fs_media - Adjust proper case for Linux

This section covers issues related to audio, video and some aspects of search.

• For situations where you cannot hear audio, be it streaming music, or the audio from a movie/video, the first thing to do is check the following:
  • Windows users: see this page.
  • Make sure streaming music and/or media are enabled in Preferences→ Sound & Media -> Sounds.
  • In the same place, check that volumes for music and media are not at minimum.
  • Make sure audio is configured correctly in your operating system (i.e., Windows, Linux, OSX), that sound is going to the correct device (i.e., speakers or headset), and so on. This may require you to adjust settings in your sound mixer, volume mixer, and/or other similar software.
  • Confirm that you have not blocked the stream/video: open Preferences → Sound & Media → Media → Manage Media Sites and see if the problem URL is listed there; if so, remove it.
  • For streaming music, test the music URL in your external web browser, to make sure that the URL actually works.

• If you have plugged in a USB sound device, you may need to relog so that the viewer can use it.
• HTTP fetching may be overloading your router; please try the suggestions given here; if they do not help, revert the changes made then return to this page and continue.

• The Dullahan Plugin (for those who have questions): Dullahan is a headless browserSDK that uses the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF). In addition to playing media, Dullahan is also used for:
  • Websearch
  • Web profiles
  • Built-in browser
  • Splash Screen when the viewer is launched
  • Media-based HUDs
  • Avatar Menu - Choose an Avatar
  • Destination Guide
  • Wiki Help pages (when clicking the ? in a floater)

• Relog Firestorm and open the Search window
• Go to your computer processes and look for “slplugin.exe”
  • For Windows users, go to Task Manager → Processes Tab
  • For Mac users, go to Activity Monitor → My Processes (usually by default, but you can check top right drop down)
  • For Linux users, go to Command Terminal, and type “ps aux”
  • You may see four instances of the slplugin running (that is normal behavior)
  • If you do not see any instances of slplugin running, that is the cause of media failing
• If slplugin is not running, disable all firewall and virus protection (including anti-virus software and windows or other operating system firewalls). Do this check also for dullahan_host.exe.
• Relog and attempt video playback again
• If it works, you will need to stop your firewall/virus protection from blocking the slplugin and/or dullahan_host.exe files by granting appropriate permissions in your firewall/virus protection software
• NOTE: If you have several viewers installed, you will have to allow to each one access through your firewall, as well as to SLPlugin and dullahan_host.exe for each one.
• If all of the above does not resolve the issue, you can try downloading the latest SL Viewer and replacing your Firestorm slplugin file with the one from SL Viewer.

• In Preferences → Sound & Media → Sounds, make sure the “Enabled” checkbox to the right of the “Media” slider is checked
  (For audio, check “Streaming Music”)
• In Preferences → Sound & Media → Media, check “Allow inworld scripts to play media”
• In Preferences → Network & Files -> Connection, make sure the Maximum Number of Web Browser Windows dropdown is set to Five, Ten or Unlimited
• Make sure the issue is not with the specific television you are using, by attempting to view videos on a television that plays video normally for other Firestorm users.
• Make sure that “Enable plugins” is ticked in Preferences → Network & Files -> Connection, else the external media plugin can not be executed, and you may see a message saying: Adobe Flash Player or an HTML5 supported browser is required for video playback.

In-world videos (on TVs and Prim Media, a.k.a. Media-on-a-Prim) are independent streams from the source to each person watching. The only way to synchronize them is for each person to click Play at the exact same time, and even then the streams can get out of sync depending on lag, connection, buffering, and other network & computer issues.

If you have Parcel Media rights, Parcel Media is an alternative. Like a music stream, it will generally be sync'd for everyone watching (World menu > Parcel Details > Media tab). Click the ? at the top of the Media tab page or see here for more information on how to configure Parcel Media.

Embedded MP4s no longer are supported by Second Life. Consult your TV maker to determine if they use this format. Refer to BUG-224979, as well as this blog post.

Please read https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/4520411/adobe-flash-end-of-support before considering installing flash. Flash has a LONG history of very serious security issues. If someone is providing content that only works with flash, please contact them and let them know that flash will be end of life in the near future, this means there will be NO security updates from the vendor beyond that point. Nobody should be forcing flash on anyone in this day and age, it is 2020, not 2001 anymore. If you want to take the risk, read ahead….

The Flash plugin is not installed with Firestorm; you have to install it yourself. However, you need specific plugin versions:

• Windows users:
  • In order to play Flash format videos (e.g., YouTube videos), you must have the Opera & Chromium version of the Adobe Flash plugin installed. Unless you already have this specific version of Flash installed already, you will need to get the Opera & Chromium Flash plugin from Adobe.

• Linux users
  • You need to have the pepperflash plugin installed, which can be satisfied by installing pepperflashplugin-nonfree for Chromium

• Mac users
  • Mac users currently need the Safari & Firefox version of Adobe Flash plugin installed. Download it from Adobe.

• All users: Test your Flash
  • To make sure you have successfully installed the correct version of Flash and that it is working, use the in-world Flash game to test it.
    • Open the Developer menu: CTRL-Alt-Q. (Close this after testing; it's best not to leave this menu open.)
    • Then type CTRL-SHIFT-Z to open the internal browser.
    • Once the browser loads, click the Home icon in the upper left of the browser window.
    • Click the Media tab, at top.
    • Click “Flash game.”
    • A bubble-shooter game should load.

• NOTE: If you experience graphics driver crashes on nVidia cards when viewing Flash media (for example Youtube) both in-world and on a website and/or severe drops in your GPU clock mhz on any card then you will need to disable hardware acceleration on Flash Player. To do this, go to Youtube and Pick any video. Right click the video play area to bring up the options and follow the instructions here.

QuickTime is no longer needed for Windows users (and never was for Linux users). Mac users, however, still need to have it.

• If YouTube videos suddenly will not play, and you just get a white screen, go to Preferences→ Privacy -> General, and click on Clear History, then try again.
• See also the Flash section, above.

Go to Preferences→ Sound & Media -> Sounds and make sure the volume sliders for streaming music and media are not all to the left and that there is no mute symbol (red no entry sign) on the speaker icon next to those. Make sure the Master Volume is not all to the left.

Check that Sound Source rolloff distance (Media tab) is correct; set back to default, if you changed it (5m and 30 respectively for min and max).

1) Check viewer settings

• Go to Preferences→ Sound & Media -> Sounds and check that you have the Sounds and UI sliders up high enough and that there is no mute symbol (red no entry sign) on the speaker icon next to those.

2) Check your audio drivers

• Look in Help menu → About Firestorm for the line that begins with “Audio Driver Version.” If that line says “Undefined,” reboot your computer and see if the Audio Driver Version appears.
• If this doesn't help:
  • Go into Windows device manager (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/005a1acb-776e-4320-b9f2-3a2302a320da/open-device-manager) & see if there is a yellow triangle warning symbol against your Sound devices (or your display adapters).
  • Also make sure your sound card driver is up to date.
  • Reinstall your graphics driver; the drivers also include audio components.

Go to the top menu bar→ Advanced → Use Plugin Read Thread, and disable it, if it is enabled - or vice versa. (If you cannot see Advanced on the top menu, press Ctrl-Alt-D.)

If that doesn't help, first ensure that you have your bandwidth set correctly. Also, test the audio stream in your regular media player, and/or try a different audio stream in-world.

If the music volume fades as you cam around or edit objects, check the sound equalization settings in your operating system. For example, this may be caused by “Loudness equalization” being enabled in your speaker properties on Windows 7. (Refer to https://jira.firestormviewer.org/browse/FIRE-19885.)

Preferences - Sound & Media - Music - Enable Parcel Audio Fading - uncheck if checked. (reference for Support only https://jira.firestormviewer.org/browse/SUP-20376|SUP-20376).

This error is due to Flash not being installed, or not installed correctly. See above.

There are two possible causes:

• Flash is not installed, or is not installed correctly. See Flash, above.
• Your antivirus has deleted or mangled the plugin. See Antivirus Whitelisting for instructions on how to fix this.