This page should cover all you need to know to be able to visit D-Island (or other spaces in SecondLife). It also features solutions to most common troubles new SecondLife users experience.
Hardware and bandwidth requirements
Check whether your computer matches minimum requirements for running SecondLife: http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/ . Using SecondLIfe is generally demanding in terms of cpu resources and connectivity. Although objects on D-Island were built as bandwidth-considered as possible, our testing showed that moving around D-Island requires minimum connectivity of 200-300 Kb/s (at peaks). Unfortunately, it is not possible to use D-island without meeting this criteria.
Getting your own Avatar (virtual representation)
Go to https://join.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US, create your account and chose your avatar’s look. Make sure to store your login details and the new SecondLife name in some safe place so you can look it up in case you forget those details.
Preparing your computer
1. Download and install SL client: http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/?lang=en-US
Linux users might opt for an open source SecondLife viewer Snowglobe (very similar to native SecondLife viewer):
Snowglobe can be downloaded as a source code and compiled (requires advanced linux administrative skills) or downloaded and installed from repositories where the viewer is packaged for different linux distributions. To download and install pre-packaged versions, corresponding repository has to be added to your package manager, depending on the linux distribution you are using. Common package managers are Synaptic, Aptitude, and others.
Users running Ubuntu Linux:
a. Add *deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openmetaverse/ppa/ubuntu lucid main* (without asterix sign *) to your repositories. (How?)
b. type in the command line:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install snowglobe2
Snowglobe viewer should be now installed and ready to take you to D-Island.
Users of other Linux distributions can find details about specific repositories and installation instructions at http://omvviewer.byteme.org.uk/
Note that we experienced some issues with audio in Snowglobe client installed on Ubuntu Maverick. Should you have similar issues, consider installing native SecondLife client for Linux:
Native SecondLIfe client can be downloaded through default SL download link (see above). Unzip downloaded file to any directory you wish. The client doesn’t need to be installed and it is launched through a shell command pointing to a file which is part of the download. To be able to launch SecondLife anytime simply by typing secondlife in the command line, do the following operation (on your command line):
sudo ln -s /PATH_TO_UNCOMPRESSED_SECOND_LIFE FOLDER/secondlife /usr/bin/secondlife
| Future SecondLIfe client will be web browser-based, so no installation of SL client will be required |
Entering D-Island
D-Island TeleportVisit D-Island by going to following url and clicking on Teleport now sign http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/D%20Island/59/32/1000. When your SecondLife browser opens, log in with your new name / password. Or alternatively (if the browser didn’t open automatically), open your SecondLife client the same way as you open any other program and log-in using your SecondLIfe name and password. 0nce you are IN click on the navigation bar in the upper part of your SecondLife client which resembles browser’s navigation bar, and paste above url there. As soon as you hit ENTER you will be asked whether you want to teleport to D-Island.
Common problems and solutions
Most common issues are dealt with in SecondLife Knowledge Base wiki. Some specific issues listed below:
An error message saying that your graphic card drivers is not compatible with SecondLife (Windows).
You will need following links to deal with this issue (and other similar ones):
1. Minimum requirements your computer must meet in order to run SecondLife: http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/
2. To find out what is your graphic card on Windows, follow this short guide: http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=36253
3. To update your (Windows) drives for your graphic card, go the drivers’ page for your specific type of graphic card: http://secondlife.com/community/drivers.php
4. Download and install latest driver for your card.