Facebook still utterly sucks in Pale Moon :( Topic is solved

[rabnbeinn]

i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz, Win8.1 (x64), PM 28.2.1 (x64), ABL disabled for both facebook.com and fbcdn.net.... Facebook loads and scrolls with no problem at all. Scrolling through photos is also smooth with no stuttering. Infact (dare I say it) Facebook run perfectly for me

[mommabear]

For those who, no matter what they try, still can't get a decent experience on Facebook but still want to stay with Pale Moon for all their other needs, I found my solution. Use another browser just for Facebook. If you search my posts on this forum you will find comments from me as I "tried it all", tweaked the settings, safe mode, new profiles and fresh installations of Pale Moon. And yes, my laptop is old but with a different browser, age doesn't seem to matter.

For awhile as stated in my old posts, I thought I'd made it! It wasn't perfect but I could at least use Facebook without too many hassles. But it only lasted for awhile and then Pale Moon/Facebook disintegrated again. And again.

So, I tried other browsers. Many browsers. Based on personal preferences and GUI, I have gone with Opera Portable. But many of the browsers I tried all worked flawlessly in Facebook. Several of them are still compatible with FBPurity. With the increased performance using a different browser, all the bloated Facebook features are still tolerable. So any alternative browser will probably do for Facebook, with or without FBPurity.

I like the old Firefox feel in Pale Moon so I will stick with it as long as I can. I want my theme to look like the old Internet Explorer and I don't give a hoot about transparency and all that other fancy stuff. However, I can put up with the tabs permanently on top while visiting Facebook.

So using another browser just for Facebook has saved me from tearing my hair out. Perhaps it will save you too.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

For those who, no matter what they try, still can't get a decent experience on Facebook but still want to stay with Pale Moon for all their other needs, I found my solution. Use another browser just for Facebook.

So using another browser just for Facebook has saved me from tearing my hair out. Perhaps it will save you too.

Try installing the 32bit version of PM on another low-powered device like mine and see how it runs for you there. Most of us have access to more than one machine. If it works well there then you have a pointer it is all to do with your machine and configuration.

[back2themoon]

What's not entirely clear to me is how much of this perceived or actual performance difference is due to Facebook only truly supporting mainstream browsers, and how much due to 'structural' differences between Pale Moon and the other browsers. I guess there can't be a clear answer since only FB knows how FB really works.

As for content-blocking, I completely disabled uBO and only left FBP to take care of everything. It seems a bit faster now.

*Remember, for FBP/Social Fixer you must not install the Firefox extension (it's not compatible), but their script version (they both have one). Before being able to install it, you must first install this Greasemonkey version (and remove any others you may have previously installed)

[Octopuss]

I have installed the damn Firefox to occasionally use it for FB and started hating it within like two minutes. Bleh!
It is a solution though.

[mommabear]

For those who, no matter what they try, still can't get a decent experience on Facebook but still want to stay with Pale Moon for all their other needs, I found my solution. Use another browser just for Facebook.

So using another browser just for Facebook has saved me from tearing my hair out. Perhaps it will save you too.

Try installing the 32bit version of PM on another low-powered device like mine and see how it runs for you there. Most of us have access to more than one machine. If it works well there then you have a pointer it is all to do with your machine and configuration.

I don't have another machine to try it on, but I am due to make a monthly system image backup in a few days. When I do that, I might give Pale Moon one more chance with Facebook and uninstall the 64 bit to try the 32 bit. I really don't like giving up. LOL!

[Frasier]

Why not try a portable version? Pale Moon Portable downloads.

[mommabear]

Why not try a portable version? Pale Moon Portable downloads.

I don't know about anybody else, but I tried that too.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

I don't have another machine to try it on, but I am due to make a monthly system image backup in a few days. When I do that, I might give Pale Moon one more chance with Facebook and uninstall the 64 bit to try the 32 bit. I really don't like giving up. LOL!

I run both versions on the same machine. You can try it now.

The important thing though is trying it on another machine will prove to you that it is YOUR machine configuration that is the problem. Then you can start to diagnose, adding the same extensions, themes &c adding your password file &c and see if the same occurs there.

When we say our machines are working fine we aren't lying. Your config/set up is affecting something. It is 'merely' a matter of finding out which.

[mommabear]

I don't have another machine to try it on, but I am due to make a monthly system image backup in a few days. When I do that, I might give Pale Moon one more chance with Facebook and uninstall the 64 bit to try the 32 bit. I really don't like giving up. LOL!

I run both versions on the same machine. You can try it now.

The important thing though is trying it on another machine will prove to you that it is YOUR machine configuration that is the problem. Then you can start to diagnose, adding the same extensions, themes &c adding your password file &c and see if the same occurs there.

When we say our machines are working fine we aren't lying. Your config/set up is affecting something. It is 'merely' a matter of finding out which.

Just to clarify, I don't think anyone is lying. I believe you! lol! If Facebook works for most but not for some, then the likely culprit is "operator error". I'm just not sure I have the wherewith all to figure it out successfully. Hence, I moved to another browser for my Facebook needs. I will try the 32 bit PM in the near future though to see if that makes a difference.

[99HVYSK]

my test result on facebook,

* firefox-63.0.3, smoothest
* chromium-70.0.3538.110, smooth
* palemoon -28.1.1, laggy
* basilisk-2018.11.07, laggy

~~all tested with clean profile and no extension or addon installed~~

spec:
* Linux 4.19.4-arch1-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT ... x86_64 GNU/Linux
* Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz (9 years old thinkpad x200)
* 3GB RAM
* 63GB SanDisk SSD

[Sajadi]

Let's see it from the point of view which really matters - at least from the perspective of Facebook themselves:

Facebook is only delivering the needs of 2 different kinds of browsers (Firefox and Chrome) - who are also multi-process instead of single process based...

What do you think you can expect from such a site which is that bloated and overloaded and only catering the needs of the 2 mentioned class of browsers? Point is, Facebook works best for Firefox and Chrome, because that are the browsers for which Facebook develops.

There is nothing which is going to change that. If you want a more fluid experience for Facebook, use either Chrome or Firefox for this page. There can not be done more. There is basically only one responsible party who decides if the page of them is fluid or not with different browsers - the page maker themselves. This applies to Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter.... and all the rest of them. Sad but true, but that is the reality in which we are living.

The only realistic chance to get more speed... change the user agent that the mobile variant is loaded - that way it works fluid, but most of the so-called "graphical gimmicks" are lost in that process

[mommabear]

Sajadi:
Point is, Facebook works best for Firefox and Chrome, because that are the browsers for which Facebook develops.

Yep, I think that's the bottom line. Tweaking here and here might make it better briefly, but as soon as Facebook tries some other "features" and plays with their code, it is back to the drawing board in Pale Moon.

[back2themoon]

If you block HTTP referrers via extension or Pale Moon's relevant about:config settings, you may see a small performance boost after re-enabling them for FB.

[Octopuss]

who are also multi-process instead of single process based...

Do you think that's what makes the biggest difference?

[yereverluvinuncleber]

When you create a website for a particular browser that is basically bad design. Microsoft tried to entice designers to use non-standard (superset) facilities to do this or that in their flagship browser, meaning that key functions would only work in IE forcing users to abandon the other browsers. In the end it didn't work just gaining IE a bad name it never recovered from and spawning the growth of web-standard browsers such as Firefox. So, designing a site for a specific browser is bad practice but there is no standard here being broken. It is just the way it is.

So, this scenario is slightly different, two major browsers have moved to a multi-process model and so one or two major sites are taking advantage of it. However, PM can't and won't be multi-process, at least at the moment. This could be a problem for PM users in the future.

Finally though, at the moment my old core2duo 2.5 renders Facebook well enough. I don't scroll down looking at all the useless junk posted by others on the so-called 'home' page. My real alternate 'home' page is the page with my name on it and there is no junk there.

If I want to look at all that junk then I let it load just as I would allow any other site to load which has potentially infinite content. Facebook's layout/content provision is just a bit rubbish.

[Sajadi]

who are also multi-process instead of single process based...

Do you think that's what makes the biggest difference?

It all depends which browser the website owner picks for themselves as "target user group" - if it is a very (ecma)script-heavy page - it performs of course different on browsers. That is no secret

Perhaps in some ways multi-process based browsers have a bit of benefit in how they can load pages (just look at Chrome) - but the downside is the memory hunger is massive, you are rather limited in the amount of tabs you can open or the add-ons you can install.

Every side of the coin has different benefits and disadvantages. You can not have both the same time. At least when not having installed 2 different browsers for different pages

[roytam1]

for me, downgrading facebook UA override to 38.9 makes facebook home timeline more responsive, besides showing old browser version nag bar at top.

[Ozzed]

I have experimented a bit and I have found that for me, setting a fixed cache size of 250MB makes facebook and other pages a bit smoother. I have no idea what the rationale behind this is but I saw it in the troubleshooting guide and figured I'd give it a shot.

[Rickkins]

~sigh~

Despite my own best efforts, Facebook on Palemoon still gets more and more sluggish as the day continues.

This truly sucks, as I like my browser to look exactly as it does with Palemoon. I find other looks and feels, wanting. I'm old, and I don't wanna change.