Rainbow Viewers for Virtual Worlds

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Rainbow Viewer 1.19.0.5 Netbook Edition v1.2

Saturday, October 17, 2009 3:43:06 AM

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[Update: New version 1.2 is out with the backported security fixes from the mandatory 1.23.5 official viewer update. This viewer is adult compatible and search functionality works properly. And some minor bugs are fixed. In case you use v1.0 or v1.1 you can simply install this one on top to update, but please delete your existing settings_1.19.xml file in your Application Date\SecondLife directory to avoid eventual problems.]

It took a while to play with my little Wind clone and to test all kind of different scenarios. I can't say it was conclusive, SL is too unpredictable, but I decided to give out a first version of a netbook optimized Rainbow Viewer to all of you who want to be a guinea pig smile.

Here it comes, Rainbow Viewer 1.19.0.5 Netbook Edition in version 1.2. Under the hood it's however pretty solid and based on the long Cool Viewer tradition. I've tried in this version to optimize the viewer as much as possible for speed on the small hardware handicapped Intel Atom machines with their underperforming 945GM graphics. The good thing is, pretty much all netbooks are more or less identical from their hardware and the viewer should just run on any of them. Default settings are already adjusted to a minimum for max performance, and you can even set the drawing distance to just 32m, that's perfectly fine when being inside buildings or closed spaces and should add some more FPS.

Other than optimizations a lot of floaters and panels have been adapted to the smaller screen size and should fit pretty well now (please set the Windows taskbar to auto-hide, right click => Properties). Nevertheless this is a first version to see how this works and I ask all of you to give feedback what still doesn't work or could need some improvements.

To get the netbook viewer running you need to install first an official SL viewer in version 1.19.0.5 you can find here:
http://code.google.com/p/coolviewer/downloads/detail?name=Second_Life_1-19-0-5_Setup.exe&can=2&q=

Then simply run the Rainbow Viewer installer over the default SL installation:
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/RainbowViewer_1.19.0.5_NetbookEdition_v1.2_Installer.exe
MD5: e0253599b5ce041b336b7ec98f5659f9
SHA-1: 1ba9840b3fcbb5c87d2be27b324e8e29a8942225

Please start the viewer with the included RainbowViewer.lnk shortcut.

I hope it works for you and gives you some improvement on the small machine, but please don't expect a miracle on the limited platform smile. Questions, feedback, ideas, are welcome here as always.

Sources:
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/src_1.19.0.5_NB_v1.2.tar.gz

Enjoy!
Boy

Cool Viewers - Latest VersionsCool Viewer 1.22.11.0 R10a - Fully adult compatible

Comments

Boy Laneboylane Sunday, May 9, 2010 2:31:54 AM

@Ugh
Sounds like some graphics driver problem. Again, I don't know about GMA3150. You may want to try the normal version which comes in SSE and SSE2 flavours with different OpenGL implementation.

Unregistered user Thursday, May 20, 2010 5:40:32 PM

bodzette writes: Hi, I have the newer SL viewer running on a Samsung q1 UMPC which has an intel GMA915. I get the warning message that the chipset is not supported but it does run, though really really S L O W. It runs and renders at about 3-5 fps would be my guess. My question: I've noticed that you talk about the GMA950 as being the processor. Do you think it will run with a GMA915? Thanks

Boy Laneboylane Friday, May 21, 2010 1:38:08 AM

Yes, it will run on other GPUs like 915 but not with GMA500.
You could also try the newer Rainbow based on 1.22 which some people had success with.

Unregistered user Wednesday, June 2, 2010 12:17:14 AM

Rebecca writes: Thank you so much Boy! :-) Seeing how hard my desktop computer has to work to run LLs viewer, I never thought I'd ever be able to use SL on my netbook (Samsung NC10 with XP encrypted using truecrypt). Thanks again, this has made me really happy :-)

Unregistered user Wednesday, June 2, 2010 6:34:21 PM

Anonymous writes: First and foremost, I am running windows 7 starter on my netbook. I downloaded Second Life 1.19, the link that you provided and I installed it, then installed rainbow viewer in the same directory and I was getting an error. xul.dll error. I then uninstalled second life and downloaded second life 1.20, then installed rainbow viewer in the same directory. I wasn't getting the xul.dll error, but now when I start the rainbow viewer from the rainbow viewer shortcut, a little white box comes up that says "loading rainbow viewer...", and nothing happens. Then when I close it, it says the program is not responding and I have to end the program. So, my question is, what is going on? Why is the viewer having a problem loading?

Unregistered user Wednesday, June 2, 2010 6:37:21 PM

Riniel writes: I'm the one that wrote about the viewer loading and it won't do anything... I forgot to mention that my video card is an Intel GMA 3150.

Boy Laneboylane Thursday, June 3, 2010 8:05:32 AM

For the netbook viewer you need to install the official 1.10 SL viewer, nothing else. 1.20 or any other version does not work.

When you get a xul.dll error it means you did not install the official viewer and Rainbow into the same directory. Therefore it can not find the dll file.

Please try the following:
Uninstall the viewer
Install the official 1.19 viewer and make sure you can start it.
Verify where it installed to, that should be c:\program files\secondlife
Install the Netbookviewer into the same directory and overwrite all files.
Start SL again with the previous shortcut, it should now load the netbook viewer.

@Riniel
I don't know this graphic chipset and can't therefore not verify if it is supported or not. What happens if you try to start the original official 1.19 viewer installation?

Unregistered user Thursday, June 3, 2010 4:07:27 PM

Riniel writes: I reinstalled SL 1.19 and started it before I installed rainbow viewer and did that trick! Before I installed SL 1.19 and Rainbow in the same directory and xul.dll was in there, but it wouldn't start. So, I think running SL first helped. Are all the settings pre-configured with rainbow, or do I need to change all the settings to the lowest?

Boy Laneboylane Friday, June 4, 2010 1:33:48 PM

The defaults are already at low settings for best performance but you may still want to play a bit to get the best results for your setup.

Unregistered user Monday, June 14, 2010 10:56:25 AM

Anonymous writes: Will this work on 2.0?

Boy Laneboylane Monday, June 14, 2010 4:24:35 PM

What is 2.0?

Unregistered user Tuesday, August 31, 2010 12:00:59 AM

Anonymous writes: I have an upcoming course that requires SL, but it was impossible for me to get home from campus in time for the class, which meant I had to use my netbook while on campus. I thought I was doomed but then I came across your blog, and I'm so glad I did! Thank you so much for this viewer - I can definitely run SL a lot smoother now! PS: I'm also using a Samsung NC10 with XP, as Rebecca (above) is.

Unregistered user Tuesday, November 30, 2010 10:09:50 PM

Neoserenity writes: I have an inspiron 1420, and I'm trying to get it up and running with that. But it keeps crashing every time I try to start it up. How can I fix this? Thank you!

Boy Laneboylane Wednesday, December 1, 2010 4:12:57 PM

@Neo
I don't know Inspiron 1420, try first if you can get the old 1.19 viewer to run. May just be a mixture of different versions which will not work.

Unregistered user Sunday, December 5, 2010 6:51:56 AM

Neoserenity writes: Inspiron 1420 is a Dell if that helps at all? It runs Vista.

Unregistered user Sunday, December 5, 2010 4:42:45 PM

Neoserenity writes: Alright. I think I've got it, but it says that I have to download the newest version. Is there anyway around that? I'm truly sorry that I'm being such a bother.

Boy Laneboylane Saturday, December 18, 2010 2:52:47 AM

This only happens with the official version. If you install Netbookviewer over it it will not ask for an update.

Unregistered user Monday, April 18, 2011 12:15:33 AM

Anonymous writes: OMG i dont get this AT ALL how do i install it? D:

Boy Laneboylane Monday, April 18, 2011 1:13:56 PM

As written (and linked) in the first posting, you need to install the official 1.19 viewer first, then Rainbow over it.

Unregistered user Wednesday, July 27, 2011 12:20:39 AM

Anonymous writes: for some reason mine keeps crashing when I start it up. I mean I installed sl viewer 1.19 first ran it then installed your viewer and it keeps crashing. please help me :(

Boy Laneboylane Thursday, July 28, 2011 1:45:43 PM

Firstly, that is very old stuff. So don't expect miracles smile. Still it should work. Best is to uninstall all SL versions you have, they may overlap and mess up. Then delete all files in your ApplicationData\SecondLife directory. After this do a fresh install. Official 1.19 first, then the Netbook Viewer over it.

Alternatively you should also give the new Rainbow 1.22.12.7 a try. That may run well too. Don't need an official viewer or cleanup, that's a standalone complete viewer. Just go to the main blog.

Unregistered user Wednesday, August 10, 2011 2:59:33 AM

Ricardo writes: Do you have a Netbook? Good for you! But you can FORGET Second Live, until Linden Labs decide to do a SL Viewer "Lite" or something like that, specially designed for Netbooks and other low powered hardware (if they ever decide to do that, which i doubt, unfortunately). I've tried Rainbow Viewer Netbook Edition. If you want to be blind in SL and "play" the game at 1-3 fps, this is the viewer for you. Otherwise, if you have a brain, just use Metabolt or Radegast text viewers.

Unregistered user Wednesday, August 17, 2011 9:27:35 PM

Anonymous writes: Does it seem like a problem at all to people that the old versions of second life can't be downloaded, rendering every viewer on this site utilizing them unusable? Why is this viewer made? All the old viewer links give me an error no matter what computer I use.

Boy Laneboylane Friday, August 19, 2011 1:02:28 PM

LL killed the old downloads. Here is a backup:
http://my.opera.com/boylane/blog/viewer-1-x-the-binaries-that-poofed

Unregistered user Saturday, February 18, 2012 7:56:33 PM

Anonymous writes: how do i run rainbow viewer over it?

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