ahh, august is here and dread hangs over teachers heads, err, i mean excitement over getting back into the classroom is in the air
this year might be very exciting and also hold some trepidation if you are introducing Sim-on-a-Stick as a tool for your students
if you are not certain if they will like it, just read about Kate Booth’s considerable experience with it! her students love it and will forego lunch to keep working on their virtual world projects!
however . . . this is true technology and it is alpha technology with some specific needs. the good news is that it works for 100s of teachers and they are not all tech superstars – not being techie should not be a stumbling block – i really am not techie nor techie-minded, but i tend to hang in there maybe longer than the average person. if you want an easy solution that simple works and don’t have a little time to spend with it, then Sim-on-a-Stick is NOT for you. if you have little patience, then SoaS is NOT for you. if you expect others to swoop in and tell you how to do it without being ready to spend a little time searching for answers, then SoaS is NOT for you. if you have never used OpenSim yourself, then SoaS is NOT for you
but . . . if you have patience, actually think using OpenSim is fun, use it on your own, love the creative possibilities – then SoaS is for you
it is one thing for SoaS to be for you but for it to be for your entire class? that is another thing entirely
are you scared off yet?
no? then you may be just the kind of teacher that will succeed with it. there are many who have and many to come. i mentioned Kate Booth as a wonderful teacher and so is Erik Nauman who has hacked SoaS for use as a true classroom grid allowing for many students to work together – these and many others have helped identify the biggest obstacles and here is a rough guideline for you if this is all new =)
you do need to do some diligent work ahead of time and maybe now is that time
- personal familiarity with OpenSim – do you enjoy building in it? have you done snapshots or even machinima (video)? do you know how to refresh your appearance and check your current frame rate? how about adjusting preferences to find a balance between quality and performance?
- have you used Sim-on-a-Stick? both on a work machine as a set of folders (like the installer sets up by default) and on an actual USB thumb drive (like the zipped files). depending on what you do in your classroom, the USB thumb drive might be the way to go. don’t fret if your budget doesn’t allow for you to buy 30 USB sticks (and they don’t have to be USB 3,0, i use USB 2.0 without issue), you can have one USB or even a base CD that you copy onto the student’s work machines
- have you tried OpenSim on your students’ classroom computers? this is vital for success and each machine needs to be checked. you may need an IT person or someone with admin rights to get all your machines up to speed. they should have all important Windows Updates applied including the .NET 3.5+ framework. i tend to go nuts here and also want each machine to perform at its peak with a run of CCleaner and Defraggler but that is probably a call for your IT person or you if you are savvy with these tools and comfortable with their use. i used to maintain 24 machines for a teaching lab and would spend a day twice a year uninstalling extra programs and doing maintenance (now we just wipe our machines and install an up-to-date base ghost image)
okay, so you have put in the considerable time to make sure OpenSim works on each student machine (and tested your LCD projector with your machine too!) and are stoked! w00t! this will be the best experience ever for your kids and they’ll be telling their parents how awesome you are! woohoo!!! =D
*record scratch*
nipples? crotches? pubic hair? omg, the parents are upset and your schoolmaster has called you to their office! what went wrong?
you did get the coolest immersive and creative platform to work for your students and what should have been a tots win is now a nightmare and you hate Ener Hax!
awww, don’t hate Ener Hax? what did she do? fill your head with pink flowers, happy children, and unlimited imagination?
getting OpenSim up and running, even with the relative simplicity that is Sim-on-a-Stick, is only part of the preparation. it might even be the easiest part!
like i said earlier, i’m not techie and while i can appreciate the work to get OpenSim running on multiple machines (i do on the 24 i mentioned above and have helped subQuark at workshops with strangers’ laptops) it’s not what i like to do. the next part of preparation is what i do enjoy and it lets my OCD run rampant =)
- setting up your base region and/or OAR file – what in-world “stuff” should your students have at hand? do you want them to have a total blank canvas or to have some existing builds? maybe using Nebadon’s campus would be good, or my big tree. maybe you have some school branded stuff, like your own campus that you would like to build and include in everyone’s region – or iconic things from your region (if you are in Paris, maybe the Eiffel Tower – me, i’m in Portsmouth and we had a cool bridge, but it’s been torn down)
- your student’s inventory! ah ha, that’s the nipple culprit which we can nip in the bud (oh no, so many puns!). if you are using Sim-on-a-Stick, then everyone will be Simona Stick which is awesome for girls but boys might prefer to be Simon Stick! you can use Diva’s Wifi Admin panel and create Simon Stick (or any name) and that way have a girl and boy avatar. you could use your school name or mascot as the last names for your default avatars. once you have your base students made, you’ll need to go through their inventory and delete all the things you don’t want including default skins and shapes. then you can either make a generic shape and skin and let them mod themselves (they will anyway) with shapes and skins in their inventory or in a store on their region or you can use existing kids’ avatars
- once you have a base region created and student inventories edited, export base copies of the OAR and the IARs for future use
- also archive your “base” Sim-on-a-Stick files, the ones with the OARs and student avatars/accounts so that you have a clean build for later use
if you have kids of your own or can borrow some from friends, get them to use your customised Sim-on-a-Stick and see what challenges they have. kind of like your own focus group! this practice run can really ease issues later, let you do some tweaks, and boost your confidence
phew! lots of work and there are not many shortcuts, but if you do all of this – you should have a good year! =)
today i tried sl viewer again and found that i have a ghost problem -again. so i have to look at it again to fix it. radegast is fine.
i am looking for 18+ adults since they have a need too for building stuff. for that i figure i need meshes, some form of animations, and something more than 15k prims. maybe more like 100k. the animations wil have to be done with another software. right now, i could use statues — dioramas –but i still have to upload the meshes.
i have more comments but i have to think about some things and maybe write a blog. if i do, i will post in facebook under 3D virtuals or my page, bristle chesnokov.
bristle
9 Aug 12 at 1:56 pm
Bristle, using the SL Viewer is going to cause you problems with SoaS, or any OpenSim instance for that matter. They have changed the coding to disable the use of –loginuri which allowed people to use the SLViewer on other grids. There’s more at HyperGrid Business http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2012/08/linden-lab-cuts-viewer-link-to-opensim/
I recommend using Phoenix or Firestorm at this time, depending on whether you want the V1 or V3 interface. And I do have a listing of viewers that includes information of features http://excelsior-station.wikidot.com/misfit-s-index-of-viewers-miv
Sarge Misfit
9 Aug 12 at 2:23 pm
well i will try firestorm again. it really really really … you know what i mean. i am *8888*. i did all the tricks for the ghosting. even if a had a older sl viewer it wont do any other person any good.
bristle
10 Aug 12 at 12:20 am
ok got firestorm and although i dont have any collada files right now, i had some on my inventory so i loaded one. it looks good. i havent uploaded any collada but i see that it has .dae so that may be good. if that the case, i am going to firestorm. period. also they have pathfinding. so i dont need snowstorm any more. blee.
bristle
10 Aug 12 at 12:55 am
so the firestorm has upload collada. i did the duck one.
it use the sl market place to ship things. i suppose there is a way to do that. but only for sl.
as far as going to osgrid or localhost, i wasnt able to do it. for localhost, you have to change to 9001 and i guess osgrid is whatever. but itnt does show a list like i want. if they had two options– one for sl and the other for opensim — i dont see it. i think they still have the uri option on the command line, and that is fine.
the compiling is the same as snowstorm. ack. and i didnt see where i can get the source. linux?
overall, since snowstorm is no longer supporting uri and firestorm has some way to get localhost and osgrid, i would say that firestorm would be ok for meshes.
bristle
10 Aug 12 at 11:51 am
Um, if by localhost you mean your SoaS, its 9100, not 9001 :-) Firestorm’s Grid Manager is found in the Preferences.
From the login screen;
Viewer>Preferences>OpenSim
The OpenSim tab is the bottom-most one on the Preferences window. You can add, remove and update grid information there.
Sarge Misfit
10 Aug 12 at 1:29 pm
yes, my mistake. 9100.
i got in with firestorm and soas. ghosting. got in with an older sl view, ghosting. but in osgrid, it was ok. i got an older soas and found ghosting in soas. didnt find any in osgrid.
with 1.23 viewer, all the avatars look fine.
so it not a problem with the uri or ghosting in general. but something is screw up with the client and server and osgrid fixed it at the server side.
my head hurts.
bristle
11 Aug 12 at 12:31 am
I’m not sure what you mean by ghosting, but I’ll assume you mean that your avatar looks like a cloud (ghosting is a good name for that, btw) I’m used to calling that ‘being a cloudie”.
I’m not 100% sure, but that seems to be related to the fetching of your Inventory. From what I understand, that got changed somewhere between V2 and V3. And there seems to be a fix for it.
In the bin folder of your OpenSim/SoaS you should find the OpenSimDefaults.ini file. About halfway through that file you should find a section headed by [ClientStack.LindenCaps] In that section are various capabilities, including those related to your Inventory. You’ll see that each one begins with Cap_ and ending with either =”" or =”localhost”. What I have done on my SoaS is to make sure that each Cap_ that has Inventory as part of the name ends with =”localhost”. That seems to resolve the ghosting/cloudie issue.
One thing, too, give your Inventory time to load. I generally open mine and then click on the Recent tab to give it a bit of a kickstart.
Sarge Misfit
11 Aug 12 at 9:23 am
you use v3 then?
i decided once i figure it out with one v3 viewer, it will solve for all v3. i did it before with the ghosting problem on a diffent issue. but since i can do normal stuff on second life and osgrid, i think you are right. it has something to do with localhost. after my memory upgrade, i will get back and look at the problem. i will look at the OpenSimDefaults.ini file.
i wish second life would quit screwing around with the avatar ghosting. i am glad i didnt work for LL. it would drive me crazy. um, i am crazy already.
bristle
12 Aug 12 at 12:46 pm
I use both types, Bristle.
I use Angstrom, a V3 viewer, on Excelsior Station, which is AuroraSim based. Its currently the only one that is AuroraSim compatible as well as OpenSim.
I use Phoenix, V1 viewers, for my offline OpenSim based WorkShop as it can import/export linkset XMLs as well as mesh.
Teapot, also V3, when I visit Misfit’s Folly online, which is also OpenSim as well as HG enabled. Great for gridhopping and the dev, Armin Weatherwax, is very responsive to bugs and problems.
I used to use Niran’s on Port Conor, which is at Kitely, but they went with the SL-Havok route, so I have to switch to a different one there.
But I also routinely test all the viewers for Misfit’s Index of Viewers, so I’ve had to get used to using the whole range of viewers and features that are available.
Frankly, we’re all going to have to get used to using V3 based viewers so that we can enjoy all the various features that come out.
Sarge Misfit
12 Aug 12 at 6:14 pm
only collada i know is Pina Collada =D
Ener Hax
13 Aug 12 at 8:44 am
hey Sarge, that Cap_ tip – do you think that’s a good thing to make as a permanent change in the SoaS build?
sounds good but i don’t know what issues that might create . . .
Ener Hax
13 Aug 12 at 8:55 am
The Cap_ configurations seem to have no effect on V1 based viewers (like Imp) if left as they are. But many viewers, even if based on V1, are incorporating V2 and V3 features, such as Mesh, so its likely a good idea to make the changes. The ones that are important are the Cap_FetchInventoryDescendants2 and Cap_FetchInventory2 as they were introduced sometime between V2 and V3. Definitely set those to “localhost”
Sarge Misfit
13 Aug 12 at 9:12 am
i did changes to cap_ for all localhost then i used sl viewer and firestorm. my avatar ghosting still show up. so i am re-installing today or tomorrow because i tried some other stuff and nothing worked.
i am still puzzle about radegast since it shows avatar just finein localhost. right now, it looks like if a viewer shows mesh but cant load it, it work just fine. firestorm can see and load, but in osgrid the avatar is fine.
but all viewers will be able to view and load even if a person doesnt have anything to load, so i have to figure it out. right now i plan to use sl viewer, firstorm, and phoenix.
bristle
13 Aug 12 at 2:26 pm
ok, i have some news for soas. i tried several viewers (no changes in the .ini) including:
for second life:
Imprudence 1.3.2 avatar is normal
Second Life 3.3.4 avatar is normal
Firestorm 4.1.1 avatar is normal
Zen Viewer 3.3.5 avatar is normal
for osgrid:
Imprudence 1.3.2 avatar is normal
Second Life 3.3.4 avatar is normal
Firestorm 4.1.1 avatar is normal
Zen Viewer 3.3.5 avatar is normal
thats is as expected.
but for soas:
Imprudence 1.3.2 avatar is normal
Second Life 3.3.4 avatar ghosting
Firestorm 4.1.1 avatar ghosting
Zen Viewer 3.3.5 avatar is normal for body but no clothing
another thing:
14:13:06 – [REST CLIENT]: Error fetching resource from server http://metaversein
k.com/cgi-bin/register.py?service=offline&host=127.0.0.1&port=9100&secret=cb80e5
d8-7d04-459d-b3fc-21e8e187cdc9
that may be why some viewer, such as zen, can load avatar with clothes. and some are clouds. if you are a cloud, no clothing can be attached. first you have to get a body. in zen case, it has a body, so then you just have to get clothes on.
i will continue this test tomorrow. but meanwhile dont change anything for soas server.
the parts that misfits mentions have an effect:
“The ones that are important are the Cap_FetchInventoryDescendants2 and Cap_FetchInventory2 as they were introduced sometime between V2 and V3. Definitely set those to “localhost””
but it will not fix firestorm problem. i had no luck with phoenix on soas. try again tomorrow.
bristle
14 Aug 12 at 12:27 am
again, after i reinstall soas:
i have found part of the problem. sl viewer and firestrom both use a default avatar (ruth). when it comes to soas, they are clouds. looks like some things are not loaded into inventory. but diva distribution is and you can have her wear clothes and hair from there. then, its looks right. the avatar ghosting problem is still there, but you can work around it since you dont look naked. you are a cloud.
for zen, you have the default hair and you are nude. use diva distribution and you can be fully clothing.
in imprudence you have the default avatar and clothing. when you wear diva distribution, you have the look that you have provide. in firestorm, you can loose the clothes but keep the hair. with sl viewer, everything is fine.
this time there was no errors in the server log but the phoenix once again was crashing.
another thing, i cant get my web server up and so i cant create any other character. i could do it will the server though but i want to do it with the web.
so tomorrow, i will remove soas and reinstall again.
bristle
14 Aug 12 at 2:22 am
hm. localhost:9100/wiki doesnt work but 127.0.0.1:9100/wiki works in IE web client
bristle
14 Aug 12 at 2:34 am
i get a naked Ruth for SoaS on Zen and because she is a default Rurh, she has no clothing and ideally would be a cloud and probably should appear to be a cloud to others if SoaS was multi-tenant
since i only use SoaS for private building, i never change the default avatar and let her run around nekked!
thanks for posting about your experiments – this is something that would be nice to “fix” for future versions of SoaS so that it works with all viewers!
Ener Hax
14 Aug 12 at 7:35 am
going to work on misfit list of clients (v3 only) and look at “localhost” stuff since it is so important for an avatar to look right.
bristle
14 Aug 12 at 12:23 pm
As there is some discussion here about viewers and also the use in schools I thought I’d add my HELP. I was having trouble but I thought everything would be fixed with the reimage of the school computers and yes it seems that the .NET was the problem as all computers start up SOAS in the region console whereas I was getting application quit before. However now Imprudence won’t run. It opens but it only gets as far as the outside border of the application and hangs there. The computer tells me it’s running but it’s of no use to me as I don’t get the screen image or the log in etc. Sry I don’t have a pic.
I updated all graphics drivers as I had that problem at first. I have also tried other viewers (Phoenix and Zen) and they do the same thing. The weird bit is that other computers that are configured the same will run it.
Any ideas?
Lisa Jacka
14 Aug 12 at 9:25 pm
Okay, if its Ruth that is ghosting/cloudie, create a new pair of eyes and wear them. Don’t know why, but it works for me.
For viewers, you might as well not try using SLViewer anywhere else but in SL due to the Havok licensing. The viewers I have listed on the MIV are tested to work on SoaS on my offline WorkShop and to login on Misfit’s Folly, which is OpenSim HG enabled.
For the rest, its getting beyond my own experience, mostly because it sounds like grid related and I am used to stand-alone. Its likely best to take this discussion over to the OSGrid forums. LOTS more experienced people there :-D
http://forums.osgrid.org/
Another good resource is to join the OpenSim Users emailing list. Can’t remember where to find how to get added, but I will see if I can find it
Sarge Misfit
14 Aug 12 at 10:40 pm
Found it :-) Here’s the link to where you can subscribe to teh openSim Users mailing list.
http://opensim-users.2152040.n2.nabble.com/mailing_list/MailingListOptions.jtp?forum=2152040
Sarge Misfit
15 Aug 12 at 9:09 am
1. viewers wont run. i am have a problem with zen and phoenix. try firestorm or angstrom. but the imprudence should run ok. if none of the viewers run, go to to a previous version and work from there. do a thing, check it out. do another thing, check it. and so on.
2. for the other problem. there is no ruth in V3. so you have to go into imprudence (yes) and put on [from opensim lib]: shape, skin, eyes, hair. remove clothes. then put on hair and bald cap. that make you new ruth. you cant do it from V3 because they think there is nothing there.
then you can go into firestorm or angstrom or another other V3 viewer, and put on clothes. eventually you will lose the hair. most of the time, you can put hair back on, sometimes you cant.
then for each v3 viewer. your new ruth is there, but you have to add one thing and it will show you everything. but you could lose you hair. i just pick a shirt and it bring up shirt and pants. then if my hair is lost, i put it back. after that, if you use the same viewer, things are fine, more or less.
also but ive made the changes to localhost everywhere in the default ini and nothing interesting happens.
what do you think misfit?
bristle
15 Aug 12 at 9:06 pm
Ruth is the default avatar that is part of OpenSim and AuroraSim. Another legacy of SL, I believe. It can be replaced as the default by the person running the grid/standalone.
With V1 viewers, Ruth usually rezzes with no problem, but V2/V3 you tend to get a ghost/cloudie. Experimenting is how I found that creating and wearing new body parts causes Ruth to rez.
As far as I can remember, you cannot edit Ruth, you have to wear/replace all different body and clothing, either by creating it or from the Inventory Library.
With the localhost stuff, nothing interesting does happen. Its when you don’t use localhost that things happen. Or don’t happen. Textures won’t appear, prims seem to vanish, your inventory won’t load, things like that.
Sarge Misfit
15 Aug 12 at 9:45 pm
i already forgot what i did. yuck.
bristle
15 Aug 12 at 11:23 pm