fastdial hangs system
Anonymous (not verified) —Fri, 01/23/2009 - 09:47
i'm using firefox 3.0.5, with fastdial 2.2b on winxp, 2.66ghz cpu, 512mb ram, with nvidia geforce 7100gs.
there's a very serius bug with fd. i've recreated it so many times that i can confidently say it's very serius.
by default fastdial captures a small thumbnail of the website added to any block. when a block is refreshed it takes a while for fastdial to capture the thumbnail. in the meantime, if any other block is right-clicked and any of the popup option is selected, fastdial totally hangs the system. firefox, startmenu, taskbar, system tray, the whole os itself. in one instance, i waited for about one half hour but the system remained hung, with absolutely no response, whatsoever, from keyboard or mouse. not even the taskmanager works. not even the best anticrash software - antifreeze! and this horrible bug not only exists in this beta version, but in all the previus versions too.
the image i've captured could only be done with a cam because of obvius reasons as above. so here's the link. sorry it's only 320x240 as my cell cam is capable only that much. but the bug is recognizable and anyone can recreate it with the steps i've pointed out above.
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2618/img0028ajg9.th.jpg
i'd request telega to rectify this soon before i switch my loyalty. i'm talking about speed dial. not only is it free of any bugs but also loads way faster than fast dial. the only thing speed dial doesn't have is drag'n drop, which telega wrongly claimed as 'faster drag and drop' in 2.22b. in my system, even if i use only fast dial as the addon, it still manages a huge 6sec for a drag'n drop to the adjacent block.
in anticipation of a speedy rectification, thanx in advance to telega.
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by gEEkEr (not verified) on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 02:52@chiaroscuro
i was so engrossed in debugging fd's problem that i'm facing that i couldn't take time out. here's what i found:
the problem occurs because of the two submenus 'firefox' and 'sort' being together. firefox checks to see if a right click is performed on a box and when the submenu firefox or sort is selected, memory allocation for the system goes into a loop (it's like firefox doesn't seem to know which of the two is activated and so asks the os to allot more memory until the ram and the page file are exhausted). processes can't be debugged simply because the whole system is halted or, to say, the system idle process keeps on waiting for more and more ram allocation.
at least, this is what i could make of the problem. even using softice or windebug is impossible. the only solutions remains is a fully debugged ver 2.23 or 2.24.
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by chiaroscuro on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 02:54the problem occurs because of the two submenus 'firefox' and 'sort' being together. firefox checks to see if a right click is performed on a box and when the submenu firefox or sort is selected, memory allocation for the system goes into a loop (it's like firefox doesn't seem to know which of the two is activated and so asks the os to allot more memory until the ram and the page file are exhausted). processes can't be debugged simply because the whole system is halted or, to say, the system idle process keeps on waiting for more and more ram allocation.
You do not describe how you arrived at this conclusion.
What remains unclear is why this should be happening on your system while it does not happen on others.
---
Did you ever look at this
Firefox hangs
How many days is your Keep my History set to ?
Do you use Hyperthreading ?
Have you tried deleting your cache ?
the only solutions remains is a fully debugged ver 2.23 or 2.24.
At the moment this cannot be described as a Fast Dial bug because it is not reproduceable.
Only when the cause for this problem is found can a solution be put in place, that is why I am keen to get as much specific feedback from you as possible to clarify what might be causing your problem.
---
Many thanks
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by gEEkEr (not verified) on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 06:43Why is this happening on your system and not any other.
I tried all sorts of Firefox settings and could not reproduce your problem.
as i said before i can already reproduce this bug back here at my office systems and at my friend's places. it's not that i'm accusing fd altogether. it might have to do with firefox settings also. i've already gone thru http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_hangs. all i can say is that i don't use history at all. so there's no storage of visited webpages. also i've made settings to clear my cache whenever i exit firefox putting no overhead on my system. it's not firefox alone that hangs or freezes. i'm saying that whenever a right click is done on a fd box, and one of the submenus 'firefox' or 'sort' is chosen, the system goes into a frozen state. and this does not happen on other plethora of applications, even internet explorer. it doesn't even happen on firefox minus fd or firefox + speeddial. it happens, and only happens, with fastdial. i'm quite surprised how you're not able to reproduce this bug. whereas it happens almost in all the fd versions 1.89 to 2.22.
i'd suggest one thing though. could you please examine this in systems in which windows xp or windows 2000 is installed and with firefox 3+fd other than 2.23b? i'll be thankful if you could take time out and test. thanx for staying on this.
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by telega on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 08:07i'd suggest one thing though. could you please examine this in systems in which windows xp or windows 2000 is installed and with firefox 3+fd other than 2.23b? i'll be thankful if you could take time out and test. thanx for staying on this.
I tried 2.22b on windows xp, works fine on my machine.
"Firefox" submenu was removed in version 2.23b1, did you try it?
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by chiaroscuro on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 08:09@gEEkEr
I came across this picture of yours just now here
Please could you help explain....
This is sort with the sort submenu
And here the Firefox and Firefox submenu
Please could you explain how you come to be clicking on bookmark this page with the cursor while in Fast Dial, while at the same time as the Sort menu is selected ???
Many Thanks
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by gEEkEr (not verified) on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 10:47@telega
I tried 2.22b on windows xp, works fine on my machine.
"Firefox" submenu was removed in version 2.23b1, did you try it?
i guess then that has got to do with some regional settings. since i'm in india, i can say that. and 2.23b1 has very high mem req i suppose. won't work well on my 512mb. probably would take one long era to refresh even if i use it in my office system with 4gb ram. sorry about that but i can try the latest only when i upgrade my ram. thanx for suggesting.
@chiaroscuro
Please could you explain how you come to be clicking on bookmark this page with the cursor while in Fast Dial, while at the same time as the Sort menu is selected ???
ok, let's assume i'm using fastdial. i've no links added yet. no background picture even. when i right-click on a fd cell a submenu pops up like this:
add>
firefox>
sort>
preferences
--------------------------
refresh all
no refresh, no remove and no properties just like yours. and your firefox submenu shows open image options which means you right-clicked on an image link and not on the added url link, which again means not directly on a cell. i don't know if this shows up in windows vista or not but definitely not in xp or 2k.
secondly, when i right-clicked on a cell and chose firefox> submenu, the appropriate submenu popped up, all's right till now. but when i move the cursor down to sort>, the submenu
none
auto
tile
----------------
visits
should have popped up. but that's when fd freezes my system! so the submenu that shows 'reload', 'bookmark this page', 'save page as...' &c is from the firefox> and not from sort. the system freezes before showing the sort> submenu. THIS IS THE PROBLEM i have been saying all along. what probably happens is the submenu from firefox> just stays on screen because i haven't moved my mouse yet. now when i move my mouse down to sort, the sort> submenu should have displayed. but before it could, ---the rest is history---
since i've already found out that this happens due to the system idle process going into a loop, it means that this has definitely got to do something with memory management in firefox with fastdial. otherwise, my system doesn't hang when i've even around 30 or more tabs with active urls open, although this does slow down my system but never hangs.
although now, i'm sorry to say, i've removed fd until i can debug it fully. anyway, thanx to both of you for staying with me and giving useful tips.
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by telega on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 11:182.23b1 has very high mem req i suppose. won't work well on my 512mb. probably would take one long era to refresh even if i use it in my office system with 4gb ram.
1. So did "hang" bug appear on 2.23b1 or not?
2. 2.23b1 doesn't use any extra memory and should work the same way as previous versions.
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by chiaroscuro on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 02:502.23b1 has very high mem req i suppose. won't work well on my 512mb.
I have 320k (should of course be 320MB) of ram, and 2.23b1 works just fine.
Many thanks
---
EDITED
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by chiaroscuro on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 03:04secondly, when i right-clicked on a cell and chose firefox> submenu, the appropriate submenu popped up, all's right till now. but when i move the cursor down to sort>, the submenu
none
auto
tile
----------------
visits
---
Your description is quite unclear.
You are missing out something.
If you clicked on Firefox submenu as you say by clicking on "bookmark this page" (as seen in the picture), then the bookmarking would have gone ahead and the Firefox submenu would have disappeared.
Either the system froze when you clicked on bookmark this page, in which case you would not be able to select Sort, or it did not freeze on bookmark this page in which case the firefox submenu would have disappeared before you would be able to click on sort.
Please clarify this, (with further pictures if necessary).
---
Re: fastdial hangs system
Submitted by gEEkEr (not verified) on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 09:40@chiaroscuro and telega
secondly, when i right-clicked on a cell and chose firefox> submenu, the appropriate submenu popped up, all's right till now. but when i move the cursor down to sort>, the submenu
none
auto
tile
----------------
visits
---
Your description is quite unclear.
You are missing out something.
i've said that the none, auto, tile... options should appear when the sort> submenu is selected. the same goes for firefox>. the appropriate submenu i.e. the submenu with options - back, forward, reload, stop... &c should appear. not what you've shown because that's for an image url and not for a webpage/website url. isn't it?
If you clicked on Firefox submenu as you say by clicking on "bookmark this page" (as seen in the picture), then the bookmarking would have gone ahead and the Firefox submenu would have disappeared.
Either the system froze when you clicked on bookmark this page, in which case you would not be able to select Sort, or it did not freeze on bookmark this page in which case the firefox submenu would have disappeared before you would be able to click on sort.
Please clarify this, (with further pictures if necessary).
the very fact that the firefox> submenu doesn't disappear or that the sort> submenu never appears, shows that the problem is just in there!
and that's exactly my point! i reiterate these steps in a few paragraphs:
with firefox 3 and fastdial (1.8x - 2.x) installed,
1. and either having selected, or not having selected, bookmarks>fast dial>make home,
2. right-click on any of the fastdial cell.
3. a submenu pops up with various options like add>, firefox>, sort> &c.
4. select submenu firefox>.
5. options back, forward, reload, stop... should have appeared.
6. select submenu sort>.
7. options none, auto, tile... &c should have appeared.
the submenu options you've shown are not for the website/webpage urls but for an image.
and i need not reiterate that this happens irrespective of whether fd has blank cells or customized url cells.
i hope i made my point clear.
sorry to you guys if i was a bit harsh. i'm not a fastdial basher as most others are doing at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/reviews/display/5721
but what i've maintained that since this happens with and only with fastdial, i suppose the problem has to be in the way firefox handles fd.
2.23b1 has very high mem req i suppose. won't work well on my 512mb. probably would take one long era to refresh even if i use it in my office system with 4gb ram.
1. So did "hang" bug appear on 2.23b1 or not?
2. 2.23b1 doesn't use any extra memory and should work the same way as previous versions.
2.23b1 has very high mem req i suppose. won't work well on my 512mb.
I have 320k of ram, and 2.23b1 works just fine.
you must have meant 320mb ram or else you're using a dos version of firefox! ha, ha! please don't take it seriously. i suppose there are systems that take in adding up to 320mb of ram. 128+128+64 combo i suppose? that's interesting! i want to know how.
i know that addons do not themselves gobble up memory but the way they're designed so that firefox interprets actions based on their functionality does increase firefox ram requirement. i'm not biased, but take for instance, another addon with the same functionality as fd (i'm not going to name it for obvious reasons!) which by the way opera also has. i don't know if this particular addon has a high memory usage or not, but it works fine even if i use only 128mb of ram for the systems! of course, firefox does become pathetically slow on 128mb ram, but firefox and the os (xp, 2000) don't hang up.
i haven't used 2.23b so my statement about the mem req was only a guess. i'm sorry if you felt offended. what i was trying to say was addons for firefox, or for that matter any browser, are memory hungry. i'm sure you'd agree with me on that. otherwise there won't be any general statements on a plethora of websites stating that installing addons would slow down the browser performance. but here again, even the jscript code inside the .jar can be optimized to work better! anyway you guys are the better judge.
Pages