Tech Talk
Mono 3.10 fixed for OS X and opensim
The mono-project has issued an updated version of mono 3.10 pushing the version to 3.10.0.20 fixing the library that would crash the opensim server on OS X.
Mono 3.10 has a number of bug fixes and performance improvements.
Cool Viwer update speeds up logins
A new Mac version of the Cool VL Viewer, version 1.26.12.21 was released today, and with many changes and new libraries it had the immediate effect that login to opensim was markedly faster. Perhaps being the most pureplay viewer based on the version 1 interface, it shoud appeal to Mac users in that it cuts many non-essential addons other developers often pile on their viewer, while it still keeps and is often first with many powerful additions and new features added by Linden Labs. The interface is often much faster to use with the pie menu rather than the hierarchical menus presented in the version 2 viewers.
The Cool Viewer often runs better than other viewers on machines with less powerful graphics cards and slower processors. It is definately an essential part of the toolchest both for builders and visitors of opensim grids.
Groups v2 fixed for PGSQL in grid mode
There was an issue with Groups v2 not working in grid mode with PostgreSQL (PGSQL) that has now been fixed and can be pulled from the latest development version of OpenSim (git version and not opensim v0.8.1.3a643e2 as is currently published on the download page).
There is a catch though with the fix that it destructively migrates a few database tables starting with the name os_groups_ so you have to backup the data in these tables before running the newer version OpenSim, and restore the data after.
We also found that in the table os_groups_membership the field AccessToken just contained blanks (spaces), but it must be given the value 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 in the data you import to successfully restore data to the updated table. This can be done by fixing the data in the database before backup, so the backup already has the correct data for this field, or it has to be edited into the SQL or XML you restore the table data from after the upgrade. I found the first option easiest to handle. Fixing data, backup and restore was done with Navicat.
There are still other oddities with the PGSQL driver in grid mode that is being worked on.
Since xmir is using PostgreSQL, groups are now working as intended on the grid.
Yosemite and viewers - early experience
Apple is expected to release the new version of OS X – version 10.10 with code name Yosemite mid October.
We have tested most of the viewers, except Firestorm with the Golden Master candidate (very close to the final version) and no functional difficulties have been experienced, so compatibility seems to be exellent. Frame rates seems to be a bit clunky at times, but the version we have tested on is still full of debugging code, so performance should be much better when the final version of 10.10 is ready.
Bulletsim on OS X
The current version of the bulletsim physics engine will start on the latest release version of opensim, but there is a memory leak that will manifest itself pretty fast if you have more than 1 sim. for the xmir grid with 30 sims, it eats memory at a rate of 5 Mb/sec which will run the software out of meory in about 30 minutes.
The main developer of the bulletsim code is working on a fix that should sort out the issue, but for now ODE physics is what you must stick to. Of course this also means it is not possible to run VAR regions with opensim on OS X.
Mono 3.10 is out but…
Mono 3.10 is out from the mono-project, but there is currently a catch for Mac users running opensim. It produce a fatal crash early in the startup of the sims. Here is what they say about the issue:
The OSX package packages an invalid libgdiplus library that affects users of System.Drawing that requires it to work.
This specially affects Xamarin.Mac users that fit the following criteria:
- Uses Xamarin.Mac Classic (Unified is unaffected).
- Uses the subsets of System.Drawing that use libgdiplus.dylib internally
- System.Drawing.RectangleF, PointF, Colors are unaffected
- System.Drawing.Bitmap, and font for example are affectedThe symptom of the problemw is your application failing with: “System.TypeInitializationException: An exception was thrown by the type initializer for System.Drawing.GDIPlus —> System.Exception: GdiplusStartup”
As soon as this issue has been fixed, mono 3.10 will be tested and status reported back on. The issue also exist for 3.8, while 3.6 is in the clear.