ARES is a complicated system with many moving parts. We'd like to think that experience has made us better at delivering on software projects of this scope, but that isn't a guarantee of perfection—and it doesn't exactly help that Second Life is its own monument to the hubris of software architects. (Still, the alternatives do all seem to be worse.) With that in mind, here are some problems we think users and units are likely to encounter from time to time:

• Message syncopation: As we mentioned at the start of the tutorials, it is possible for a sudden influx of activity (such as clicking menu items really fast while someone is joining/leaving the region, pasting many lines of text into the chat processor at once, or holding down a gesture hotkey for several seconds...) to flood one or more applications, creating situations where there is a gap between the system's response and input: menu items respond to your previous click instead of the current one, or chat says thing (n) after you type thing (n+1). In extreme cases the gap can be more than one action. The simplest solution to this problem is to reset the script that has become syncopated (e.g. input or menu). More severe cases can be addressed with a proper kernel reset.

  To reset a program, use the reset system command. For example, @reset input would reset your own input processor, and /1 k4 reset menu would reset the menus for a unit with the prefix k4. Learn more about command prefixes »

  To reset the kernel, the unit must type =ddt reset. If this does not work, the unit should right-click on ARES in its Second Life inventory, choose "Touch", and then type k _psyche in the text box that appears.

• Web server outages: The Nanite Systems website isn't current backed by a CDN. In the event of an outage, this will also impact sales, redeliveries, and ARES features that depend on web access, like Setup, system help, the standard persona library, myNanite Uplink, EisaNet news, and certain applications (hookup, fortune, and wander.) If this happens, well... shucks! Hang tight and we'll get it fixed ASAP.

  Once the Nanite Systems web servers come back, the command fs refresh will restore access to Setup, onboard help, and standard personas.

• Mispackaged software: The ax software distribution system in ARES is quite complex—moreso than the old xanadu system in Companion. There are good reasons for this, but as a side effect, any mistakes in bundling packages will become immediately apparent during the install process. Fortunately, the added complexity means these errors can be worked around by the user. Help can be found in The Operating System: Package Management.
• Other problems: Don't Panic! Get in touch and we'll sort it out.
  • Check the ARES documentation, first. There's quite a lot of it, and most likely any non-bug issues are already addressed in here somewhere.
  • First, ask for help in the Nanite Systems User Group. This is usually the quickest way to get a response.
  • You can also send a notecard directly to rhet0rica, but please only do this if the User Group is unable to help you.
  • If all else fails, the ARES bug report page is here.

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