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authorJames Cook <james@lindenlab.com>2007-01-02 08:33:20 +0000
committerJames Cook <james@lindenlab.com>2007-01-02 08:33:20 +0000
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+Second Life - Linux Alpha README
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
+
+This document contains information about the Second Life Linux
+client, and isn't meant to serve as an introduction to Second
+Life itself - please see <http://www.secondlife.com/whatis/>.
+
+1. Introduction
+2. System Requirements
+3. Installing & Running
+4. Known Issues
+5. Troubleshooting
+6. Advanced Troubleshooting
+7. Getting more help, and reporting problems
+
+
+1. INTRODUCTION
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
+
+Hi! This is an ALPHA release of the Second Life client for Linux.
+The 'alpha' status means that not everything is implemented yet and
+we're still hard at work on this version of the client, but many
+residents find that it already works well 'out of the box' for accessing
+Second Life.
+
+We encourage you to try it out and let us know of its compatibility
+with your system. Be aware that although the client itself is provided
+for testing purposes, any changes you make within the Second Life world
+are permanent.
+
+Please enjoy!
+
+
+2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
+
+Minimum requirements:
+ * Internet Connection: Cable or DSL
+ * Computer Processor: 800MHz Pentium III or Athlon, or better
+ * Computer Memory: 256MB or better
+ * Linux Operating System: A reasonably modern 32-bit Linux environment
+ is required. If you are running a 64-bit Linux distribution, you
+ may need a set of 32-bit compatibility libraries.
+ * Video/Graphics Card:
+ o nVidia GeForce 2, GeForce 4mx, or better
+ o OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better
+
+ **NOTE**: Second Life absolutely requires you to have recent, correctly-
+ configured OpenGL 3D drivers for your hardware - the graphics drivers
+ that came with your operating system may not be good enough! See the
+ TROUBLESHOOTING section if you encounter problems starting Second Life.
+
+For a more comfortable experience, the RECOMMENDED hardware for the Second
+Life Linux client is very similar to that for Windows, as detailed at:
+<https://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php>
+
+
+3. INSTALLING & RUNNING
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
+
+The Second Life Linux client entirely runs out of the directory you have
+unpacked it into - no installation step is required.
+
+Run ./secondlife from the installation directory to start Second Life.
+
+User data is stored in the hidden directory ~/.secondlife by default; you may
+override this location with the SECONDLIFE_USER_DIR environment variable if
+you wish.
+
+
+4. KNOWN ISSUES
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
+
+The following user-visible features are currently not fully implemented on
+the Linux client and are therefore known not to work properly:
+ * QuickTime movie playback and movie recording
+ * F1 Help
+ * Embedded Web Profiles and HTML Login Screen
+ * Video memory detection
+ * Full Unicode font rendering
+ * Auto-updater
+
+* UPDATING - when the client detects that a new version of Second Life
+ is available, it will ask you if you wish to download the new version.
+ This option is not implemented; to upgrade, you should manually download a
+ new version from the Second Life web site, <http://www.secondlife.com/>.
+
+* UPLOAD / SAVE / COLOR-PICKER DIALOGS - These only function when the client
+ is in 'windowed' mode, not 'fullscreen' mode.
+
+* GRAPHICAL SPEED/QUALITY - as many Linux graphics drivers are not as robust
+ as their counterparts for some other operating systems, advanced Second Life
+ graphical features have been disabled to aid stability. See PROBLEM 3 in the
+ TROUBLESHOOTING section if you wish to turn these on to enhance your
+ experience.
+
+
+5. TROUBLESHOOTING
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
+
+The client prints a lot of diagnostic information to the console it was
+run from. Most of this is also replicated in ~/.secondlife/logs/SecondLife.log
+- this is helpful to read when troubleshooting, especially 'WARNING' lines.
+
+PROBLEM 1:- Second Life fails to start up, with a warning on the console like:
+ 'Error creating window.' or
+ 'Unable to create window, be sure screen is set at 32-bit color' or
+ 'SDL: Couldn't find matching GLX visual.'
+SOLUTION:- Usually this indicates that your graphics card does not meet
+ the minimum requirements, or that your system's OpenGL 3D graphics driver is
+ not updated and configured correctly. If you believe that your graphics
+ card DOES meet the minimum requirements then you likely need to install the
+ official so-called 'non-free' nVidia or ATI (fglrx) graphics drivers; we
+ suggest one of the following options:
+ * Consult your Linux distribution's documentation for installing these
+ official drivers. For example, Ubuntu provides documentation here:
+ <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto>
+ * If your distribution does not make it easy, then you can download the
+ required Linux drivers straight from your graphics card manufacturer:
+ - nVidia cards: <http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html>
+ - ATI cards: <http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html>
+
+PROBLEM 2:- My whole system seems to hang when running Second Life.
+SOLUTION:- This is typically a hardware/driver issue. The first thing to
+ do is to check that you have the most recent official drivers for your
+ graphics card.
+SOLUTION:- Some residents with ATI cards have reported that running
+ 'sudo aticonfig --locked-userpages=off' before running Second Life solves
+ their stability issues.
+SOLUTION:- As a last resort, you can disable most of Second Life's advanced
+ graphics features by editing the 'secondlife' script and removing the '#'
+ from the line which reads '#export LL_GL_NOEXT=x'
+
+PROBLEM 3:- Performance or graphical quality are not as high as I expect.
+PROBLEM:- I can't turn on Anisotropic Filtering, Ripple Water, or AGP.
+PROBLEM:- 'Shiny' doesn't work.
+SOLUTION:- Some graphics performance features in Second Life are disabled
+ by default for the Linux version due to stability issues with some common
+ Linux graphic drivers. You can re-enable these features at the slight
+ risk of decreasing system stability. To do so:
+ * Edit the 'secondlife' script. Comment-out these lines by putting a '#'
+ in front of them: 'export LL_GL_BASICEXT=x', 'export LL_GL_NOEXT=x',
+ 'export LL_GL_BLACKLIST=abcdefghijklmno'.
+ * Now start Second Life. Some advanced performance features will now be
+ automatically used, and some new options in Preferences will now be
+ available to you; there is no guarantee, however, that they will
+ positively affect performance!
+
+PROBLEM 4:- Sound effects seem to 'lag' a fraction of a second behind
+ actions.
+SOLUTION:- You may uncomment the 'LL_BAD_ESD' line in the 'secondlife' script
+ to get more responsive audio. However, if you do this then you may
+ encounter audio issues or a hang during login, so beware.
+
+
+6. ADVANCED TROUBLESHOOTING
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
+
+The 'secondlife' script which launches Second Life contains some
+configuration options for advanced troubleshooters.
+
+* AUDIO - Edit the 'secondlife' script and you will see three audio
+ options: LL_BAD_ESD, LL_BAD_OSS, LL_BAD_ALSA. Second Life tries to
+ use ESD, OSS, then ALSA audio drivers in this order; you may uncomment
+ the corresponding LL_BAD_* option to skip an audio driver which you
+ believe may be causing you trouble.
+
+* OPENGL - For advanced troubleshooters, the LL_GL_BLACKLIST option lets
+ you disable specific GL extensions, each of which is represented by a
+ letter ("a"-"o"). If you can narrow down a stability problem on your system
+ to just one or two GL extensions then please post details of your hardware
+ (and drivers) to the Linux Client Alpha Testers forum (see link below) along
+ with the minimal LL_GL_BLACKLIST which solves your problems. This will help
+ us to improve stability for your hardware while minimally impacting
+ performance.
+ LL_GL_BASICEXT and LL_GL_NOEXT should be commented-out for this to be useful.
+
+
+7. GETTING MORE HELP AND REPORTING PROBLEMS
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
+
+For general help and support with Second Life:
+<http://secondlife.com/community/support.php>
+
+In-world help: Please use the 'Help' menu in the client for general
+non-Linux-specific Second Life help including live support from the fabulous
+Live Help team.
+
+In-world discussion: There is a 'Linux Client Users' group
+inside Second Life which is free to join. You can find it by pressing
+the 'Search' button at the bottom of the window and then selecting the
+'Groups' tab and searching for 'Linux'. This group is useful for discussing
+Linux issues with fellow Linux client users who are online.
+
+Linux Client Alpha Testers forum:
+<http://forums.secondlife.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=263>
+This is a good place for discussing Linux-specific Second Life problems
+if you find that the Troubleshooting section in this file hasn't helped.
+When reporting problems here, please include information about the
+Second Life version you are running, your graphics card, graphics driver,
+and Linux distribution.
+