[gentoo-user] Re: Firefox occasionally stalls

[Kai Krakow]

Am Tue, 21 Mar 2017 21:35:36 +0200
schrieb Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@×××××.com>:

> This post is rather vague, sorry about that in advance.
>
> I've spent much time on this and gotten absolutely nowhere. So I
> conclude all my thoughts and assumptions are wrong and not worth even
> sharing (on account of them being so wrong).
>
> I have firefox like this:
>
> [I] www-client/firefox
>       Available versions:  45.7.0^d 45.8.0^d (~)51.0.1^d {bindist
> custom-cflags custom-optimization dbus debug ffmpeg +gmp-autoupdate
> +gstreamer gtk2 hardened hwaccel jack +jemalloc +jemalloc3 +jit neon
> pgo pulseaudio rust selinux +skia startup-notification system-cairo
> system-harfbuzz system-icu system-jpeg system-libevent system-libvpx
> system-sqlite test wifi L10N="ach af an ar as ast az be bg bn-BD
> bn-IN br bs ca cak cs cy da de dsb el en-GB en-ZA eo es-AR es-CL
> es-ES es-MX et eu fa ff fi fr fy ga gd gl gn gu he hi hr hsb hu hy id
> is it ja ka kk km kn ko lij lt lv mai mk ml mr ms nb nl nn or pa pl
> pt-BR pt-PT rm ro ru si sk sl son sq sr sv ta te th tr uk uz vi xh
> zh-CN zh-TW"} Installed versions:  51.0.1^d(21:30:20 21/02/2017)(dbus
> gmp-autoupdate jemalloc pulseaudio skia startup-notification
> system-harfbuzz system-icu system-jpeg system-libevent system-libvpx
> system-sqlite wifi -bindist -custom-cflags -custom-optimization
> -debug -gtk2 -hardened -hwaccel -jack -neon -pgo -rust -selinux
> -system-cairo -test L10N="en-GB en-ZA -ach -af -an -ar -as -ast -az
> -bg -bn-BD -bn-IN -br -bs -ca -cak -cs -cy -da -de -dsb -el -eo
> -es-AR -es-CL -es-ES -es-MX -et -eu -fa -ff -fi -fr -fy -ga -gd -gl
> -gn -gu -he -hi -hr -hsb -hu -hy -id -is -it -ja -ka -kk -km -kn -ko
> -lij -lt -lv -mai -mk -ml -mr -ms -nb -nl -nn -or -pa -pl -pt-BR
> -pt-PT -rm -ro -ru -si -sk -sl -son -sq -sr -sv -ta -te -th -tr -uk
> -uz -vi -xh -zh-CN -zh-TW") Homepage:
> http://www.mozilla.com/firefox Description:         Firefox Web
> Browser
>
> with these plugins:
> - adblockplus
> - flashblock
> - foxyproxy standard
> - restart browser
> - user agent switcher
> - youtube all html5
>
> Occasionally, according to no discernable pattern, all my tabs on all
> some/most/all Firefox windows stop responding. Clicking and scrolling
> in the content has no effect. Can't open new tabs, can't close tabs,
> can't switch to existing tabs. Sometimes it affects only one firefox
> window, sometimes all firefox windows.
>
> Imagine if you will that firefox is coded with one global loop that
> gets user actions and responds, then that loop gets stuck somewhere.
> The firefox window will not be affected (controlled by KDE), and
> neither is the X-server but the tabs can all do nothing till the loop
> unsticks. It's an effect like that.
>
> Sometimes it does work after a delay >30s.
> The sysadmin in me says 30s? Hah, check DNS resolver timeouts.
> Checked, found nothing unusual. Proxy looks OK, VPN looks OK, Chrome
> never has this problem so it's firefox specific.
>
> Firefox itself is up, it responds correctly to moving around the
> menus, just can't do some of the actions like open the Addons page
> (that is regular content in a tab).
>
> The issue ALWAYS goes away if I restart firefox, either with the
> restart addon or Alt-F4 and start from KDE menu. I have "load
> previous tabs" set to true so those actions are pretty equivalent.
>
> DE is Plasma 5, and the problem isn't from a recent upgrade, I've
> been battling with this for ages through MANY kde and firefox updates.
>
> My question:
> Where the hell do I start to figure out what's really going on?
> I used up all my sysadmin troubleshooting knowledge and have had to
> revert back to n00b status on this one.

I didn't use Firefox in a long time but remember similar effects until
I stopped using AdBlock Plus (Chrome showed similar stalls with it,
just not completely blocking, only one tab blocking). If this is what
affects you, maybe try Ghostery instead (which is what I am using with
Chrome now).

If it doesn't help, deactivate the next addon. Every addon hooking into
web site rendering can create such problems easily, so start with those
addons first.

-- 
Regards,
Kai

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