PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Stargate38 · Unread post by **Stargate38** » 2025-04-08, 16:57

Operating system: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Browser version: 33.6.1
32-bit or 64-bit browser?: 32-bit
Problem URL: any site
Browser theme (if not default):
Installed add-ons: See troubleshooting info, "Extensions" section
Installed plugins: (about:plugins): Adobe Flash 32.0.0.465, Java(TM) Platform SE 8 U371 11.371.2.11, Shockwave for Director 12.3.5.205, Java Deployment Toolkit 8.0.3710.11 11.371.2.11, TeraBox Application 1.4.0.4

If possible, please include the output of help->troubleshooting information (as text):

When I'm browsing, all of a sudden the browser uses 12% of my PC's CPU, and the GUI is unresponsive. However, it doesn't say "Not Responding" in the title bar, and when it finally does respond (about 45 seconds later), there's a brief spike in wi-fi usage, and the CPU goes back to normal. It doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing at the time, but it seems to occur at roughly the same time each day (1800 UTC, give or take an hour or two). This has been happening through multiple versions of PM over the past 4 months, and over more than one profile.

Unread post by **Moonchild** » 2025-04-08, 17:33

Some things to check:

Terabox Application -- seems to be some on-line cloud storage thing that installed a plugin in the browser? This could be maintenance of some sort it does.
Any extensions that do things on a schedule, e.g. your duplicate bookmarks extension might be trying to clean up dupes on a schedule?

Otherwise nothing off-hand being a clear cause of this odd behaviour.

Stargate38 · Unread post by **Stargate38** » 2025-04-08, 17:47

I just now disabled TeraBox, and removed all but 1 of the 3 bookmark duplicate removal add-ons. I'll check to see if any more freezes happen over the next couple of days. I've also disabled some other addons that I never use. Updated troubleshooting info:

Stargate38 · Unread post by **Stargate38** » 2025-04-15, 17:25

Update: It happened again (both yesterday and today), and I seem to have narrowed the time range of occurrences to a few minutes after opening PM, or 1650 UTC, whichever comes last. Here's what domains PM connected to during today's freeze:

31.7.187.157.static.afterburst.com (Results in "Server Not Found" if I try to open in new tab, but 31.7.187.157 is apparently a nginx server)
192.0.73.2 (Gravatar-related, probably from browsing this forum)
74-208-236-142.elastic-ssl.ui-r.com (404 Not Found)
172.67.184.5 (Gives Cloudflare Error 1003: Direct IP access not allowed, not sure what domain goes with that IP)
185.199.111.133 (404 There isn't a GitHub Pages site here)
104.21.33.155 (Error 1003 again)
bit.ly (Why is it connecting to an URL shortener?)

Unread post by **Moonchild** » 2025-04-15, 17:49

The only one known to me is the first; it's a palemoon.org server, most likely just the normal check for updates request.

I have no idea where the other connections are coming from, but if you were actively browsing at the time it could be any of them from your active pages.

If the timing is consistent each time, then you really should check your extensions for any timed events. i.e. is FEBE making a backup at those times, maybe? Maybe CAA is trying to refresh its database? Things like that.

Weasel · Unread post by **Weasel** » 2025-04-19, 20:21

I have the same problem and usually it's some time after I launch PM as mentioned, not a set specific time. Tried on fresh profile so can't be extensions.

Scribe · Unread post by **Scribe** » 2025-04-21, 08:10

What sounds like the same thing has been happening to me, also for several weeks/months. I don't think it's related to the time of day, but maybe only occurs once a day, and almost always happens within 5 mins of a PM cold start. It also doesn't appear to be related to any particular websites, and can occur just when PM is idling. Disabling Add-ons, or HWA, or changing PM updates check to Never, makes no difference.

Before it happens, the Browser Console shows only the first line, but afterwards, it is filled with 'addons.update-checker' entries, which might help those with the necessary expertise diagnose the problem.

(My Add-ons are all set to 'Automatic Updates'). Others could perhaps see if they are getting a similar thing, which would confirm that it's the same issue.

** Preference parsing warning (line 100) = preserving unexpected JS escape sequence **

1745221248462 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for customizenewtab@alejandrobrizuela.com.ar did not contain an updates property
1745221250358 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for jid1-UReeVGBoB5LmIw@jetpack did not contain an updates property
1745221252254 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for {02450914-cdd9-410f-b1da-db004e18c671} did not contain an updates property
1745221254176 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for zoompage@DW-dev did not contain an updates property
1745221256072 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for 54c7d9671b9eccd9e5686a73df34ab60@button.codefisher.org did not contain an updates property
1745221257992 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for openbookmarkintab@piro.sakura.ne.jp did not contain an updates property
1745221261824 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for {B5F5E8D3-AE31-49A1-AC42-78B7B1CC5CDC} did not contain an updates property
1745221263720 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for dblclicker@byo.co.il did not contain an updates property
1745221265628 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for {28FAD68E-4001-48d5-B994-68069F7CFB1D} did not contain an updates property
1745221269442 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for zoompagestool@eed4bb9b did not contain an updates property
1745221271434 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for resp-bmbar@Off.JustOff did not contain an updates property
1745221273366 addons.update-checker WARN update.rdf: Update manifest for adblocklatitude@addons.palemoon.org did not contain an updates property

therube · Unread post by **therube** » 2025-04-21, 16:32

Something external (to PM)?
Antivirus or malware (you are using Win10

) doing some kind of CPU intensive operation, daily, that causes poor interaction with PM (& maybe with other programs too)...

Unread post by **moonbat** » 2025-04-22, 02:51

All these messages are from extensions you're using; could be it's unable to check for updates or there's something actually wrong with their manifests (can happen with old FF extensions not written for PM).

Try this - clear the console, open about:addons and from the hamburger menu click 'check for updates'. See what pops up in the console then.

Scribe · Unread post by **Scribe** » 2025-04-22, 12:45

moonbat wrote: ↑
2025-04-22, 02:51
All these messages are from extensions you're using; could be it's unable to check for updates or there's something actually wrong with their manifests (can happen with old FF extensions not written for PM).

Try this - clear the console, open about:addons and from the hamburger menu click 'check for updates'. See what pops up in the console then.

The Console shows the same as before, so it looks like it's to do with checking for Add-on updates, and manually checking for updates just forces the same thing. The strange thing is that this only started a few months ago - the Cloudflare debacle muddied the waters so can't be specific, but it's inline with what the OP said.

andyprough · Unread post by **andyprough** » 2025-04-22, 13:07

Stargate38 wrote: ↑
2025-04-08, 16:57
Name: Classic Add-ons Archive
Version: 2.0.3
Enabled: true
ID: ca-archive@Off.JustOff

I don't know if this is the problem, but when I use Classic Add-ons Archive I do not leave it installed for very long. It hangs my system badly any time it's checking its database. I usually only install it long enough to add the one or two Classic Add-ons I'm looking for and then remove it again right away.

Also, if I recall correctly, Classic Add-ons Archive adds a hefty amount of memory to a running Pale Moon, like an extra 40-50MB of ram in use.

What I do is keep a copy of Classic Add-ons Archive in my ~/Downloads folder on my computer, and add it to Pale Moon again if/when I need it, and then remove it again right away.

Scribe · Unread post by **Scribe** » 2025-05-05, 08:35

I'm now pretty certain that the freezing is caused by PM checking for add-on updates, but why it started freezing a few months ago while checking, I have no idea! However, a workaround that seems to prevent it, is to change extensions.update.enabled in about:config to false, which stops the checking and therefore the freezing. One can still check for updates manually on the Add-ons page by clicking the cog-wheel at top right > Check for Updates, although whilst it is in progress, PM freezes as before, but at least the timing of when it happens is now under the user's control.

Unread post by **Moonchild** » 2025-05-05, 13:49

I'm not sure why this would be a problem. I checked the addons server log for odd responses (e.g. rate limiting or failed requests) and did not see any. Of course it's possible that some extensions you have installed use external update servers as well, which I would not be able to see on the addons server end.

It would be helpful if you could record an extension update log and post it:

Open about:config
Find extensions.logging.enabled and set it to true
Open the browser console in developer tools
Click the little trashcan top-left to clear the log
Go to the add-ons manager and perform an extension update check
Wait for it to complete - it will spit out a ton of debug messages into the browser console
Right-click the browser console window, click "select all"
Right-click again, select "copy"
Paste this in a text file, save, zip it up, and attach it.

Stargate38 · Unread post by **Stargate38** » 2025-05-05, 18:42

Here's the log in question. I did notice that the same hanging browser symptoms occurred when I did the update. It said "No updates found" as well, which suggests no updates are available, or that something is preventing it from detecting them, thus hanging the browser for a bit.

andyprough · Unread post by **andyprough** » 2025-05-05, 19:06

Stargate38 wrote: ↑
2025-05-05, 18:42
Here's the log in question. I did notice that the same hanging browser symptoms occurred when I did the update. It said "No updates found" as well, which suggests no updates are available, or that something is preventing it from detecting them, thus hanging the browser for a bit.

What's this thing - this 'Moon Tester Tool":

Code: Select all

1746470265528	addons.update-checker	DEBUG	update.rdf: Found an update entry for moonttool@Off.JustOff version 2.1.4
GET 
XHR 
https://sites.google.com/site/sonthakit/update/bookmarkfaviconchanger.rdf [HTTP/2.0 403 Forbidden 2944ms]

Looks like it's taking a lot more than 2.94 seconds, but I could be wrong, I don't know if I'm reading these numbers right. I've never heard of this 'Moon Tester Tool'. Looks like the kind of extension that used to get Tobin in an uproar.

Unread post by **Moonchild** » 2025-05-05, 19:12

OK, there's a few calls to externals. one on particular of note is bookmarkfaviconchanger which calls out to a non-existing sites.google.com address which is slow and then returns a forbidden response. You may want to uninstall that or at least disable update checking for it. Not sure if that is the culprit or not but it's at least somewhat plausible.

Unread post by **Moonchild** » 2025-05-05, 19:14

"moon tester tool" was to force compatibility with Pale Moon for extensions that have no Pale Moon compatibility. I don't recommend using it as it's extremely hacky.

sidology · Unread post by **sidology** » 2025-05-05, 21:48

It has something to do with https://addons.palemoon.org/ because I just started with a clean profile, installed random 25 extensions (all from https://addons.palemoon.org/), checked for updates and the high CPU usage occurred.

In my default profile the hang lasts longer, but in it I have 50 extensions.

Here is the log.

Log.zip

frostknight · Unread post by **frostknight** » 2025-05-06, 01:05

sidology wrote: ↑
2025-05-05, 21:48
It has something to do with https://addons.palemoon.org/ because I just started with a clean profile, installed random 25 extensions (all from https://addons.palemoon.org/), checked for updates and the high CPU usage occurred.

In my default profile the hang lasts longer, but in it I have 50 extensions.

Here is the log.

Log.zip

Off-topic:
And I thought I used a lot of addons...

I thought 14 was a lot. Thanks for showing me how silly I am.

You h

Stargate38 wrote: ↑
2025-04-08, 16:57
Installed plugins: (about:plugins): Adobe Flash 32.0.0.465, Java(TM) Platform SE 8 U371 11.371.2.11, Shockwave for Director 12.3.5.205, Java Deployment Toolkit 8.0.3710.11 11.371.2.11, TeraBox Application 1.4.0.4

It may just be me, but I would have thought it would be some flash issue with win10. I mean, I thought microsoft disabled flash plugins by default in win10 and win11.

Although there probably are workarounds.

Unread post by **moonbat** » 2025-05-06, 01:41

Off-topic:

frostknight wrote: ↑
2025-05-06, 01:05
And I thought I used a lot of addons...

I have 108. No problems.

Pale Moon forum

PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time

Re: PM hangs for about 45 seconds every day at roughly the same time