Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@×××××.com>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Firefox occasionally stalls
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:19:47
Message-Id: 939747fb-803b-0809-46a7-0c4936a63571@gmail.com
In Reply to: [gentoo-user] Re: Firefox occasionally stalls by Kai Krakow
1 On 21/03/2017 21:50, Kai Krakow wrote:
2 > Am Tue, 21 Mar 2017 21:35:36 +0200
3 > schrieb Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@×××××.com>:
4 >
5 >> This post is rather vague, sorry about that in advance.
6 >>
7 >> I've spent much time on this and gotten absolutely nowhere. So I
8 >> conclude all my thoughts and assumptions are wrong and not worth even
9 >> sharing (on account of them being so wrong).
10 >>
11 >> I have firefox like this:
12 >>
13 >> [I] www-client/firefox
14 >> Available versions: 45.7.0^d 45.8.0^d (~)51.0.1^d {bindist
15 >> custom-cflags custom-optimization dbus debug ffmpeg +gmp-autoupdate
16 >> +gstreamer gtk2 hardened hwaccel jack +jemalloc +jemalloc3 +jit neon
17 >> pgo pulseaudio rust selinux +skia startup-notification system-cairo
18 >> system-harfbuzz system-icu system-jpeg system-libevent system-libvpx
19 >> system-sqlite test wifi L10N="ach af an ar as ast az be bg bn-BD
20 >> bn-IN br bs ca cak cs cy da de dsb el en-GB en-ZA eo es-AR es-CL
21 >> es-ES es-MX et eu fa ff fi fr fy ga gd gl gn gu he hi hr hsb hu hy id
22 >> is it ja ka kk km kn ko lij lt lv mai mk ml mr ms nb nl nn or pa pl
23 >> pt-BR pt-PT rm ro ru si sk sl son sq sr sv ta te th tr uk uz vi xh
24 >> zh-CN zh-TW"} Installed versions: 51.0.1^d(21:30:20 21/02/2017)(dbus
25 >> gmp-autoupdate jemalloc pulseaudio skia startup-notification
26 >> system-harfbuzz system-icu system-jpeg system-libevent system-libvpx
27 >> system-sqlite wifi -bindist -custom-cflags -custom-optimization
28 >> -debug -gtk2 -hardened -hwaccel -jack -neon -pgo -rust -selinux
29 >> -system-cairo -test L10N="en-GB en-ZA -ach -af -an -ar -as -ast -az
30 >> -bg -bn-BD -bn-IN -br -bs -ca -cak -cs -cy -da -de -dsb -el -eo
31 >> -es-AR -es-CL -es-ES -es-MX -et -eu -fa -ff -fi -fr -fy -ga -gd -gl
32 >> -gn -gu -he -hi -hr -hsb -hu -hy -id -is -it -ja -ka -kk -km -kn -ko
33 >> -lij -lt -lv -mai -mk -ml -mr -ms -nb -nl -nn -or -pa -pl -pt-BR
34 >> -pt-PT -rm -ro -ru -si -sk -sl -son -sq -sr -sv -ta -te -th -tr -uk
35 >> -uz -vi -xh -zh-CN -zh-TW") Homepage:
36 >> http://www.mozilla.com/firefox Description: Firefox Web
37 >> Browser
38 >>
39 >> with these plugins:
40 >> - adblockplus
41 >> - flashblock
42 >> - foxyproxy standard
43 >> - restart browser
44 >> - user agent switcher
45 >> - youtube all html5
46 >>
47 >> Occasionally, according to no discernable pattern, all my tabs on all
48 >> some/most/all Firefox windows stop responding. Clicking and scrolling
49 >> in the content has no effect. Can't open new tabs, can't close tabs,
50 >> can't switch to existing tabs. Sometimes it affects only one firefox
51 >> window, sometimes all firefox windows.
52 >>
53 >> Imagine if you will that firefox is coded with one global loop that
54 >> gets user actions and responds, then that loop gets stuck somewhere.
55 >> The firefox window will not be affected (controlled by KDE), and
56 >> neither is the X-server but the tabs can all do nothing till the loop
57 >> unsticks. It's an effect like that.
58 >>
59 >> Sometimes it does work after a delay >30s.
60 >> The sysadmin in me says 30s? Hah, check DNS resolver timeouts.
61 >> Checked, found nothing unusual. Proxy looks OK, VPN looks OK, Chrome
62 >> never has this problem so it's firefox specific.
63 >>
64 >> Firefox itself is up, it responds correctly to moving around the
65 >> menus, just can't do some of the actions like open the Addons page
66 >> (that is regular content in a tab).
67 >>
68 >> The issue ALWAYS goes away if I restart firefox, either with the
69 >> restart addon or Alt-F4 and start from KDE menu. I have "load
70 >> previous tabs" set to true so those actions are pretty equivalent.
71 >>
72 >> DE is Plasma 5, and the problem isn't from a recent upgrade, I've
73 >> been battling with this for ages through MANY kde and firefox updates.
74 >>
75 >> My question:
76 >> Where the hell do I start to figure out what's really going on?
77 >> I used up all my sysadmin troubleshooting knowledge and have had to
78 >> revert back to n00b status on this one.
79 >
80 > I didn't use Firefox in a long time but remember similar effects until
81 > I stopped using AdBlock Plus (Chrome showed similar stalls with it,
82 > just not completely blocking, only one tab blocking). If this is what
83 > affects you, maybe try Ghostery instead (which is what I am using with
84 > Chrome now).
85 >
86 > If it doesn't help, deactivate the next addon. Every addon hooking into
87 > web site rendering can create such problems easily, so start with those
88 > addons first.
89 >
90
91
92 I got fed up dealing with Firefox addons, so took the alternate route I
93 used about every 6 months or so:
94
95 emerge -et world
96
97 and everything is nice and stable now after 48 hours running. I actually
98 suspect an intel driver/mesa problem as I would often also get visual
99 artifacts, plasma flashing the panel in odd ways and other stuff, often
100 co-incident with Firefox just stalling. It was recalling that Firefox
101 does some sophisticated accelaration that prompted me to try this.
102
103
104 --
105 Alan McKinnon
106 alan.mckinnon@×××××.com

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Firefox occasionally stalls Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com>