Re: [gentoo-user] Firefox occasionally stalls

[Alan McKinnon]

On 21/03/2017 22:04, J. Roeleveld wrote:
> On March 21, 2017 8:35:36 PM GMT+01:00, Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@×××××.com> wrote:
>> 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 see this with some websites that do some weird stuff.
> CPU for at least one core then also goes to 100÷.
> Make a list of websites open in tabs when it happens to see if there are common ones that are always there when you have the issue.

Good idea. For posterity so's I don;t forget:

- gentoo home page
- one or more readthedocs sites (especially docs.ansible.com)
- 1 or more jira pages (work stuff)
- 1 or more confluence pages (work stuff)
- a local gitlab site
- 1 or more python html apps for, errr, usenets stuffs
- 1 or more python apps running in flask (work stuff)

-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@×××××.com