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Firefox, Heal Thyself

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#81

Post by sherr »

dredmorbius wrote: post #61

My observations, using both Firefox (well, Iceweasel 20.0-1~bpo60+1), and Chrome (Chromium 26.0.1410.43-1). In many ways, I prefer Firefox as a browser (better plugins, controls, tabs, too much Google influence already). My Firefox experience is getting to the point it's virtually unusable, with very, very slow response to any actions (especially new tab / new window functions). We're talking about many seconds, some…

Regarding responsiveness in Firefox. Using Debian 7 Linux I've also experienced the browser getting sluggish on occasion, even recently. It is not as bad as it used to be, and generally the browser is still useable, but it is still annoying.

Responsiveness being : it takes too long to a) switch tabs b) open a new tab c) access a menu (e.g. File/Whatever). The UI might take a second or more to respond. I might have 50 tabs open spread over 5-6 windows.

Currently, the browser is running well and I suspect the most recent responsiveness trouble was caused by an add-on (Brief - feed reader) which I have disabled.

But I second the call for a better way to identify badly behaving tabs (CPU as well as RAM) more easily.

Firefox is a great browser and thanks to all who make it.

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#82

Post by werid »

Goronmon wrote: post #22
rythie wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your sqlite files might be locked - try either removing or moving them and copying them back.

I made a token gesture at fixing the sqlite files, but I don't have the patience to manipulate obscure files in AppData to get a browser to work. Stuff like this is why Chrome is my primary browser.

This is why I use Firefox and not Chrome. If shit hits the fan, I can still get my data (history/bookmarks/tabs) out via the sqlite and json files.

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#83

Post by progrock »

BrianEatWorld wrote: post #49
jlgreco wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be great if they could roll such a feature into a convenient UI. Just a magic "Firefox, whatever you are doing.. knock it off" button would be great. It could look at system memory usage and CPU usage, determine if either is high enough that it might cause user distress, and kill whatever tabs are the most likely offenders.

I like this idea. A bit like the pause buttons on my VMs. I have this type of issue more with Chrome than Firefox though and it always seems to be related to leaving a tab open with a video for a long time, even if it isn't being played.

At least with Chrome there is the built in Task Manager.

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#84

Post by siamore »

dredmorbius wrote: post #61

My observations, using both Firefox (well, Iceweasel 20.0-1~bpo60+1), and Chrome (Chromium 26.0.1410.43-1). In many ways, I prefer Firefox as a browser (better plugins, controls, tabs, too much Google influence already). My Firefox experience is getting to the point it's virtually unusable, with very, very slow response to any actions (especially new tab / new window functions). We're talking about many seconds, some…

I use firefox with a lot of tabs too, a few things I do are

* if you haven't used it yet look at the barTab lite x addon,

* I also try to use RSS readers for sites I regularly visit

* I use Clearly (I don't know if it's as good as readability but it also allows me to clip to evernote)

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#85

Post by dredmorbius »

siamore wrote: post #84
dredmorbius wrote: post #61

My observations, using both Firefox (well, Iceweasel 20.0-1~bpo60+1), and Chrome (Chromium 26.0.1410.43-1). In many ways, I prefer Firefox as a browser (better plugins, controls, tabs, too much Google influence already). My Firefox experience is getting to the point it's virtually unusable, with very, very slow response to any actions (especially new tab / new window functions). We're talking about many seconds, some…

I use firefox with a lot of tabs too, a few things I do are * if you haven't used it yet look at the barTab lite x addon, * I also try to use RSS readers for sites I regularly visit * I use Clearly (I don't know if it's as good as readability but it also allows me to clip to evernote)

I'll look at barTab lite.

I've considered RSS readers. I'm a bit torn between those and other forms of accessing stories of interest. I've yet to find a reader (local client) which really fits my workflow. Though I haven't looked overly hard either.

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#86

Post by cpeterso »

com2kid wrote: post #75
cpeterso wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at Mozilla and many developers here are 100+ tab users, too. So the use case you describe is not a low priority. Do you have any Firefox add-ons installed? If you have the patience to identify a misbehaving add-on (by bisecting the add-ons you are running), Mozilla might be able to address the problem in the browser or reach out to the add-on developer.

My issue is, FF climbs up to 2.5GB of memory usage, then it dies. 100% repro. My only add-ons are AB+, Reddit Enhancement Suite, and No Redirect. I am 99% sure this was happening before Noredirect, but I'll try disabling that as well. (Super useful though, wow!) (GreaseMonkey is also installed, but I don't have any scripts loaded in it, disabling it anyway) Of course if you run into the 32bit memory limit, I don't kn…

I wonder if the Reddit Enhancement Suite add-on is the culprit. The "Never Ending Reddit" infinite scrolling feature sounds like it could consume a lot of memory without releasing it. Unfortunately, if the Reddit add-on outlives any reddit.com tabs, it might inadvertently keep those JS objects alive in the background.

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#87

Post by bad_user »

progrock wrote: post #83
BrianEatWorld wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like this idea. A bit like the pause buttons on my VMs. I have this type of issue more with Chrome than Firefox though and it always seems to be related to leaving a tab open with a video for a long time, even if it isn't being played.

At least with Chrome there is the built in Task Manager.

I'd love for Firefox to have a task manager like that.

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#88

Post by progrock »

dredmorbius wrote: post #61

My observations, using both Firefox (well, Iceweasel 20.0-1~bpo60+1), and Chrome (Chromium 26.0.1410.43-1). In many ways, I prefer Firefox as a browser (better plugins, controls, tabs, too much Google influence already). My Firefox experience is getting to the point it's virtually unusable, with very, very slow response to any actions (especially new tab / new window functions). We're talking about many seconds, some…

I've been championing the same issues, or rather bemoaning them on HN repeatedly.

I never see much innovation with the actual browser UIs. The rendering engines get plenty of love, while something like the UI for Firefox has barely changed at all.

I used to have an aging powerpc, and Firefox would bring it to it's knees. But I think I was abusing it. Firebug, Flash, JS and too many tabs were the main culprits. And I have sinced tried to change my habits.

I think tabs are heavily used and abused! I personally believe that they are so popular because the bookmark UIs are so sucky. Most tabs could be replaced by a bookmark.

Tabs bring other problems, resizing the browser window in one tab, effects all the others. Tabs have inconsistant behaviour between different applications. Windows should be left to a window manager IMHO.

Now I try and keep my tabs to a minimum. Two or three. Any page I think I might want to read later I once bookmarked (to one day sort through...), but now I send to readability to read later at my leisure.

My main browser I have configured to make reading on it more pleasurable. I've throw away the page author's styles, and instead opt to use my own font, font size and colour scheme. I block adverts. And block flash. Layouts can suffer, but if I have to, I resort to using another browser. I did have JS turned off completely, but I am finding that increasingly difficult.

In terms of design trends - responsive web pages are quite welcome in my world. I think people will soon hunger for simpler pages and simpler sites. Something that's far easier to use. And I welcome the day that I can actually surf web pages comfortably on my TV when sitting on my arse.

Some sites are still very difficult to use, and the browser UIs could really lend a hand here.

Re: Firefox, Heal Thyself

#90

Post by progrock »

com2kid wrote: post #65
thefreeman wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really can't understand how many people consistently talk about having hundreds of tabs open. What are you so afraid of closing a website for? If it's that important, you will remember to go back to it later. Usually, it's not. Once I get to 10 or 15 tabs I usually end up closing all but one or two just to stay focused.

> I really can't understand how many people consistently talk about having hundreds of tabs open. What are you so afraid of closing a website for? If it's that important, you will remember to go back to it later. Usually, it's not. Well the hacker news homepage for instance. I typically go down and middle click on any story I find interesting, and the comments section to go with it. This can easily end up with 8-14 t…

I understand how easy that is to do. But when do you have the time to read them? Part of the fun of the web, is getting a little lost in it. But I totally loose focus. Have you ever tried limiting yourself to one window and the judicious use of the back button?
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