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Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: MilesAhead on August 29, 2012, 10:50 PM

Title: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on August 29, 2012, 10:50 PM
Firefox 15 less of a memory hog.  Speed-dial got hosed. But I didn't like it much on FF anyway.  LastPass I had to update to 2.02 to get it going again.  At least now it uses a lot less memory than Chromium. :)

edit: hmm, mistake updating LastPass. Messed up Opera so it wouldn't even load. Had to do restore point. Turns out I don't see any big memory savings anyway. Back to 14.01 for me.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: rgdot on August 29, 2012, 11:11 PM
My personal conclusion is flash is the guiltiest, not the only one, but guiltiest. I am running a portable firefox with flashblock and there is a difference with another running parallel to it without flashblock.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on August 29, 2012, 11:12 PM
As in my edit above. I had to go back. I have to stay with LastPass compatible across chromium,ff, and opera or it gets all screwy. :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: eleman on August 29, 2012, 11:26 PM
My personal conclusion is flash is the guiltiest, not the only one, but guiltiest. I am running a portable firefox with flashblock and there is a difference with another running parallel to it without flashblock.
-rgdot (August 29, 2012, 11:11 PM)

As of FF14 you don't need flashblock. FF now includes the functionality of flashblock. See this link (http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/04/disable-flash-with-click-to-play-option-in-latest-firefox-preview/).

It doesn't have the whitelisting function yet, but one less add-on, one less memory hole I believe.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: rgdot on August 29, 2012, 11:32 PM
There I was thinking I am keeping up with firefox changes  :-\

Thanks eleman :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on August 29, 2012, 11:51 PM
There I was thinking I am keeping up with firefox changes  :-\
-rgdot (August 29, 2012, 11:32 PM)

While you're trying to keep up with FF versions, could you do me a small favour and count the drops of water in the ocean, and grains of sand in the desert and tell me which is more? ;D
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: eleman on August 29, 2012, 11:55 PM
There I was thinking I am keeping up with firefox changes  :-\
-rgdot (August 29, 2012, 11:32 PM)

While you're trying to keep up with FF versions, could you do me a small favour and count the drops of water in the ocean, and grains of sand in the desert and tell me which is more? ;D
-Renegade (August 29, 2012, 11:51 PM)

Definitely the drops in the ocean.

BTW, Firefox Extended Support Release is here (http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all.html).

I was looking forward to the fruits of memshrink project, the one that aims to reduce memory hog. As of FF15, the efforts reached to their zenith. From now on, the law of diminishing returns apply. So I'll jump in the Extended Support Release bandwagon when they release FF17.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on August 30, 2012, 12:01 AM
I think I'll stay with 14.01 for a while. Seems pretty solid.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: rgdot on August 30, 2012, 12:12 AM
There I was thinking I am keeping up with firefox changes  :-\
-rgdot (August 29, 2012, 11:32 PM)

While you're trying to keep up with FF versions, could you do me a small favour and count the drops of water in the ocean, and grains of sand in the desert and tell me which is more? ;D
-Renegade (August 29, 2012, 11:51 PM)

 ;D
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on August 30, 2012, 12:36 AM
There I was thinking I am keeping up with firefox changes  :-\
-rgdot (August 29, 2012, 11:32 PM)

While you're trying to keep up with FF versions, could you do me a small favour and count the drops of water in the ocean, and grains of sand in the desert and tell me which is more? ;D
-Renegade (August 29, 2012, 11:51 PM)

 ;D
-rgdot (August 30, 2012, 12:12 AM)

Yeah. Soon they'll be switching to scientific notation.  Get ya' Firefox here! Get ya' Firefox 1.23 x 10 to the 12th new today!!
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: IainB on August 30, 2012, 02:49 AM
While you're trying to keep up with FF versions...
-Renegade (August 29, 2012, 11:51 PM)
I'm not sure whether you knew, but you don't have to try. Just sign up for the ß development download channel - It's always been pretty stable for me, so far.
               [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on August 30, 2012, 03:04 AM
I've been running optimized third-party Firefox builds only for months now. New Pale Moon 15 still "hogs" about 850 MB of RAM with about 20 tabs and 41 active extensions. That said, I have 8 GB of RAM, so it's not much; I don't see a difference though.

edit: I like the other big change in Fx15 though.

(http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/orig/8/24118503130-orig.png)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on August 30, 2012, 03:08 AM
Yeah. Soon they'll be switching to scientific notation.  Get ya' Firefox here! Get ya' Firefox 1.23 x 10 to the 12th new today!!
-MilesAhead (August 30, 2012, 12:36 AM)

Sorry Miles, they posted a new one while you were typing that!  :P
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on August 30, 2012, 03:11 AM
I was looking forward to the fruits of memshrink project, the one that aims to reduce memory hog. As of FF15, the efforts reached to their zenith. From now on, the law of diminishing returns apply. So I'll jump in the Extended Support Release bandwagon when they release FF17.
-eleman (August 29, 2012, 11:55 PM)

Less Explicitly, so was I. I've had this annoying bug for a while now where "every breath I take, every mouse move I make", my CPU would max out for reasons unknown.  It seems a little better for the first 30 minutes, but maybe those problems might creep back in tomorrow...
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on August 30, 2012, 03:34 AM
I've been doing chromium snapshots since 16.x I think. Every now and then they shift the download page and I have to google until I hit the new one. I'm using chromium 23.x now.

Yeah, it runs a lot of processes and uses more ram than FF.  But man it jumps up even when the disk is busy. Nothing is free. :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on August 30, 2012, 03:36 AM
It's "Fx", not "FF" ("Final Fantasy"? "Fire Fox"?).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: nosh on August 30, 2012, 03:46 AM
Their box covers used to be so much cooler... :-* makes me nostalgic.

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]



Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: IainB on August 30, 2012, 05:21 AM
I've been doing chromium snapshots since 16.x I think. Every now and then they shift the download page and I have to google until I hit the new one. I'm using chromium 23.x now.
-MilesAhead (August 30, 2012, 03:34 AM)
Yes, same here. I use Chromium rather than Chrome, because I don't really want/need the Google proprietary bits.
It is annoying when, apparently without announcement (?), they change to another download page. I don't know why they do that.
Maybe Google asked them to, to convert users to Google ß downloads (I get those too).

Internet Explorer is pretty fast.
But my favourite is still FF because of all the functionality and control (over the browsing behaviour) you can get by using those add-ons.    :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: IainB on August 30, 2012, 05:22 AM
It's "Fx", not "FF" ("Final Fantasy"? "Fire Fox"?).
-Tuxman (August 30, 2012, 03:36 AM)
Oh, don't start that again!    :D
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on August 30, 2012, 05:34 AM
MilesAhead did, and you were with him. You should stop doing it wrong in order to avoid me correcting it.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on August 30, 2012, 05:58 AM
edit: I like the other big change in Fx15 though.
-Tuxman (August 30, 2012, 03:04 AM)
Eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwww, it's all germy!

Updated to FF15, and things seem slightly speedier - but I also did install the Ghostery addon, so it might in reality be disabling of tracking-scripts that speed things up. Didn't really pay attention to memory usage either, but I haven't had a problem with leaks for quite a while. Running at ~240meg after a cold-start with 17 tabs (where most haven't been activated yet).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on August 30, 2012, 06:03 AM
There's no FF15 yet. They're still at XIV.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on August 30, 2012, 06:05 AM
There's no FF15 yet. They're still at XIV.
-Tuxman (August 30, 2012, 06:03 AM)
You're a moron if you claim Firefox could be confused with Final Fantasy when you've got the context that a thread about a webbrowser gives.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on August 30, 2012, 06:07 AM
You're a moron if you think you can validate ridiculous abbreviations ("FF", there is no second capital F in Firefox!) by just calling me a moron.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: eleman on August 30, 2012, 06:09 AM
Hey calm down. Don't get into a fight over a letter. From now on, everybody call firefox "FI".
OK?
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on August 30, 2012, 06:12 AM
No, Fx. :P
Or Ff if you are too fucking lazy to type "x" after a "F".

Oh well.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: nosh on August 30, 2012, 07:36 AM
This thread has been Fx'd beyond recognition. NM, FF 16 will be here soon enough. :P
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on August 30, 2012, 09:20 AM
Do I smell a thread being moved to the Basement? :P ;D

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: nosh on August 30, 2012, 09:49 AM
It's The Basement and not the Basement. Get your terminology straight, Renegade! :mad:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on August 30, 2012, 09:54 AM
Oh pFFt. There I go again, mucking things up. You'd think taht i'd lurn 2 tipe all redy.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: nosh on August 30, 2012, 10:03 AM
Slight offtopic: v15 is slow as shit, I'm going back to 14.
/offtopic
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on August 30, 2012, 10:07 AM
Slight offtopic: v15 is slow as shit, I'm going back to 14.
/offtopic
-nosh (August 30, 2012, 10:03 AM)

Agree.

It would be really cool if they'd stop trying to dazzle us with it and just sit down and fix the parts that aren't working that well.
 :-\
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: CWuestefeld on August 30, 2012, 01:48 PM
I upgraded to 15 the minute I heard it was out.

Previously I'd needed to restart the browser about 2x per day. It's been two days since the upgrade, and I only just restarted it for the first time. So it's definitely better at memory leaks for the stuff I'm using. And no stability problems for me so far.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: KynloStephen66515 on August 30, 2012, 01:57 PM
I'll just leave this here*:

www.opera.com

*For shits and giggles

Spoiler
(http://memeimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/trollface-ugly-grin-smiling.jpg)

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: cyberdiva on August 30, 2012, 02:56 PM
edit: hmm, mistake updating LastPass. Messed up Opera so it wouldn't even load. Had to do restore point. Turns out I don't see any big memory savings anyway. Back to 14.01 for me.
-MilesAhead (August 29, 2012, 10:50 PM)
Thanks very much for the updated info.  I was about to update Firefox, but I care a LOT more about LastPass and Opera than about whether Firefox is at version 15.  For some time now, Firefox has not been my browser of choice but rather the least of evils.  If more software developers cared about their programs working with Opera, I'd happily make Opera my browser of choice.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on August 30, 2012, 03:10 PM
Slight offtopic: v15 is slow as shit, I'm going back to 14.
/offtopic
-nosh (August 30, 2012, 10:03 AM)

Depends, I'm on day 2 and I'm not getting that dreaded "cpu spike" bug I posted about a while ago. So for me F15 is a nice upgrade.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on August 30, 2012, 03:24 PM
Shameless bump because it makes a pretty pattern in the Recent Posts thread.  8)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: nosh on August 30, 2012, 03:30 PM
I sometimes open 30-40 tabs simultaneously using my bookmarks manager. The difference between versions becomes pretty apparent then. I also run a whole lot of addons... with something like FF, mileages will always vary. Good to know your problem's sorted though. :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on August 30, 2012, 03:38 PM
At least for this week!
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on September 01, 2012, 04:44 AM
I'm trying to switch over to FF/Fx/whutchamacallit, but it doesn't seem to like embedded Vimeo video much. Anyone else notice that?
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: nosh on September 01, 2012, 05:27 AM
I clicked on this (http://vimeo.com/48425421) one and it played fine. I'm running v.14 though.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on September 01, 2012, 05:50 AM
Bah. F FF. Or F Fx. Whatever. Sick of it. Damn thing froze on me while trying to scroll down the page. The mouse was already sluggish inside of it. I can't be bothered to fart around with it anymore.

v15.  :down:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 01, 2012, 05:58 AM
I'm trying to switch over to FF/Fx/whutchamacallit, but it doesn't seem to like embedded Vimeo video much. Anyone else notice that?
-Renegade (September 01, 2012, 04:44 AM)

Working ok for me at the quietearth.us website which can and has been fussy under FF in the past. Page for the tested Vimeo that worked here (http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2012/08/Comedy-Takes-a-Twisted-Turn-in-APE-Trailer).

It also handles general embedded video ok. This trailer of Sightseers provided by the Manchester Guardian worked fine too. I couldn't get it to run under FF14 previously. Page here (http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2012/08/A-Caravan-Murder--Soft-Cell-Ben-Wheatleys-SIGHTSEERS-trailer-arrives).

Luck!

----------------------------------
P.S. @Ren - check out that second link. Does that movie look like it's going to be good in a "sick but still funny" way or what? Shades of 1982's Eating Raoul! :up:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 01, 2012, 06:00 AM
Bah. F FF. Or F Fx. Whatever. Sick of it. Damn thing froze on me while trying to scroll down the page. The mouse was already sluggish inside of it. I can't be bothered to fart around with it anymore.

v15.  :down:
-Renegade (September 01, 2012, 05:50 AM)

It was doing that on me yesterday under Linux. But it's since stopped. And I agree. I almost dumped it yesterday because of that. However, there were several updates to Nix that took place this morning. None of them were directly related to FF, so I'm guessing something else was actually responsible for my scrolling problem.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on September 01, 2012, 07:25 AM
^ Both those links looked pretty fun~!

But then again, I loved "Watch Alice Bleed" as well. ;)

The link I tried was here:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/01/growing-change-documentary-investigates-food-system.aspx

I tried again just now, and it seemed sane. Only 1 tab though.

I'll give it a shot again tomorrow though. For now, back to farting around with some WPF stuff. :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 01, 2012, 07:56 AM
Firefox 15 just shines!  :-*

I've always worked with about a dozen addons and it is a well known fact that Adblock Plus is the major resource hog (a sacrifice i'm willing to make).

This latest version is just superb!  :Thmbsup:

Firefox is the most configurable browser and i sure hope it will stay that way.

Check GHacks for user reviews.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on September 01, 2012, 08:31 AM
I'm not too sure about Adblock Plus (if there are copies with the same name), but there are a billion "Adblock" plugins, and some are better than others. Some do a good job of filtering out, but hog so much CPU as to make surfing either painful or impossible. I have ABP in Chrome, and it works nicely. Had others, nightmare. I'll sacrifice a little CPU (I have a beast of a machine, so I have TONNES of CPU power), but I won't tolerate some plugin that thinks it's the only thing on my machine.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: daddydave on September 01, 2012, 08:38 AM
Something ugly about the Waterfox variant of version 15. By default it wanted to install an antivirus program (AVG) including a toolbar that it said only works in 32-bit browsers (Waterfox is 64-bit), I hate bundleware, and not expecting to see it in something downloaded from Sourceforge. All versions of Firefox freeze like crazy these days to me, I hope this is better.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on September 01, 2012, 08:54 AM
Something ugly about the Waterfox variant of version 15. By default it wanted to install an antivirus program (AVG) including a toolbar that it said only works in 32-bit browsers (Waterfox is 64-bit), I hate bundleware, and not expecting to see it in something downloaded from Sourceforge. All versions of Firefox freeze like crazy these days to me, I hope this is better.
-daddydave (September 01, 2012, 08:38 AM)

I can understand them bundling AVG. They need to pay the bills. The programmers need to get paid. I like opt in rather than opt out, but I'm not super-uber-ultra-against opt-out. I do not use opt-out in the 1 program where I use installer ads.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 01, 2012, 09:16 AM
I wanted to give Waterfox a spin and encountered same issue as daddydave.
Even worse, i think opting out from installing the "adware/toolbar" i was unable to even run the browser.  :(
I've got Windows 7 Home Ed. 64 bit at present time so it should work just the same no?

I wouldn't mind donating to different devs for their great work (ex. the addons i use on Firefox) but would have to spend a day to make $5 donations.

It would be nice if Mozilla could make it a one shot deal and that they distribute their donations according to popularity of addons.
They could leave the option to donate to single addons for those who want to give greater tips.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: daddydave on September 01, 2012, 09:45 AM

Even worse, i think opting out from installing the "adware/toolbar" i was unable to even run the browser.  :(
I've got Windows 7 Home Ed. 64 bit at present time so it should work just the same no?

-dantheman (September 01, 2012, 09:16 AM)
Yes, I was able to opt out and then the new version of Waterfox installed fine. Try it again!
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 01, 2012, 10:02 AM
DaddyDave, Waterfox installation worked this time but it uses more resources than Firefox 15.
It also has CPU spikes that i don't see with Firefox.

Tanks anyway.

But i'm really impressed by the overall performance of this Firefox 15!  :Thmbsup:

So i think i'm going to be content for a long time to come.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 01, 2012, 12:46 PM
Ok...just went through my FF add-ons for this machine and disabled Stylish and Tin Eye Reverse Image Search - and now FF15 is flying. (Note: machine is Core2-Duo running @2G/800 w/4Gb RAM)

<<Foul buzzer sounds and 40hz raises his hand so they can get his number>>

Guess I'll have to retract my earlier negative comments and apologize to the FF team. :-[
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 01, 2012, 03:30 PM
You're funny 40hz!  :D

Mind you, i haven't finished testing F15 yet.
Still have to see how it responds to 5,000 opened tabs.
I rarely have more than 4 or 5 tabs opened but from what i've read elsewhere,
some people just don't seem to have enough tabs open.  :P
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 01, 2012, 04:17 PM
You're funny 40hz!  :D
-dantheman (September 01, 2012, 03:30 PM)

I get like that when I'm embarrassed about posting something stupid because I overlooked something obvious. :redface:

re: Tabs

Yeah...I'm amazed by the number some people keep open. Like you I seldom have more than three or four going at a time. And I close them almost as fast as I'm done with them. Still, I guess it's all how you're used to working. I use RSS feeds a lot, and I'll save stuff to either Pocket or Scrapbook so I seldom worry about missing or losing something I want to read. "Different strokes for different folks!" as the old song goes.
 :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Curt on September 01, 2012, 05:56 PM
I am pleased with Waterfox 15 build 20120830123745, it is even faster than 14.
I have not (yet) seen any of those CPU spikes, dantheman spoke about.

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 01, 2012, 08:13 PM
What can i tell you Curt?
Was it a temporary thing? Could be.
I did notice that nothing made it any speedier than Firefox 15.
Good for you if it works well on your system.

On a similar note, there's a recent post from an Opera user lamenting about crashing issues even a year after his/her initial post at their forum.
He/she seems to have to stick to older version while everything continues to be just fine and dandy on my computer.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 02, 2012, 05:31 AM
Update on Waterfox experience.
After re-installing this browser (just to be sure of CPU spikes and claimed speed improvements),
i can say that there still are CPU issues (non existent in Firefox 15) but it does seem to be better at page rendering.

Have to admit, i'm allergic to AVG (so i guess it made me apprehensive at first).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: daddydave on September 02, 2012, 07:53 AM
I am back to regular Firefox again for now. I've had a lot of issues where the cursor goes into swirly mode when I try to switch tabs or scroll down, and been going back and forth between Firefox and Waterfox to try and remediate. (I suppose these would be CPU spikes, but I haven't really been checking Task Manager when it happens.) So I will give this new version a try in the Firefox main build.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: cyberdiva on September 02, 2012, 12:15 PM
edit: hmm, mistake updating LastPass. Messed up Opera so it wouldn't even load. Had to do restore point. Turns out I don't see any big memory savings anyway. Back to 14.01 for me.
-MilesAhead (August 29, 2012, 10:50 PM)

I decided to set a restore point and then give Firefox 15 a try.  I'm happy to report that I did not have your experience.  After I installed FFx 15, I used Last Pass, and it worked fine.  I then opened Opera, and Last Pass worked fine there, too.  The Last Pass version that I have is 2.0, which I think I've had for several months.  I didn't need to upgrade to 2.0.2:  2.0 works fine with both FFx 15 and Opera 12.02.

I'm not sure why my experience was different from yours, but I'm glad it was.  :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on September 02, 2012, 01:50 PM
edit: hmm, mistake updating LastPass. Messed up Opera so it wouldn't even load. Had to do restore point. Turns out I don't see any big memory savings anyway. Back to 14.01 for me.
-MilesAhead (August 29, 2012, 10:50 PM)

I decided to set a restore point and then give Firefox 15 a try.  I'm happy to report that I did not have your experience.  After I installed FFx 15, I used Last Pass, and it worked fine.  I then opened Opera, and Last Pass worked fine there, too.  The Last Pass version that I have is 2.0, which I think I've had for several months.  I didn't need to upgrade to 2.0.2:  2.0 works fine with both FFx 15 and Opera 12.02.

I'm not sure why my experience was different from yours, but I'm glad it was.  :)
-cyberdiva (September 02, 2012, 12:15 PM)

I'm glad you didn't encounter a glitch. I have interactions with LastPass Firefox and chromium snapshots.  It's hard to tell which one causes the issue.  Could be the chromium snapshot. But FF 14.01, LastPass 2.0, Opera 12.01, and chromium 23.x snapshot I'm using now all peacefully coexist. The FF change to 15 upset the apple cart.

Of course whichever is the primary browser is the one favored when sacrifices have to be made. I'd rather use an old FF than an old chromium.  Opera I mainly use because it has a weirdy feature you can't get anywhere else that's handy on occasion, and for compatibility testing.

Likewise when I get an error in Chromium that the java plugin is out of date, chromium has that functionality built in. It's the one I install to use with FF that's old.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: IainB on September 02, 2012, 03:57 PM
FF v16 on the ß development channel seems to be running nicely on my Win7-64 Home Premium laptop (Intel i7., 8Gb RAM) system. The only difference I can spot between this and the v15 is that:
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Doesn't appear to run with any lags or problems.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on September 02, 2012, 03:59 PM
Is there a list of currently active and still developed Mozilla Labs add-ons?
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 02, 2012, 05:26 PM
After tinkering around with Chrome, Opera, Maxthon etc. for quite some time now,
i can say that it's the first time in a long while that i find satisfaction using Firefox.

BTW, Google Talk doesn't work for me in Waterfox (i like to make free calls to U.S./Canada).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: IainB on September 02, 2012, 11:27 PM
Is there a list of currently active and still developed Mozilla Labs add-ons?
-Tuxman (September 02, 2012, 03:59 PM)
The Mozilla labs are described here: http://mozillalabs.com/ (http://mozillalabs.com/)
The Prospector bits are here: http://mozillalabs.com/en-US/prospector/ (http://mozillalabs.com/en-US/prospector/)
I think several of the Prospector bits may have been made obsolete/redundant or been disabled by the later FF v15/16 updates to the Awesome Bar.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Tuxman on September 03, 2012, 02:15 AM
Interesting. Thanks!
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 04, 2012, 03:21 PM
Ok...I think I'm going to rescind my apology to the FF dev team. For two days now I'm getting pages refusing to load due to server timeouts on sites I can reach on my POS iPhone browser with no problem. And that's going through the same router at the same time - so it's not likely a router or DNS issue. If I restart FF, the problem goes away for a few hours, but then starts up again. I thought disabling WOT and all the blocker add-ons might help the situation, but it didn't.

Anybody else seeing this? My CPU is only running at about 9% average on either core, and I'm using only 700Mb of 3.9Gb physical memory. (FF is using 205 of the 700Mb with maybe two or three tabs max opened on static webpages.). No activity on swap either.

And...I just now noticed that although I'm doing nothing but typing this post, FF is suddenly using 255Mb and climbing up slowly. And...it just dropped back to 205. Guess that could be called a spike?

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 04, 2012, 05:24 PM
40hz, sorry to hear about your issues.  :'(

Resource and CPU usage seem to be pretty stable on my system.
All in all, i would say that Chrome and Firefox use pretty well the same amount.
With a little under 4G of RAM, it's not really an issue anymore.
Most people probably have something like that to run their Windows 7 no?
Otherwise, they're probably better off to run some Linux version.

I still have Opera on board which i find most akin to Firefox but i keep running back to the former.
They should have left it at Seamonkey... (forget what it was called before).
It's unbelievable how they still manage to make it better than Firefox+Thunderbird (with regards to resources).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 04, 2012, 06:06 PM
Otherwise, they're probably better off to run some Linux version.
-dantheman (September 04, 2012, 05:24 PM)

I'm actually running it under Linux, which is why it's so frustrating for me.  ;D I can usually nail an issue on that platform pretty quickly because I can see into the innards of the system as deeply as I need to go. So far, whatever is going on seems to be confined to something happening within FF. I was watching it earlier and the RAM usages was fluctuating up and down over a broad range (low around 205-210 and high just short of 390) with one tab open to DoCo's forum homepage and me doing nothing at all on FF.

Truly weird...I'll probably have to disable all extensions and then add them back one by one to see if there's a smoking gun in there somewhere. Hopefully it will be that simple and not some complex interaction between two or more.

I still have Opera on board which i find most akin to Firefox but i keep running back to the former.
-dantheman (September 04, 2012, 05:24 PM)

Yeah. Me too. If I could get the Sage RSS reader add-in on some other browser (or even an exact work-alike) I wouldn't be that bothered. But I've had a good workflow in place for several years now, and since FF is dead center of most of it I'm semi-stuck with it. Old habits and keyboard reflexes die hard I guess. ;D

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 04, 2012, 06:40 PM
As some Californians might still say "I catch your drift man!" 

After reading up a few months ago, on the almost inevitable time to reset of Firefox, it wasn't an easy thing to do (habits) but i think it helped a bunch to keep it at par.

Feedly is pretty good but i still use Feeddemon (Windows only).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on September 04, 2012, 07:18 PM

And...I just now noticed that although I'm doing nothing but typing this post, FF is suddenly using 255Mb and climbing up slowly. And...it just dropped back to 205. Guess that could be called a spike?

-40hz (September 04, 2012, 03:21 PM)

Hi 40hz, that is the same / similar spike I kept having, you'd think a simple type keypress or a scroll wouldn't jam your resources. (I wasn't checking memory, I focused on CPU spikes but same category.) So I presume you have installed the new FF15 and this is there? Funny thing, my CPU spikes went away when I installed that, though it COULD have been disabling a random plugin or two at the same time, hard to know.

But for a different type of spike, this time on app close, I ran one of the "derivatives" of FF. (First PaleMoon, then Cometbird). Those magically "fixed" that particular spike for "reasons unknown". So if you like FF conceptually but have these "mystery issues" (see my sig, that's where it came from, on a different app), try a FF derivative just for giggles and report in.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 04, 2012, 09:56 PM
So if you like FF conceptually but have these "mystery issues" (see my sig, that's where it came from, on a different app), try a FF derivative just for giggles and report in.
-TaoPhoenix (September 04, 2012, 07:18 PM)

I'm willing to try anything to get a handle on what's happening here. I'm familiar w/PaleMoon and have used it before. I'll give that a try first.

Thx for the suggestion. :Thmbsup:

UPDATE: Oops. Nope. Those are Windows only and I'm running on Linux. Oh well. <**sigh*> :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 05, 2012, 07:10 AM
Sometimes i wonder if Martin of GHacks reads the posts here.
Check out his recent article:
http://www.ghacks.net/2012/09/05/firefox-see-if-increased-memory-consumption-is-caused-by-addons/

update: removing Adblock Plus (ugh!) has decreased memory consumption by half!
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: IainB on September 05, 2012, 06:40 PM
Reading through these discussion comments just now, I wondered whether the people who had been experiencing FF problems or FF performance issues had tried to adjust the thing's performance via about::config settings.
There's a lot of advice/experience on the internet about tweaking FF performance via the about::config settings, and I have been using it to good effect for years (literally). That could affect scores of things - e.g., like cache size, disc/RAM caching, threads for stream parsing, etc.

Maybe that's why I could never understand why people had FF performance issues in v15 = because my FF settings are peculiar to me, and got that way incrementally over time. It's not like I run FF "Lite" either - the "Dump List" add-on tells me I have 96 items (not all enabled though), so my setup has it's own share of "bloat".     :-[
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on September 05, 2012, 07:33 PM
Very interesting IainB!

Perhaps you can share with us a few of those more prominent ones?
There are many posts on the web. Some i've tried in the past (to no avail).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 06, 2012, 06:32 AM
40hz, your connection issues sound strange! But isn't one of the new features in FF14 vs FF15 (more?) support for the SPDY protocol? Mayhaps related?

Haven't had any problems here, and I do have a few addons installed - including the greedy AdBlockPlus (it's totally worth it for me, though :)). If you've been using the same firefox profile for a while (especially installing/uninstalling addons?), perhaps it's worth trying starting with a clean firefox profile and re-adding the addons you use... if that solves issues, import the necessary settings from your old profile (no idea how to do that, but I'm sure there's an application for it).

Also, VACUUM the various sqlite databases FF uses, then defrag the database files. That has helped me in the past to alleviate some of the occasional stutters.


Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: IainB on September 06, 2012, 07:10 AM
@dantheman:
I try to keep a Scrapbook copy of most of my sources for mods to the FF browser.
This is a sample of some of the older ones that I have. You may need to use discretion about what you do and don't action.
Some of the mods may have been made obsolete by later verions of FF, but for those that involve about::config changes, then check your about::config to see how it compares.
Stopping here, as I haven't the energy to manually copy all the entries I have. I am currently very ill with flu', so I hope this partial list might be of indicative use.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 06, 2012, 08:00 AM
If you've been using the same firefox profile for a while (especially installing/uninstalling addons?), perhaps it's worth trying starting with a clean firefox profile and re-adding the addons you use... if that solves issues, import the necessary settings from your old profile (no idea how to do that, but I'm sure there's an application for it).
-f0dder (September 06, 2012, 06:32 AM)

@f- Thx for the input. Much appreciated. :)

I don't really add or remove addons that frequently. I have a list that I've pretty much standardised on for all my FF installs unless one of them becomes incompatible with whatever version of FF I'm running.

List is:


(All are whatever the most current versions are.)

Also, VACUUM the various sqlite databases FF uses, then defrag the database files. That has helped me in the past to alleviate some of the occasional stutters.

Tried that already.  Even ran BleachBit to remove anything that may have been lurking in cookies or whatever. Still happening.

Here's the interesting thing: the problem usually occurs after FF has been open for a while. The thing that tells me it's starting is when I either enter something into the search bar - or when I tell a link to open in a new tab - and the new tab goes into limbo. From what I can see there's a problem when that new tab gets opened. That's when the "connecting" spinner just keeps looping. Once that happens, it's a turkey shoot. Doing a restart clears it. But if I don't restart, sometimes the problem will also clear itself enough (after a minute or two) that I can close the tab and try again. But not always. And once I get that connection timeout FF becomes less and less stable. However, it is not a problem if I manually open a new tab and enter a URL there.

I think it may have something to do with the "open new windows in new tab instead" setting. Because that seems to be where the problem is occurring.

-----

Anyway...I'm going to try a full uninstall followed by a clean install with a fresh profile and NO addons to see if the problem goes away. I'm also setting up a new Nix machine today, so I'll check it out there as well, just to eliminate any chance of a Linux snafu being the cause.

Onward! 8)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 06, 2012, 08:23 AM
I don't really add or remove addons that frequently. I have a list that I've pretty much standardised on for all my FF installs unless one of them becomes incompatible with whatever version of FF I'm running.
-40hz (September 06, 2012, 08:00 AM)
Go add Ghostery to that list right away! :)

I think it may have something to do with the "open new windows in new tab instead" setting. Because that seems to be where the problem is occurring.
-40hz (September 06, 2012, 08:00 AM)
Humm, I have that enabled as well.

FWIW: I usually don't leave my machine running overnight, so FireFox will get restarted at least once a day (but I usually do leave it running for the entirety of a Windows session) - so it's seldom it's running for more than 12+ hours (just in case it's some particularly nasty leaks that creep in after a long time). I use multiple tab groups, most of the time having at least 12 tabs in an inactive group, 8+ in the currently active one, and sometimes an additional window or two with a bunch of tabs open when I'm researching something. Not into the insane 200+ constant tabs open range, but definitely a bit more than light use :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 06, 2012, 09:42 AM
[quo
I don't really add or remove addons that frequently. I have a list that I've pretty much standardised on for all my FF installs unless one of them becomes incompatible with whatever version of FF I'm running.
-40hz (September 06, 2012, 08:00 AM)
Go add Ghostery to that list right away! :)
-f0dder (September 06, 2012, 08:23 AM)

Oh that is nice! Just added to my list.
Thx for the heads-up. I keep hearing about Ghostery. If it has your blessing, I'm good with it. :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 06, 2012, 09:59 AM
Oh that is nice! Just added to my list.
Thx for the heads-up. I keep hearing about Ghostery. If it has your blessing, I'm good with it. :Thmbsup:
-40hz (September 06, 2012, 09:42 AM)
I discovered it a few days ago (incidentally looking for BetterPrivacy, which I'm still not sure if I'm going to install), and I'm quite liking it so far - even on sites that I don't whitelist with NoScript, it often filters out a good handful of bugs. And for sites where I whitelist javascript, it's nice still getting the beacons and tracking filtered out. It does obviously mean yet another addon parsing the html before it hits the browser, so in theory it could slow down stuff ever so slightly... but for me, it has so far been neutral or even slightly faster because of ignoring the tracking crud :Thmbsup:

PS: try surfing to TomsHardware with Ghostery installed :-)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 06, 2012, 11:22 AM
^FWIW I've been using Better Privacy for a few years now. It doesn't seem to cause any problems or slowdowns since it only deals with removing LSO/Flash cookies. It does what it says although I'm not sure how much of a risk supercookies still are. I've got it set to automatically ask to delete them when I exit FF. Time was when it used to identify a half dozen or so after every web session. Lately it only occasionally notifies me of deletions. I don't know if that's a function of changes in the popularity of these cookies; or if it's more a matter of changes to my browsing habits.

So far it's been a benign and possibly useful extension, although I have no way of knowing what (if any) real risks it may have protected me from. Since it doesn't hurt - and it may help - I guess I'll continue to keep it on my standard list.

------------------
P.S. Cancel previous 'nice.' Ghostery is great! :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on September 06, 2012, 03:26 PM
That Ghostery looks interesting. I think I tried it in the past. Don't remember why I stopped using it.  But I'm checking it out in FF 14 and chromium now. One thing I notice is the bubble that shows the alerts, the font and background are both black. I have to drag the mouse to read it.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 08, 2012, 07:37 AM
That Ghostery looks interesting. I think I tried it in the past. Don't remember why I stopped using it.  But I'm checking it out in FF 14 and chromium now. One thing I notice is the bubble that shows the alerts, the font and background are both black. I have to drag the mouse to read it.
-MilesAhead (September 06, 2012, 03:26 PM)
Weird - it's grey-on-purple here.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: kilele on September 08, 2012, 08:39 AM
@40hz consider adding another useful addon: "session manager"  8)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 08, 2012, 08:43 AM
^might be a function of the theme? On the FF default it shows as light gray on a black or very dark gray background on my machine.

-/-

Re: SessionMgr - Thx. Will definitely check it out.  :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Renegade on September 08, 2012, 08:49 AM
I would love to see a Venn diagram of what people here use for FF/Fx/whatever extensions. I loathe installing anything at all anymore for almost any reason, and really need to be CONVINCED to try something new now.

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 08, 2012, 09:21 AM
About the only FF extension I'd absolutely call necessary is NoScript - although Ghostery is getting close to what I'd consider a second 'must have.'

(It is 'FF ' btw - no matter what the heretics may say. )  :P  ;)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 08, 2012, 09:54 AM
About the only FF extension I'd absolutely call necessary is NoScript - although Ghostery is getting close to what I'd consider a second 'must have.'
-40hz (September 08, 2012, 09:21 AM)
I think I'd put AdBlock+ above NoScript - it gets rid of the most nasty (sources of) JavaScript, and ads as well. Security-wise, NS does do a bit more good, though.

(It is 'FF ' btw - no matter what the heretics may say. )  :P  ;)
-40hz (September 08, 2012, 09:21 AM)
:Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: kilele on September 08, 2012, 10:22 AM
I always install these addons on FF

adblock, flashblock, quickjava, browser protect
scrapbook, session manager
download status bar, download helper
swiffout
qtl15 (http://www.qtl.co.il/)

I'll check out Ghostery,
some recommendation for a rss reader ?
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: rgdot on September 08, 2012, 11:25 AM
The thing about NoScript is the need to white list, I find white list useless in this sense. Look at the description of the plugin

It allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice

My trusted domains are what exactly? Just because I like and trust a site doesn't mean the site can't some day be infected, what am I missing? (Unless one has no white list and let it protect/block every thing)



Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 08, 2012, 11:29 AM
About the only FF extension I'd absolutely call necessary is NoScript - although Ghostery is getting close to what I'd consider a second 'must have.'
-40hz (September 08, 2012, 09:21 AM)
I think I'd put AdBlock+ above NoScript - it gets rid of the most nasty (sources of) JavaScript, and ads as well. Security-wise, NS does do a bit more good, though.
-f0dder (September 08, 2012, 09:54 AM)

I agree about AdBlock which is the other extension I have always added to any new FF installation. But I held back on calling it essential because of the minor controversy regarding the ethics of blocking ads. And I really didn't want to open up that whole can of worms again. So I figured I'd just leave it up to the individual as to how they want to deal with that. If a 'free' access site has a reasonable ad policy I try, out of respect, not to block their ads - unless they're getting too distracting or obnoxious about it.

In general, I tend  to install add-ons only to enhance security rather than add features. Nowadays I'm like Renegade in that I need to be shown some clear and compelling benefit before I'll even consider installing anything new inside a browser. Ghostery is probably the first  addition to my add-on collection in the last two years.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 08, 2012, 11:38 AM
I always install these addons on FF

adblock, flashblock, quickjava, browser protect
scrapbook, session manager
download status bar, download helper
swiffout
qtl15 (http://www.qtl.co.il/)

I'll check out Ghostery,
some recommendation for a rss reader ?
-kilele (September 08, 2012, 10:22 AM)

I've been generally happy with Sage, although it is very basic in what it does and has some minor quirks that drive some people crazy. If super-basic is what you're looking for, Sage will do it for you. I can't say there's any standalone reader I really like although GreatNews (http://www.pendriveapps.com/greatnews-rss-feed-reader/#more-377) portable comes closest to what I'd use if I didn't have Sage.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 08, 2012, 11:45 AM
The thing about NoScript is the need to white list, I find white list useless in this sense. Look at the description of the plugin

It allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice

My trusted domains are what exactly? Just because I like and trust a site doesn't mean the site can't some day be infected, what am I missing? (Unless one has no white list and let it protect/block every thing)
-rgdot (September 08, 2012, 11:25 AM)

FWIW I rarely ever whitelist anything in NoScript for exactly that reason. I just temporarily enable some or all of a site when I web over to it, and then disable any temporary permissions when I leave. True, it's extra steps, and a small inconvenience when browsing. But the added security and "no bad surprises" aspect is worth it to me.

Of course, if you're more the "50+ open tabs power-user" type, my dumbass approach won't work for you. ;D
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: kilele on September 08, 2012, 12:02 PM
I agree about AdBlock which is the other extension I have always added to any new FF installation. But I held back on calling it essential because of the minor controversy regarding the ethics of blocking ads.
-40hz (September 08, 2012, 11:29 AM)

well AdBlock allows the user to disable blocking ads on any site of his preference, for example I permit ads on some wikis of indy developers, but you are right as for most people install it and then forget it but we are recommending their use because it isn't installed by default (that'd be a scandal) and because most users ain't e-junkies :)

Actually I've been using Newsfox lately but I miss some type of synchronization between different machines.
I should try Google's reader again to see if it's more usable, I'll give Sage a try as well.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on September 08, 2012, 01:58 PM
That Ghostery looks interesting. I think I tried it in the past. Don't remember why I stopped using it.  But I'm checking it out in FF 14 and chromium now. One thing I notice is the bubble that shows the alerts, the font and background are both black. I have to drag the mouse to read it.
-MilesAhead (September 06, 2012, 03:26 PM)
Weird - it's grey-on-purple here.
-f0dder (September 08, 2012, 07:37 AM)

If you have flat screen I guess there's contrast on those funky color combinations. On CRT it's black on black crime. :)  Eventually I'll have to give up the SVGA connector. I'm using an old kvma switch and Gateway VX900. Maybe when I get an OctaCore or whatever they call 8-core PCs, I'll step up to dual flat screens. :)


btw now I remember why I quit using Ghostery. At least on chrome it keeps crashing and pulls LastPass down with it.  I just took it off.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 08, 2012, 02:02 PM
Just installed the Memory Restart (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/memory-restart/) add-on. Hopefully on a temporary basis. This will let me keep better track of what FF is up to with RAM usage. It shows the amount used in the toobar and has some simple options you can configure including the option to auto-restart - although I can't imagine why you'd ever want to let it do that.

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]   


[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: daddydave on September 08, 2012, 02:35 PM
I can never remember to check Task Manager when it happens, but in Firefox and Waterfox both, I often get a frozen browser for nearly a minute before I can scroll or click on another tab, while seeing a busy cursor (going in circles animation, I guess that replaced the hourglass in Win 7).

I have just set Microsoft Security Essentials to exclude firefox.exe and waterfox.exe from monitored processes to see if that is an issue. Many will recall we had a thread about issues antivirus software was causing with FARR (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=29756.0) for this reason. So this is just a test at this point. I will let you know how it goes.

AdBlock Plus is a necessity. I've never seen any ethical dilemma there, unless someone believes it is unethical to fast forward through TV commercials, and it cuts down on malware, especially if you have kids. The default for ABP these days is to "allow some non-intrusive advertising" which lets in some text ads, that I'm OK with. Besides that, I have four domains in my exclusion list, the one I remember adding is MakeUseOf.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on September 08, 2012, 03:51 PM
Lately when I reboot FF 15 takes a REALLY long time for me to load now.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: kilele on September 09, 2012, 09:07 PM
@TaoPhoenix
I read an article a couple of years ago about ram hog plugins, I disabled a dictionary with lots of features and managed to make FF load faster. You can try some of these solutions:
http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-much-memory-ram

in my case, what causes FF freeze and consume a lot of memory is opening a bunch of tabs with "google images" links
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: tomos on September 11, 2012, 01:20 PM
I always install these addons on FF
[...]
qtl15 (http://www.qtl.co.il/)
[...]
-kilele (September 08, 2012, 10:22 AM)

that stole my homepage :down:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: kilele on September 11, 2012, 01:32 PM
sorry pal, what do you mean?
go to configuration and disable the "support" settings.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: tomos on September 11, 2012, 01:51 PM
sorry pal, what do you mean?
-kilele (September 11, 2012, 01:32 PM)

it changed my homepage to qtl's.
I didnt mean to hassle you about it kilele - I was just suprised at the rudeness of it...
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: tomos on September 12, 2012, 03:45 AM
Bah. F FF. Or F Fx. Whatever. Sick of it. Damn thing froze on me while trying to scroll down the page. The mouse was already sluggish inside of it. I can't be bothered to fart around with it anymore.

v15.  :down:
-Renegade (September 01, 2012, 05:50 AM)

I'm having scrolling problems occasionally too - page freezes when scrolling with mouse wheel.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 12, 2012, 05:02 AM
I'm having scrolling problems occasionally too - page freezes when scrolling with mouse wheel.
-tomos (September 12, 2012, 03:45 AM)

Same here. However, the other problem I mentioned previously regarding lock-ups when attempting to open new tabs seems to have mysteriously gone away. Weird...
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: Ath on September 12, 2012, 05:45 AM
+1, sometimes there seem to be some parts of the text moving/wiggling :o and not scrolling, other parts of the text then do not move/wiggle; if the mouse is moved to another area of the page the scroll function returns.
I'm using WaterFox 15, so it seems like a common FireFox 15 issue as both are built from the same codebase :(
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: kilele on September 12, 2012, 08:28 AM
One thing that might help is using Flashblock, above all when browsing youtube or sites with videos, it leaves icons on the sites instead of allowing videos/flash to load automatically.
Another useful extension is quickjava, to able/disable js,java,flash,images..by means of buttons.
I've also found better performance disabling hardware acceleration on the flash plugin..
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 12, 2012, 09:14 AM
I'm getting the mousewheel-scroll problems as well - seems to happen on certain HTML elements, as if the mwheelup/mwheeldown is sent to (and gobbled up by) the element.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on September 12, 2012, 09:20 AM
^I'm seeing a lot of exactly that on YouTube pages.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 12, 2012, 09:47 AM
^I'm seeing a lot of exactly that on YouTube pages.
-40hz (September 12, 2012, 09:20 AM)
To be fair, that normally involves flash, and flash is evil and input-greedy :) - I'm seeing it now and then here at DoCo - mostly at the green reply-quote boxes. At other sites, it can be stuff like links. Doesn't always happen, but not sure entirely what causes it.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: tomos on September 12, 2012, 09:51 AM
I'm seeing it now and then here at DoCo -
-f0dder (September 12, 2012, 09:47 AM)

I was getting it here earlier today.

Afterthought:
... that makes it sounds more interesting than it actually was, doesnt it ;-)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 13, 2012, 10:42 AM
If you have flat screen I guess there's contrast on those funky color combinations. On CRT it's black on black crime. :)
-MilesAhead (September 08, 2012, 01:58 PM)
Humm, CRTs tend(ed?) to have better color range and contrast than flat panels (but yes, my monitors are flat) - you'd have to be using a pretty poor CRT for the ghostery bubble to come up as black-on black. Perhaps the transparency somehow messes up on your system? Here's how it looks on my system, with the hex color code for the background added to the snapshot:

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on September 13, 2012, 01:24 PM
If you have flat screen I guess there's contrast on those funky color combinations. On CRT it's black on black crime. :)
-MilesAhead (September 08, 2012, 01:58 PM)
Humm, CRTs tend(ed?) to have better color range and contrast than flat panels (but yes, my monitors are flat) - you'd have to be using a pretty poor CRT for the ghostery bubble to come up as black-on black. Perhaps the transparency somehow messes up on your system? Here's how it looks on my system, with the hex color code for the background added to the snapshot:
 (see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=32093.msg299804#msg299804))
-f0dder (September 13, 2012, 10:42 AM)

I don't think it's just me. A lot of sites use color combinations that put the whammy on CRT users. That's why Zap Colors bookmarklet was written. In any case it's academic now. The thing is too crash prone to leave active. I'm sure it must slow things down analyzing invisible pixels.

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 14, 2012, 12:47 AM
If you have flat screen I guess there's contrast on those funky color combinations. On CRT it's black on black crime. :)
-MilesAhead (September 08, 2012, 01:58 PM)
Humm, CRTs tend(ed?) to have better color range and contrast than flat panels (but yes, my monitors are flat) - you'd have to be using a pretty poor CRT for the ghostery bubble to come up as black-on black. Perhaps the transparency somehow messes up on your system? Here's how it looks on my system, with the hex color code for the background added to the snapshot:
 (see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=32093.msg299804#msg299804))
-f0dder (September 13, 2012, 10:42 AM)
I don't think it's just me. A lot of sites use color combinations that put the whammy on CRT users. That's why Zap Colors bookmarklet was written. In any case it's academic now. The thing is too crash prone to leave active. I'm sure it must slow things down analyzing invisible pixels.
-MilesAhead (September 13, 2012, 01:24 PM)
Well, do the colors in the snapshot I posted look black-on-black to you? Just interested in whether it's your CRT or something weird with your install :)

Crash prone sounds weird, haven't had any issues with it here, neither in FF nor Chrome (but in fairness, the Chrome is on my work laptop, and doesn't have any other plugins that might be interfering with Ghostery).
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on September 14, 2012, 02:07 PM
The "black on black" was a joke. The point being I can't read it. So I can't tell you the colors. I can only see text if I highlight by dragging the mouse. At any rate, it's going to tell me that the sites I visit use analytics. I don't see the point of getting the same information over and again. It was crash prone when I tried it maybe a year ago. It's crash prone now. It's gone from my machine.

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: tomos on September 15, 2012, 09:41 AM
^ an important point is that it allows you to block those analytics as well. But I guess people realise that...

What I found interesting is that it showed that google analytics were 'working' here, in spite of the fact that I opted out with google, and in spite of having google's "Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on" installed in Firefox.

But now it's blocked :up:
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on September 15, 2012, 02:40 PM
^ an important point is that it allows you to block those analytics as well. But I guess people realise that...

What I found interesting is that it showed that google analytics were 'working' here, in spite of the fact that I opted out with google, and in spite of having google's "Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on" installed in Firefox.

But now it's blocked :up:
-tomos (September 15, 2012, 09:41 AM)

I'm convinced those "do not have tele-marketers call me" lists are just a sneaky way to gather call lists. No sense making it easy for 'em by volunteering my phone number. :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 16, 2012, 09:02 AM
The "black on black" was a joke. The point being I can't read it. So I can't tell you the colors. I can only see text if I highlight by dragging the mouse.
-MilesAhead (September 14, 2012, 02:07 PM)
D'oh. Guess I'm riding the slow bus :)

I don't see the point of getting the same information over and again.
-MilesAhead (September 14, 2012, 02:07 PM)
As tomos says, the important thing is that the analytics is bugged - but it's interesting seeing what kind of stuff is included on various pages. I've turned off the pop-up bubble, though, after getting an idea what kind of tracking is used on the sites I visit frequently - can always click the friendly little ghost to get the list if I feel like it :)

It was crash prone when I tried it maybe a year ago. It's crash prone now. It's gone from my machine.
-MilesAhead (September 14, 2012, 02:07 PM)
Too bad - glad it's stable here :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on September 16, 2012, 04:55 PM
Too bad - glad it's stable here
-f0dder (September 16, 2012, 09:02 AM)

I don't trust CRT-hostile software. To me it's all part of the scam to try to get people to upgrade the monitor for no real reason.  I haven't looked at the specs for a few years. But the last time I looked flat screen performance sucked compared to much cheaper CRT monitors.  Maybe it's different now. But I don't have hundred dollar bills to light my cigars. Fortunately, I don't smoke. :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: J-Mac on September 27, 2012, 11:44 AM
Firefox 15.01 has broken most of my toolbar icons, and none of the links on any of the internal pages are working. E.g., my "reload without cache" button doesn’t work, print preview nor print buttons work... none of the buttons on the level with my address bar work at all. And on the add-ons page none of the links - options, "More...", etc. nothing happens when clicking.

I disabled hardware acceleration - it defaulted to "Enabled" in this version - and that got back a few things but most still aren't working.

I have read that it is possibly a graphics card driver update needed, and others claim that a recent Windows Update broke all of these things.

Grrr...  Really becoming tough as hell not to hate this damn browser lately.

Jim
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 27, 2012, 12:01 PM
J-Mac, what kind of addons have you got in there? Sounds like too massive b0rkage to be FF itself that has messed up, more likely to be some badly coded addon?
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: J-Mac on September 27, 2012, 12:12 PM
Oh, I have plenty, but nothing new installed for a long time. This literally started right after updating to Firefox 15.01. Disabling hardware accel. and then restarting Firefox covered a lot of the issues, but not all. Seems like too many had this happen the same way right after the update, though I agree it isn't all Firefox. Since there was a fairly sizable Windows Update this month I think that plus the Firefox update might be causing indigestion.

Jim
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: f0dder on September 27, 2012, 12:31 PM
Oh, hardware acceleration, missed that - yep, that can be quite buggy. Drivers are usually optimized for gaming use, whereas the codepaths browsers have started exercising simply haven't been tested as well. I thought firefox was pretty picky about not enabling hw accel on 'bad' drivers though. Hm. Driver bugs should lead to stuff like crashes and graphics glitches, though, whereas your "buttons and links stop working" sound more like some (possibly old) badly coded addon that breaks because some FF internals have changed around a bit :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on September 30, 2012, 01:02 PM

Hmm, the little flash-cpu-spikes are back.

So whatever gains I thought I had from the new version are gone again. This kind of thing is so hard to pin down. : (
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: tomos on October 01, 2012, 04:33 PM
In terms of everyday use, it's definitely a lot worse than previous versions (here).
I've disabled a few extensions and plugins and it's still acting up - to be completely fair to it I should try it with no add-ons.

(Firefox without Session Manager and Tab Mix Plus though, would leave me no particular reason to be still with firefox...)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: daddydave on October 06, 2012, 02:00 PM
I made an uneducated guess about which add-on was slowing down Firefox for me these days, to the extent that I often have to wait minutes for a response from clicking on the tab or scroll bar. I have disabled that addin, and after a few hours of not having any problems, I re-enabled the other add-ins I had disabled. So far so good. I will give it a week and if I still don't have any problems, the add-in gets booted and I will tell you the name of the add-in. I don't want to jump to conclusions prematurely.

Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on October 06, 2012, 07:46 PM
Well, I went along and installed Beta 16.0, so we'll see what all that does. I also switched out Ghostery for TrackerBlock, on the theory that even if "less evil", Ghostery is run by an ad company, and hopefully PrivacyChoice.org ... isnt?

So my browser is back to being fast, so we'll see if it stays that way.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on October 06, 2012, 08:42 PM
Well, I went along and installed Beta 16.0, so we'll see what all that does. I also switched out Ghostery for TrackerBlock, on the theory that even if "less evil", Ghostery is run by an ad company, and hopefully PrivacyChoice.org ... isnt?

So my browser is back to being fast, so we'll see if it stays that way.
-TaoPhoenix (October 06, 2012, 07:46 PM)

How long you been running 16? Is it rock solid?
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on October 06, 2012, 08:45 PM
Well, I went along and installed Beta 16.0, so we'll see what all that does. I also switched out Ghostery for TrackerBlock, on the theory that even if "less evil", Ghostery is run by an ad company, and hopefully PrivacyChoice.org ... isnt?

So my browser is back to being fast, so we'll see if it stays that way.
-TaoPhoenix (October 06, 2012, 07:46 PM)

How long you been running 16? Is it rock solid?
-MilesAhead (October 06, 2012, 08:42 PM)

Heh ... about an hour. So I have no basis to report it being rock solid. After all, 15.X was fast when I put it on whatever day that was, so something slowed it down. This time I changed up a few of my plugins.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on October 06, 2012, 09:11 PM
I just tried installing. No bookmark toolbar. I just didn't want the hassle so I took it off. 14.01 is good enough for the time being.  Chromium is my primary anyway. I mainly bring up FF if the site balks with the multi-media delay(I set chromium to block everything and right click to run video/audio clips etc.. some sites can't handle that hitch in the timing.)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on October 06, 2012, 09:44 PM
I just tried installing. No bookmark toolbar. I just didn't want the hassle so I took it off. 14.01 is good enough for the time being.  Chromium is my primary anyway. I mainly bring up FF if the site balks with the multi-media delay(I set chromium to block everything and right click to run video/audio clips etc.. some sites can't handle that hitch in the timing.)

-MilesAhead (October 06, 2012, 09:11 PM)

I think it's there, View-Toolbars, check on Bookmarks Toolbar.

Maybe it's off by default. I personally don't use/like bookmarks so I have it off for the vertical screen space.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on October 06, 2012, 09:58 PM
It's checked in View Menu. But even though I have a folder named Bookmarks Toolbar, it doesn't display it. I forget how to get SyncPlaces to download. That fixes all the bookmark stuff in one go. Guess I just didn't have the patience to mess with it.  14 seems good. :)
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on October 07, 2012, 10:11 AM

Random tidbit of news: Monster.com is misbehaving since I downloaded the beta. I tried disabling a couple of the add-ons, but I'm not sure what all is going on yet.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: J-Mac on October 07, 2012, 10:35 AM
There are a few sites using Flash that I cannot keep open without Firefox freezing. Even locks up Windows Explorer. Newegg.com is one; anytime I open a product page Firefox becomes non-responsive. Others have reported the same. Also, at times I can easily view movies, etc. on Amazon's Instant Video library; other times it freezes Firefox completely. Weird...

Thanks!

Jim
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: 40hz on October 07, 2012, 01:18 PM
Haven't run into to many Flash issues recently. But YouTube does occasionally lock up FF15. Still.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: dantheman on October 07, 2012, 03:01 PM
That is true 40hz!

However, i find i get much less of any problematic issue with Firefox than with Opera (which i would like to prefer).
With regards to memory usage, i don't know about present Firefox Aurora but Opera-Next and Google Chrome are doing a "good" job at using more and more memory. Something that i would have least expected from Opera.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: TaoPhoenix on October 08, 2012, 10:53 PM
Random tidbit of news: Monster.com is misbehaving since I downloaded the beta. I tried disabling a couple of the add-ons, but I'm not sure what all is going on yet.
-TaoPhoenix (October 07, 2012, 10:11 AM)

Update:
It might be involving history and cookies. I had it set to "never remember history", but maybe Monster.com is really aggressive with history, so that it kept getting shut out.
Title: Re: Firefox 15 less of a memory hog
Post by: MilesAhead on October 09, 2012, 10:48 AM
I see FF 16 went Release Channel today. There's a download link on FileHippo (http://www.filehippo.com/). Don't see one for Portable yet.  I remembered how to fix my bookmarks bar with SyncPlaces(not that it was difficult. I'm just forgetting since I rarely use it.)

I tried installing to a different folder so as not to hose 14.01.  But Speed dial can't find images. I'm reluctant to overwrite 14.01 until I get an indication 16 is not flaky. :)