login_fail

At times, when attempting to log in, you will get a message like “Unable to connect to simulator”. Unfortunately, this message can be the result of several different things. This page covers some of the more common - and more rare - cases when this might occur.

• Your Internet Connection is Down Check whether you are able to connect to the 'net using a web browser; try to use it to visit a known website. If that fails, then the first thing to try is to unplug your modem/router for at least a full minute, then once plugged back in, allow then to go through startup, after which reboot your computer. If after this you are still unable to connect to the Internet with a web browser, you will probably need to contact your ISP to have your connection checked.

• Your Router and/or Modem has Problems Repeat the same things as above.

• Your Firewall is Preventing the Connection Try disabling your firewall software completely and then try to log in again. If you are successful, then you need to allow the viewer access through the firewall. Some tips on how to do that are here.

• Buildup of Open Notifications It is possible for a buildup of too many notifications to cause Firestorm to disconnect during or shortly after login. If you experience such disconnections repeatedly on Firestorm, then follow the instructions under “Firestorm Logs Out During Login” here.

• Domain Name Server (DNS) Issues Users of Firestorm may get “Unable to connect to simulator”, or a message specifically saying that there are issues with the DNS. In that case refer to this page for how to proceed.

• Region is Down It is possible that the region you are trying to log into is down. So try again but select a different region name at the log in screen. Some regions you can try: Hippo Hollow, Aich, Hatton, Pooley.

• Group Tag Preventing Login There are cases when your active group tag will prevent log in - most usually when the tag contains unicode characters (though there have been isolated cases where even standard Latin characters have prevented log in as well). If this happens, you can attempt to log in using a text based viewer such as Radegast or MetaBolt, and change your active group in that viewer (preferably to None), log out and then log in with your usual viewer.
  Should that not be an option, you will need to find a way to get word in-world, to the group owner, and have them either edit the group title tag or, should that not be an option, eject you from the group.
  If that too is not a viable option, then the only other recourse is to file a support ticket with LL and have them change your active group.
  This is a server issue, and is reported in this LL JIRA.

This error occurs when the viewer is not getting an acknowledgement from the server. See above for how to deal with connection issues.

This usually happens when you attempt to log in immediately after a crash. When you crash out of SL, the servers do not “realize” it immediately. This is part because it might simply be a case of a brief loss of connection, so SL allows for that. In fact, if anyone is near where you were at the time of a crash, they will continue to see your avatar for several minutes.

When you attempt to log back in, SL sees this, and starts to shut down the session that was running when you crashes. People will see your avatar vanish at this point.

So if you get the above message, wait for a minute before trying to log in again.

When things are running normally, you should never have to clear cache in order to log in. If you experience either of the following problems when logging in without clearing cache…

• You disconnect from Second Life as soon as you log in, with the View IMs/Quit message; or
• You are able to log in but find yourself under water (all you can see is a blue screen) at coordinates 10, 10, 10 (if you log in to an all blue screen, check your location, see if you are near the region's corner, at 10, 10, 10).

…then refer to this page. Both problems have the same root and thus the set of solutions.

The Firestorm login screen consists of a large upper display of information from the Firestorm web site, in addition to the smaller login panel at the bottom of the screen.

If your IP address range has a poor reputation (listed as having recently been involved in shady activities such as being part of a DDOS or a known IP that is malware infected), you will get a captcha form to complete before you can view the Firestorm web site. Captcha image

To view the upper part of the login screen normally, simply fill in the Captcha.

NOTE: You can log in to SL without doing the Captcha.