? Are you okay with checking with your ISP to make sure connection is working as it should?

Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)
---

To which I responded

"Hello again Theresa,  

Believe you me, I have been wracking my brain also. The only thing I can think of is that it could possibly coincide with the time when I updated my graphic drivers to NVIDIA GeForce 580 GTX 310,90, I am not certain though...  

Nothing else has been updated except the Windows updates that come every third week or so.  

Bock"
---

UPDATE 1: And then a bit later I sent this:

"Dear Theresa,

I am going to download and install a previous graphic driver (GeForce 306.97 Driver which I have used in October 2012 before the problems occurred) and see if that helps! I will get back to you a.s.a.p.

Bock"
...

UPDATE 2: And later again...

"Theresa,

Well that goes to show how little I know about computers ;) That downdating changed nothing at all, everything is as bad as it was before.

Bock"

Support Ticket #01587329 VIII

I just got another email from the diligent Theresa Linden at Linden Lab, who is working on my ticket.

"A comment has been added to your Case..

Case: 01587329
Avatar: Bock McMillan
Type: Other Inworld Issues
Status: Information Requested

Hello Bock,

Thanks again for the updates. I was wondering if there was another computer at your location that can be tried to see if you have the same results?

Theresa Linden

To reply to this case, either Reply to this email, or visit : https://secondlife.com/my/support/?caseID=01587329

(To view the Case online, you will need to log into Secondlife.com with this Avatar: Bock McMillan)"
---

My response was:

"Hi Theresa,

No , this is the only computer I have at the moment.

Bock"