Ff keeps disappearing [completely] from my desktop.
Sometimes if i leave it, it reappears, even after opening a new Ff browser. Once it disappeared for a couple of days, then mysteriously cropped up again UNDER the one which is in my systray, replete with all my tabs still open!
If I DO open a new Ff window, I cant access old tabs, which seems to show that the browser does know that it is already running somewhere, even if I cant see it anywhere.
Is this a Ff thing or Windows 8?
All Replies (20)
You may have hot corners on in your operating system? (http://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-hot-corners-charms-bar-start-screen-thumbnail-app-switch-list-in-windows-8/)
When you are looking to the disappeared window you can pull up the task manager to see if it is still running. or use Ctrl + tab to open up the window that may have disappeared.
See if it is still there, else I would recommend to see if there is an issue with an add on by starting Firefox in Safe Mode Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode
Do you still see Firefox in the Windows Task Manager?
Did you try if you can access Firefox via the Alt+Tab shortcut if there is still a Firefox process under Process or Applications in the Task Manager?
No, I dont have hot corners enabled and I am pretty sure that no Ff turns up in task manager when it disappears from sight. Whether there are any processes in process manager I dont know: I assume there absolutely must be or it couldnt start up again under any circumstances?
One more thing I didnt mention because I didnt think it specific enough to be of much use. But occasionally (1-2 times a day) Ff starts "not responding", the screen goes all translucent and the cursor turns into a spinning circle. Usually lasts 20-30 seconds
Not sure if anyone thinks any of this could be relevant: Ff just crashed (and then told me to update to 31)
AdapterDeviceID: 0x0416 AdapterVendorID: 0x8086 Add-ons: %7BCB454AEB-2F60-4441-ADEB-2CB43BB33B20%7D:3.0,%7B972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd%7D:30.0,old.compose%40gmail.com:2.2.8,jid1-93CWPmRbVPjRQA%40jetpack:2.0.5.3 AvailablePageFile: 2980990976 AvailablePhysicalMemory: 1991942144 AvailableVirtualMemory: 542826496 BIOS_Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc. BlockedDllList: BreakpadReserveAddress: 39452672 BreakpadReserveSize: 37748736 BuildID: 20140605174243 CrashTime: 1406748015 EMCheckCompatibility: true EventLoopNestingLevel: 1 FramePoisonBase: 00000000f0de0000 FramePoisonSize: 65536 InstallTime: 1402605201 Notes: AdapterVendorID: 0x8086, AdapterDeviceID: 0x0416, AdapterSubsysID: 122d1043, AdapterDriverVersion: 10.18.10.3308 Has dual GPUs. GPU #2: AdapterVendorID2: 0x10de, AdapterDeviceID2: 0x1292, AdapterSubsysID2: 122d1043, AdapterDriverVersion2: 9.18.13.2683D2D? D2D+ DWrite? DWrite+ D3D10 Layers? D3D10 Layers+ WebGL? EGL? EGL+ GL Context? GL Context+ WebGL+ ProductID: {ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384} ProductName: Firefox ReleaseChannel: release SecondsSinceLastCrash: 6488883 StartupTime: 1405772894 SystemMemoryUsePercentage: 76 Theme: classic/1.0 Throttleable: 1 TotalPageFile: 11556360192 TotalPhysicalMemory: 8469352448 TotalVirtualMemory: 4294836224 URL: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOVADO-Watch-movement-Swiss-made-Parts-or-repair-/321476100059?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ad977ffdb Vendor: Mozilla Version: 30.0 Winsock_LSP: MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP] : 2 : 1 :
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP] : 2 : 2 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll MSAFD Tcpip [RAW/IP] : 2 : 3 : MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IPv6] : 2 : 1 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IPv6] : 2 : 2 : MSAFD Tcpip [RAW/IPv6] : 2 : 3 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll RSVP TCPv6 Service Provider : 2 : 1 : RSVP TCP Service Provider : 2 : 1 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll RSVP UDPv6 Service Provider : 2 : 2 : RSVP UDP Service Provider : 2 : 2 : %SystemRoot%\system32\mswsock.dll MSAFD RfComm [Bluetooth] : 2 : 1 :
useragent_locale: en-US
We're sorry to hear that Firefox is crashing. In order to assist you better, please follow the steps below to provide us crash IDs to help us learn more about your crash.
- Enter about:crashes in the Firefox address bar and press Enter. A Submitted Crash Reports list will appear, similar to the one shown below.
- Copy the 5 most recent Report IDs that start with bp- and then go back to your forum question and paste that into the "Post a Reply" box. (Please don't take a screenshot of your crashes, just copy and paste the ID's. The below image is just an example of what your Firefox screen should look like)
Thank you for your help!
More information and further troubleshooting steps can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) article.
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the tool bar. Followed by;
Windows; Tools > Options Linux; Edit > Preferences Mac; application name > Preferences
Then Advanced > General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.
Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?.
Then restart.
bp-165d7e37-20d6-4f27-a930-df0fc2140730 7/30/2014 3:21 PM 25cb9751-e955-45c6-8396-c0990989dab7 6/9/2014 3:38 PM bp-1108b32f-3817-4c19-ad03-a3a642140516 5/16/2014 12:52 PM bp-b71d8bda-bfe2-4abf-974d-66ec52140418 4/18/2014 6:15 PM bp-b7a16896-f454-4527-a73b-35f282140408 4/8/2014 5:38 PM bp-49e737c8-9da8-4a2f-a0e5-5eb4d2140214 2/14/2014 2:13 PM
I have tried to disable hardware acceleration but it doesn't seem to make much difference to the crashing (yet): However, as the whole program only (completely) crashes once or twice a month, I am not really sure how to test it: Am I supposed to operate Ff in safe mode for a few months and see if it doesn't crash? How/when would I know it is no longer crashing?
The crashing seems unrelated to the becoming-unresponsive problem. One doesn't seem to derive from the other. It never becomes unresponsive and then crashes: When it crashes, it does so very quickly and without going through the circular-spinning wheel stage.
The crash reports show you are using too much memory;
Total Virtual Memory 4294836224
Available Virtual Memory 542826496
System Memory Use Percentage 76
Available Page File 2980990976
Available Physical Memory 1991942144
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-much-memory-ram?esab=a&s=Memory&r=0&as=s
Firefox uses too much memory (RAM) - How to fix This article describes how to make Firefox use less memory to make it run faster and prevent crashes.
One of your add-ons; CB454AEB-2F60-4441-ADEB-2CB43BB33B20 has had problems in the past. Some kind of anti-virus.
It could be the work of one of your add-ons, or even add / mal-ware. Look thru your add-ons list and make sure you know what each one is there for. Also, check the programs that are on your computer
Windows: Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs. Mac: Open the "Applications" folder Linux: options depends on the package manager and the desktop environment
Go thru the list. If you find something that you don't know what it is, use a web search.
Modified by James
I habitually open anything up to 45 tabs. This has never proved a problem before but this is a new computer with Windows 8 on it (and more resources to match) I wonder if this could NOW be the problem? Do the newer versions of Ff not work well with this sort of stress under Windows 8?
(I am pretty sure it isnt malware because I am quite careful about that and it is unlikely to be McAfee unless McAfee just doesnt like not being updated when the sub runs out)
I am inferring from the crash that the crash is consistently an out of memory issue on webpages that have an opacity less than 1.0, or use a large amount of animations.
To answer your question about Firefox being able to handle the amount of stress of 45 tabs is a good question, however eliminating the other troubleshooting steps can help isolate what may be using the large amount of memory. The about:memory page can measure this for further investigation.
Do you also have adblock installed? https://blog.mozilla.org/nnethercote/.../adblock-pluss-effect-on-firefoxs-memory-usage/
Modified by guigs
I figured it could well be a resource problem ever since I used a resource meter on my Mac and any Ff use would send the meter spiraling downwards. So I had to stop using Ff on the Mac.
However I never had that problem in linux or windows and as a cross check, I use Ff fine in a 7 or XP VM on the mac!
I would imagine it must be the large number of tabs in use: Not only dont I use AdBlock, I use a HOSTS file which prevents all those ads/banners/animations from rendering, so I should have theoretically more resources available as opposed to less!
Looking at this again, it may just be resource crash? Ramback is a nice addon for memory monitoring, however the bugs associated with the crash are due to heavy animations. Please keep an eye on the bugs associated with this crash report https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/repor.../165d7e37-20d6-4f27-a930-df0fc2140730 for further updates to this.
What is a bit curious is that I dont habitually view web sites that have heavy animation and when the crashes occur, it isnt with animation-pages being viewed. And as I said I use a HOSTS file to prevent ads utilising resources.
Plus, reducing resource usage (by shutting down whole programs) when Ff stops responding doesnt seem to make a difference.
It only seems to happen on Windows 8.
BTW Ff just crashed again and then after a few hours mysteriously reappeared. While it was out of commission, I did check TM and it showed no Ff app NOR processes running! However, when I tried reopening Ff, it couldnt do so, noting that one instance of Ff running was preventing me opening another??
If you have crash reports after;
bp-165d7e37-20d6-4f27-a930-df0fc2140730 7/30/2014 3:21 PM
Please post them.
For now, try these add-ons. You can always remove / disable them later.
Flash block {web link} Never be annoyed by a Flash animation again! Blocks Flash so it won't get in your way, but if you want to see it, just click on it
Image Block {web link}
adds a toggle button that conditionally blocks/allows loading of images on webpages. Blocking images results in faster browsing, especially helpful on handheld devices or slower connections like GSM/GPRS/EDGE dial-up etc.
Has there been any progress on this general flakiness in Firefox please?
These problems have been getting worse over the last week or so. About a week ago, the browser disappeared completely again, both from the desktop and from processes in TM.
I opened Ff again and carried on, using 3-4 tabs. (there was no 'restore session' option) After about 3 days, I noticed a second browser window which suddenly appeared behind the newer one I was using. When i switched to it, my old window which had disappeared 3 days before was there! No resource problem, everything just seemed to work OK. I closed the newer window with 5 tabs opened and nothing seemed any better.
Then yesterday, it disappeared again, again completely. After a day of not using Ff at all, I opened it on my desktop and Hey Presto! it offered to restore all my formerly lost tabs.
This time, no crash reports appear: the most recent one that is there in about:crashes is e1e60b7b-77b3-4b59-a5fa-636d326f40d9 9/20/2014 12:20 PM
And there is another symptom: Often Ff disappears to the systray for no apparent reason. I can hover over the icon and see the browser but if I try to click on it, the browser which appears in the half-inch box above the icon just disappears.