Re: [gentoo-user] Firefox occasionally stalls

[Dale]

Alan McKinnon wrote:
> On 21/03/2017 21:57, Dale wrote:
>> Alan McKinnon 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.
>>>
>>
>> Mine does something like that too.  Sometimes mine will pop up and say
>> script so and so is not responding and then have a option to stop or
>> continue.  What I did that helped some, installed noscript which stops
>> all the scripts except the ones I allow.  So far, that has helped a
>> lot.  You may want to try that and see if it helps you any.  If it does,
>> then it is likely a script hanging up Firefox.  If not, uninstall and
>> look for something else I guess.
>>
>> I might add, I've also had this happen on Seamonkey where I have far
>> fewer tabs open.  Usually it is a site that has a Disqus comment
>> section.  Those hang a lot especially if there is a lot of comments.
>> I've had those type 10, 15 and even 20 seconds behind me and I'm a slow
>> typer.  I'm typing along and when I look up, it can be a whole sentence
>> behind me but it slowly fills in if I wait.
>>
>> Yours may be a browser problem only but for me, I think it is more
>> websites than anything else.  Some just suck.
>>
>> Hope that helps.  It's not like you haven't ever helped me before.  lol
>
> Yeah, Disqus is a beast and then some. No Disqus tabs here though.
>
> That's not to say I don't have something else just as beasty going on
>
> Sometimes I think we internet ninjas shoot ourselves in the foot
> telling folks to use HTML...
>
>

I rarely visit sites that have Disqus with Firefox.  I might once in a
while but not often.  If you haven't tried that noscript yet, I'd try
it.  You can install it, load a few sites you go to a lot, see what
happens and then decide if you want to keep noscript or not. 

One thing I found that slowed mine down a lot, news sites that like to
reload on occasion.  I'm not sure if it is the reload that does it or
something else it is doing but the noscript stopped that too. 

You ever tried a new profile with no addons at all and see what it
does?  That would eliminate a lot right there.  I keep a test profile
just for testing things.  I test some new addon or something and when
done, just delete the contents of the directory for a fresh start.  This
is the command I use.

firefox %U --ProfileManager --no-remote

I have different profiles for different uses.  Addons vary too.

Dale

:-)  :-)