Phoenix Firestorm Project - Wiki

Assuming you cannot log in on your viewer because it is blocked, this page will guide you through the old manual process.

By default, viewers store chat transcripts in the same directory as it does settings and configuration files (Contact Sets, teleport history, etc.). This wiki will help you change where your transcripts are stored and offer some management tips to help minimize the lag caused by keeping transcripts.

For this process, we will use the Desktop. This is not intended as a permanent location, but could be if you so desire.

• Open your file explorer, navigate to your Desktop directory and create a directory in there named FS-Chat or something similar. In there, create a subfolder for each of your avatar accounts.

• Navigate to the folder that stores the application data for the viewer - if you do not see this folder, you may need to show hidden folders.

• In the file explorer, you should see several directories, one named for your avatar. That's your per-account settings. Open that directory

• Your chat files are plain text files (.txt if your explorer displays extensions), they're named either chat for Nearby Chat, or named for each avatar's or group's chat you've seen. Select all those chat files and press Ctrl-X (Mac: Cmd-X) to “cut” them.

• Navigate back to your new chat logs location, which you selected above. Click into the correct account folder and press Ctrl-V (Mac: Cmd-V) to move all your chat files in.

Repeat this for for each avatar for which chat transcripts will be saved.

You can't really back up settings manually. But you can preserve most of them.

• Navigate to the folder that stores the application data for the viewer - if you do not see this folder, you may need to show hidden folders.

• In the file explorer, you should see several directories, one named for your avatar. That's your per-account settings. Open that directory

• Locate the file called settings_per_account.xml and delete it. If you desire, you can move this to a different place and open it with a text editor if you want to manually restore any of the settings (autoresponses, for example). Repeat this for all of your avatar directories.

• Navigate back and then into the user_settings directory

• Locate the file called settings.xml and delete it. If you desire, you can move this to a different place and open it with a text editor if you want to manually restore any of the global settings.

Since your current version of Firestorm is blocked, there is also a good chance that the cache-related functions have changed enough that clearing cache is advised. Normally, clearing cache should only be done when there is a problem with the cache, or when there is a significant change in the viewer that requires it. Refer to this page.

Ideally, use the Programs & Features Control Panel [Vista, Win7, Win8, Win10], or Add/Remove Programs Control Panel [XP] to remove the Firestorm application. If you have a Firestorm folder in your Start Menu, there may be an Uninstall link there (32-bit Firestorm only).

Navigate to Applications and trash the Firestorm App.

The Firestorm install directory will be wherever you extracted the download archive. Typically this will be in your home directory somewhere, such as ~/Phoenix-Firestorm_*. Delete this directory and everything inside it.

If you used the install script as root, look in your /opt directory. You will need to su root or sudo rm to delete the firestorm directory there.

Having done all those steps, you may now install Firestorm. Installing Firestorm is done in pretty much the same way as any other application on your computer.

Get the installer: For the current release, go to the Downloads page.
For any previous supported version, go to the Older Downloads page.

Run the downloaded installer. The 32-bit installer will offer you the chance to change the destination directory; the 64-bit installer shows the destination when you click the Options button.
The installer will create a shortcut icon on the desktop.

Note: Choose No if you are prompted to start the viewer.¹⁾

Find the .dmg file you just downloaded and double-click it to mount it. Then drag the Firestorm app icon into your Applications folder. More detailed instructions can be found here

Extract the downloaded tar.bz2 or tar.xz into any directory and run the firestorm script inside that directory to launch it. You can optionally install by running the install script inside that directory. And you can optionally create a desktop launcher. Refer to the README files for more information.
If installing the 32-bit version of Firestom on a 64-bit version of linux, refer to this page for guidance on required compatibility libraries.
Some Ubuntu users may need to modify how Nautilus handles scripts.

Once you have the viewer installed or reinstalled, you will want to make sure the viewer is operating correctly:

• Log back into SL, to a quiet region (try Hippo Hollow, Aich or Hatton). Don't change any settings.
• Test any functions that didn't work for you in the previous version that had been reported fixed.
• Open your Inventory and wait for it to fully populate.

At this point, if the viewer is performing as it should, and you have a backup of your settings, you can then restore them.

If you do not have a backup set, you can begin re-doing your settings manually. Once that's done, you should relog and confirm that the changes are still there, then backup your settings and again relog.

Log back in to SL once again and confirm that the viewer is still performing as it should; then you can adjust any new or changed settings and then back those up.

Note that some settings are not restored, such as graphics. This is because the graphics settings could be incorrect and may cause problems.

If you did step 1 and moved your chat files, you can reverse that process to move them back, or you can set Firestorm to always use that location. Refer to this page for more details about managing chat files.