Arch Linux

jonathantan86

Member

Registered: 2004-05-02

Posts: 42

Firefox 3 locks up whole system

I just reinstalled Arch Linux on my computer. Once in a while my computer hangs: the mouse pointer responds to my mouse movements once every few seconds and there's hard disk activity (the light goes on and there's the hard disk sound). With my previous setup (XFCE4.4, Firefox 2) I did not encounter this. I have IceWM, Firefox,
Pidgin and the HAL daemon running. (Not sure if HAL contributes to this problem, I did not run it in my previous set up.)

I do not use swap and have disabled Firefox's memory cache.

Is there any way to prevent this from happening? Or should I use another browser instead?

I am using a Pentium M 900MHz processor with 256MB RAM.

dyscoria

Member

Registered: 2008-01-10

Posts: 1,007

Re: Firefox 3 locks up whole system

I would definately definately recommend you use a swap partition as 256MB of RAM really is not gonna cut it for firefox. You might want to consider a browser that's lighter on system resources too, like kazehakase or epiphany.

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flack 2.0.6: menu-driven BASH script to easily tag FLAC files (AUR)
knock-once 1.2: BASH script to easily create/send one-time sequences for knockd (forum/AUR)

Gullible Jones

Member

Registered: 2004-12-29

Posts: 4,863

Re: Firefox 3 locks up whole system

Eh? 256 MB should be enough for Firefox. It shouldn't be using more than 100 MB or so, much of that cache. This sounds like it might be more CPU than RAM related.

kakabaratruskia

Member

From: Santiago, Chile

Registered: 2003-08-24

Posts: 596

Re: Firefox 3 locks up whole system

I was having similar trouble, disabling adblock fixed it.

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And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you though?
They're all resting down in Cornwall
writing up their memoirs for a paper-back edition
of the Boy Scout Manual.

UnbreakableMJ

Member

From: Bahrain

Registered: 2007-05-24

Posts: 29

Website

Re: Firefox 3 locks up whole system

I don't think disabling the memory cache is good. Instead, playing with the Firefox3 cache and memory settings should fix it. Just need to figure out the the right number of MBs to enter for each option. Many guides are posted on the Internet on how to get better performance out of Firefox3 should be helpful for this.

The less extensions you use the better, and also the less tabs you open at once.

Try to use a new profile (firefox -ProfileManager)

Other browsers recommended are: Epiphany and Arora.

qlus

Member

From: Tychy, Poland

Registered: 2006-06-15

Posts: 74

Re: Firefox 3 locks up whole system

Go to Edit => preferences => Security an disable both "Tell me if the site...". This should help.

aio7

Member

Registered: 2008-07-05

Posts: 8

Re: Firefox 3 locks up whole system

Experienced system freeze for 30 sec approx. All time bug.
Visiting Defcon.org. Especially mail page

With NoScritp and ADBLock addons on. FF 3
No scripts, no java or something. What's the reason to hang the whole system?

Last edited by aio7 (2008-07-05 14:22:37)