Chat failing to initiate
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Tinker Pixels
Both group chat and IM failing to initiate. I mostly experience it in Firestorm Social Island (simhost-0be97bd680c67540a.agni), as do the rest of the team.
Starting an IM with someone else will work most of the time and every once in a while end up with a popup stating "Unable to start a new chat session with Username. The session initialization is timed out".
Group chats will either fail silently or give the following message inline:
"Second Life: You are the only participant in this IM session. Your message is not being broadcast at this ti2me."
Tested on Second Life Release 26.1.1.23806384790, Alchemy Beta 7.1.9.2516 and Firestorm 7.2.3.80036.
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Tahiti Rae
I've been getting these errors for 1 to 2 weeks also on FS 7.1.11. I receive an IM, which I can see in my chat console (because I have that preference set to see IMs in local chat) but then I get the session timeout error. I click OK on the error and it closes the IM that I received. When I instantly restart a chat with that person, I type and send the IM reply and nothing appears. Have to relog for the IM to work. I usually get the error when I RECEIVE an IM, as opposed to initiating one. But when I initiate one with the same person who sent me one causing the error, then I can't initiate one with them. I cleared all forms of cache within the viewer but issue still occurring. Relog is the only temporary fix for me.
Tahiti Rae
Sorry - my exact errors are this: "Unable to start a new chat session with xxxxx. The session initialization is timed out." Issue happens on various regions. Location doesn't seem to be relevant.
Loly Sirnah
Just in case no one mentioned.. I noticed it happened to me on regions where there are scripted agents. don't know if it's a rule, though.. (not on Firestorme social island, my own land)
Maestro Linden
Hi guys, we have a potential fix for this bug with server version 2026-05-27.26527189617, which is currently deployed to the "Second Life Preflight" channel. If things go well, we expect to bring this build through the regular deployment process in the coming weeks.
The original region that this bug was reported against, "Firestorm Social Island", is set to be migrated to this channel/version upon its next restart.
We're looking forward to hearing whether the fix improves the situation - your feedback is highly appreciated!
Tinker Pixels
Maestro Linden Error occured at 12:29 AM SLT, shortly after the simulator node was updated to preflight. Log files sent on email. Both sender and recipient was at FSI at the time.
Tinker Pixels
Maestro Linden Group chat error (you are the only participant in this group). At Firestorm Social Island. Group was secondlife:///app/group/ca231025-790c-cc7b-42a8-f670e00b8596/about and timestamp 11:50 AM SLT. Log files sent on email.
Maestro Linden
Tinker Pixels: Thanks for the details and log files. We are investigating.
Edit:
Reviewing the logs of the 2026-05-31 11:50 SLT incident, I think you're seeing a different issue than the "The session initialization is timed out" failure mode that we expect to be fixed in this build. It looks like you were able to initialize the ca231025-790c-cc7b-42a8-f670e00b8596 group chat session properly.
The "you are the only participant" message would happen if either nobody else on the group had chat open at the time (either they were offline or had closed the chat tab), or if something else went wrong in delivery. I don't see any messages sent by others to that group or chat join events in the several minutes prior (though others did leave the chat), so the "you are the only participant" message may have been legitimate in this case.
Another related bug to watch out for is this one; when visiting in certain busy regions, agent presence can sometimes go awry and cause incoming message delivery failures:
Tourmaline Falken
Maestro Linden Chat failed with a resident who IM'd me and I was unable to respond at Firestorm Social Island 2nd June 2026 approx 3.35 am SLT. Both of us were in the same region. Log files sent on email.
Tinker Pixels
Maestro Linden It wasn't an ad hoc chat, but rather the linked group's chat. The group chat members were online as it is a group I have with a couple of alts for testing purposes like this, and the alts were online :-) But I understand that this is not in scope for this fix, so disregard that one.
Maestro Linden
Tourmaline Falken: Thanks for the logs. I see the
Alert: Unable to start a new chat session with [friend]. The session initialization is timed out
message at 2026-06-02T10:33:18Z. Did this error event actually drop a message, or did it appear before you actually sent anything material? I'm asking because the timing looks like it may be in relation to an IM_TYPING_STOP type message your viewer sent in that conversation a bit earlier. IM_TYPING_STOP is sent by the viewer automatically when you stop typing into the input field.
Tourmaline Falken
Maestro Linden I had a short exchange with the resident maybe 30 minutes earlier. I had closed the IM window and then they IM'd again. At that point, I tried to reply to their IM but got the timed out response, whereupon I logged off to get my logs to send in. Hope this helps.
Maestro Linden
Tinker Pixels: Okay. It might be worth reporting in a separate bug if it's a recurring thing. We would want to know which other members you thought should be active in the chat at the time.
Keep in mind that even if other group members are online, they will not necessarily be subscribed to the group chat session. While the SL viewer automatically subscribes to the chat of all groups at login time, some TPVs provide the option to not do that. Also, if the user closes the UI tab of a given group chat session, the viewer will delete the subscription.
Maestro Linden
Tourmaline Falken: Thanks, I appreciate the extra context.
JudiLynn India
Maestro LindenHi. This is actually happening to me this past week when I'm offline. I am greeted with this error message when I log in, if someone has IMd me while I was offline. I can usually find the IM in the COMM menu, but it will not appear in the waiting chat window.
Liam Puppy
Maestro Linden Happens in both cases. Can appear as someone IM's me, or if I try to open an IM session to message someone. Once I click the button to close the error message, it also closes the chatbox with that individual.
Randero Cutie
https://gyazo.com/3d5cd1c9c929c0b10df70e8fd192cb3a happened to me when i went AFK today and is still happening after a relog
Maggie Starling
I am constantly having issues with Group Chat functionality. Often, when starting a new chat by inviting someone to an existing conversation, the original person will NOT be included and need to be re-invited. Sometimes, rather than opening a new chat, it will randomly put us into an old chat from a previous day that includes whoever else was in THAT chat, regardless if they've been invited to the new one or not or if they're even online. Finally, I frequently have to invite people to a chat several times before they can see it even though the chat window says they're already part of the conversation.
icecubeyanzi Resident
I am having the same issue for ove a week now. Really hope this issue can be resolved soon, I have to relog dozens of times daily to talk with my husband and my friends, which is really irratating.
Maestro Linden
Merged in a post:
Unable to start a new chat session, crash repetely on TP, slow textures rezz
alexia Elcano
I'm truly baffled that you closed this ticket, as the problem persists and continues to cause serious issues. I'm still having constant problems with private messages; since I manage a fairly well-known store, many customers contact me, but I can't respond. I also manage a Land, for which I pay for a service that isn't being provided properly—every time I move or teleport, the system practically crashes, and I'm forced to restart. My account has been slow for months—I’ve told you this in several tickets that you can easily find if you look back—and without a definitive solution, you’ve told me to try DNS, try this, try that—nothing works; I can’t find a solution. Please try to find a solution because, honestly, I can’t work anymore—I can’t do anything, or I’m completely stuck, and I’m really frustrated. Thank you.
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Maestro Linden
Hecklezz is correct - the intermittent "session initialization failure" error message that appears intermittently when sending an IM is currently being tracked at https://secondlife.canny.io/server-bugs/p/chat-failing-to-initiate
Your other issues appear to be unrelated to the IM error message, and should be filed as separate bug reports with more details about how to reproduce. We'll also need details about your system - posting the 'About Second Life' text into the 'Environment' field in the feedback form is a good place to start for that.
deplove Resident
Maestro Linden At the end of the week, Tilia will ask me to pay for my annual Premium Plus subscription, which isn’t exactly cheap. But I’m extremely frustrated—I’ve submitted multiple support tickets for help, and like so many others here, I’m not allowed to use instant messaging or chat in my fashion group.If a customer writes to me asking for help, I can't respond unless I send a note card
And let’s not even talk about teleporting—it’s a miracle if I can get back home from a sandbox. Most of the time, I have to log out and back in, and log in again if I can’t see my groups, if the music doesn’t play, or if I can’t send notifications. I’m a fashion designer; we spend time and money, but just as SL is prompt in requesting payments, it could also be prompt in resolving these issues.
01 IM and public chat aren’t working
02 Teleport freezes and SL kicks you out
03 I can’t move using either the arrow keys or the letter keys, etc.
Thanks, Master Linden
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alexia Elcano
Maestro Linden That's my system's details.
Even if I relog, after 1 message this error starts again. It's impossible to work with. It's creating me a real commercial damage.
Neither Firestorm nor Second Life Official viewer works!
Processor (CPU): Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz (3600 MHz)
Memory: 16304 MB (Memory used: 1183 MB)
Concurrency: 8
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit (Build 19045.6466)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
Graphics Card Memory: 4096 MB
Detected graphics card memory (Detected): 4096 MB
My land/store in http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Everwinter/48/100/3495
Hecklezz Resident
deplove Resident In regards to your #2 point regarding teleporting (and possibly #3 as it may be related to #2), both Firestorm and Second Life Viewer has fixed this issue roughly 2 months ago. In Firestorm, our 7.2.4 Beta (soon to be a new release, but you can get our beta on our website) has it fixed, and Second Life Viewer has it fixed in their 26.2 release.
As for the IM session initialisation timeout issue, that is still being looked into my Linden Lab and is a server-side problem when the entire grid was moved to WebRTC and Vivox was shutdown. Not really anything can be done about it on your end and everyone just needs to keep waiting and hoping LL find the problem and fix it and push an update to all the simulators.
Aser Corvinus
Maestro Linden I can't even get messages received back from people on my main account. Only offline. My two alts are fine I can get and receive just fine. The starting a new chat error only occurs on my main account Aser. This happens in SL Viewer as well. It only affects one account. I can send messages and they receive I get nothing back from many. Sending and getting the unable to open only happens on Aser. In both viewers.
deplove Resident
Hecklezz Resident Dear Friend, I may have been a little harsh in my previous post, but try to understand my frustration—and that of others in my position—especially if you’re a creator; it all becomes so stressful when it’s supposed to be your break from stress. Anyway, following TJ’s advice from Firestorm, I downloaded the Beta, and so far teleport and chat seem to be working well, so I recommend that all Firestorm users try the Beta version. Greetings to everyone—I’m off to work on SL23B :)))
deplove Resident
Hecklezz Resident Dear Friend, I may have been a little harsh in my previous post, but try to understand my frustration—and that of others in my position—especially if you’re a creator; it all becomes so stressful when it’s supposed to be your break from stress. Anyway, following TJ’s advice from Firestorm, I downloaded the Beta, and so far teleport and chat seem to be working well, so I recommend that all Firestorm users try the Beta version. Greetings to everyone—I’m off to work on SL23B :)))
Hecklezz Resident
deplove Resident For reference if it wasn't clear, I am TJ from Firestorm, I am one of the developers 😉
I only just realised now you are the same person you put in a Jira ticket that I have been replying too haha.
deplove Resident
Hecklezz Resident Haha, it's youuu, muah, you deserve a kiss, but why aren't you called TJ here? I was going to message you to say I downloaded the beta, and I'm zipping from one Sim to another. Thanks, you're such a sweetheart—maybe even Prince Charming, who knows, haha
Hecklezz Resident
deplove Resident TJ is just my nickname, Hecklezz is a username/alias I use in most places on the internet. I probably should add Hecklezz to my Jira username to make it obvious.
Glad most of your issues are solved. Do note, you will still likely run into the IM timeout issue. It may not be as frequent as before due to some small networking changes done in 7.2.4, but the issue definitely still can happen while awaiting LL to fully fix it on the server-side.
Hecklezz Resident
As for the disconnecting after teleporting, this was a known issue on both LL's Second Life viewer and Firestorm. This issue has been fixed since ~2 months ago in both of our viewers, in LL's viewer it is fixed their latest 26.2 version, and in Firestorm our 7.2.4 beta (soon to be new release, but you can find our beta on our website)- https://github.com/secondlife/viewer/issues/5569
As for the IM failing to initialise issue, that is also known and there is already a popular Canny thread for it here- https://secondlife.canny.io/server-bugs/p/chat-failing-to-initiate
That particular issue is believed to be server-side ever since the WebRTC rollout and Vivox being shutdown, and LL are looking into it. Since you use Firestorm based on your screenshot, please try out our 7.2.4 beta which will fix the teleport disconnect issue, it will also fix a lot of voice issues if you use voice at all, and it may reduce (but not fix) the IM failing to initialise issue due to some networking behaviour changes since 7.2.3.
Delia Tafler
Same issues as many of the previous reporters, unable to start 1:1 or multi-user conferences, also when multi-user conferences do start often there's someone showing in the chat who was previously in a chat but was not invited to the recently created chat... They don't actually see the messages. It's quite a confusing situation!
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