Firefox slowness caused by memory fragmentation

Wildhoney · 12-06-2007, 10:34 PM

This is quite a revelation, because I read about a month ago that Mozilla had no idea where Firefox was leaking memory from. It turns out they still haven't a clue, but some smart Alec has managed to figure out what the problem is, and even comes up with some retro-style looking images to describe it over here.

I don't know about you, but when I initially abandoned Internet Explorer and started using Firefox, I was amazed at its speed. I didn't care for all the fancy things as long as it was fast. But these days Firefox really seems to have been fed to the dogs. Open any more than 10 windows and Firefox begins to slurp all your memory. If it weren't for the Javascript debugger called Firebug, I'd have been using Opera by now.

Rendair · 12-06-2007, 10:37 PM

Yes i agree i only use FireFox for firebug

Village Idiot · 12-06-2007, 10:40 PM

Open more then 10 of anything and it will get slow... Firefox works great for me, although I dont generally have more then 8 tabs open on more then two windows.

Wildhoney · 12-06-2007, 10:57 PM

I can open many windows in Opera and it still appears to run at the same speed as if I only have one open. I can't help but feel the Firefox generation is dying out. Unless they do something quick that is! How many Firefox versions we had in the past week? 2 or 3?

WinSrev · 12-06-2007, 11:17 PM

As my browsers currently stand at Mem Usage:
firefox.exe = 256,888 K (idle, 9% CPU)
navigator.exe = 52,532 K (idle, 0% CPU) (Netscape)
iexplore.exe = 66,140 K (idle 0% CPU) (IE7)

Just goes to show you hey? Safari was too unstable to load for this test...

wGEric · 12-06-2007, 11:29 PM

This is probably what is happening to me and causing Firefox to lock up. Although I don't have very many windows or tabs open.

CoryMathews · 12-07-2007, 04:05 AM

have you seen the beta.. crap crap and more crap. i used to love ff when i first got it. and now the only reason its big is because of its add-ons and noone knows of opera, safari sucks on windows, and people dont want to use that thing they call ie. netscape.. who wants to wait a full 5 mins for it to start up.

Jay · 12-07-2007, 08:59 AM

Firefox 3 has a lot of improvements, I think.. Have you tried the nightly build? It's better than Beta 1.

@CoryMathews- I've never had any issues concerning startup, except for when I had maybe 10 tabs having to reopen.. Maybe you have massive amounts of RSS/ATOM feeds, bookmarks, and opened tabs? What's your system memory, that could also play a key part in the execution time.

CoryMathews · 12-07-2007, 02:23 PM

I will try out the nightly build cause ye im still runnin beta 1. Also its been some time since i loaded up netscape probably about 8-10 months. I only loaded it a couple time and it seemed to take forever. Longer then to load up dreameaver or flash. And no i didnt have any tabs open or feeds. Now im gonna try it out again maybe it was just my comp when i ran it.

Wildhoney · 12-07-2007, 02:27 PM

What's wrong with Firefox 3 beta 1 exactly? I do have a lot of bookmarks in Firefox. Maybe that's part of the issue? Although the guy who wrote that article seems to think it's an issue with the way Firefox handles its memory allowance - IE, hands it around like chocolate in that wee film... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No doubt that'll be on at Christmas.

CoryMathews · 12-07-2007, 02:32 PM

If i open more then about 3 tabs it stops rendering the current tab. I have to scroll down then back up for it to rerender the page. It has crashed on me countless times (its a beta i expect that). But in short that crack it up to be good enough to change the world and its not much different at all.

devolio · 12-07-2007, 02:38 PM

I've always wondered why some people get this issue with firefox more than others, but...
If you turn off the back cache in about:config, and don't use too many plugins it should be fine. I don't think I've ever had FF crash on me, and I keep 20-40 tabs open for days at a time. I use linux, though.

WinSrev · 12-09-2007, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoryMathews

have you seen the beta.. crap crap and more crap. i used to love ff when i first got it. and now the only reason its big is because of its add-ons and noone knows of opera, safari sucks on windows, and people dont want to use that thing they call ie. netscape.. who wants to wait a full 5 mins for it to start up.

My Netscape loads instantly... Netscape has always worked when all other browsers have failed miserably.

CoryMathews · 12-09-2007, 12:45 AM

well i checked out netscape again and you guys are right it doesnt take long at all to run. It must of just been the version i had a while back. But i dont remember it looking exactly like firefox or maybe firefox from it.. exact same menus, exact same from the url bar down. now imma try if i can install a ff addon to it.

Edit: well shit they are the same thing. i just installed a firefox addon and it works like a charm..

WinSrev · 12-09-2007, 12:50 AM

They using the same engine, although they have changed some aspects of it. It has changed a lot since it's original green versions.

Shaun · 12-09-2007, 02:12 AM

It's a pitty about the memory problem, i use firefox everyday, ive tried opera but firefox has kept me because of the firebugs and web developer plugin, not to meantion foxmarks(bookmark sync.).

I've tried firefox 3b, but havent had a chance to checks it memory usage.

CoryMathews · 12-09-2007, 02:52 AM

opera has "foxmarks" its called opera links but its built in by default. Except its only in the beta right not.

bdm · 12-09-2007, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun

I've tried firefox 3b, but havent had a chance to checks it memory usage.

I'm using it right now and the memory consumption seems to be lower, but I haven't looked too deeply into it.

I wouldn't suggest using it in a production environment since it seems to crash at the worse possible times.

Rizza · 12-09-2007, 05:00 AM

I haven't had any complaints with Firefox yet, perhaps it's primarily an issue with Windows machines, but it works great on Leopard. It's just too bad Zend Studio has memory leaks... if that weren't the case I'd be in good shape. :(

Wildhoney · 12-09-2007, 03:14 PM

Yea, it is only a Windows issue - other operating systems have apparently luckily got it away with it. Before anybody starts bashing Windows though - it is solely a Firefox issue - again, apparently.