What could be causing recurring lag?

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KlarkKentThe3rd
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What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-10-13, 07:03

On the last few unofficial builds, if I leave the browser open for a few hours (with lots of windows and tabs open as usual), things start to lag every few seconds. But it's only if I do something, a web video will play without a hitch unless I'll pause it..... it pauses in 2-3 seconds, but then I can un-pause just fine. Downloading files may be laggy in the beginning and end.

For the record, I experience no lag with other, NON-browser apps.
Last edited by KlarkKentThe3rd on 2018-10-13, 07:04, edited 1 time in total.

Lew Rockwell Fan

Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by Lew Rockwell Fan » 2018-10-15, 01:23

FWIW, don't know if it will apply to you, but I've had somewhat similar problems, actually a little more severe in that sometime it would lock my whole system if I let it go too long, and it was always runaway RAM usage. I use the extension Memory Restart now & have had no problems since I started.
Last edited by Lew Rockwell Fan on 2018-10-15, 01:23, edited 1 time in total.

KlarkKentThe3rd
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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-10-15, 09:27

It has never been that bad for me, only lags and no locks.

If I install that RAM add-on, could it potentially screw up anything in the already opened tabs?

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therube
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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by therube » 2018-10-15, 15:16

And what is your RAM & CPU usage at these times?


(I put no stock in RAM "savers", "eliminators", snake oil.)
Last edited by therube on 2018-10-15, 15:18, edited 1 time in total.

KlarkKentThe3rd
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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-10-16, 04:21

I have 8GB of RAM total, and even during lag it never gets above ~6.5GB of total usage by everything.

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-10-23, 05:17

I believe I found the solution!

I simply disabled every single add-on, and cleared everything (save for precious cookies). Quit Palemoon, opened it up again (restored previous session as I do every dang time). Enabled the add-ons again, quit again. Opened Palemoon once again.

The lag is gone, and not coming back.

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-10-27, 16:50

Well, looks like the problem returned. Not as bad, but still. Perhaps I should start closing a lot of tabs.
Last edited by KlarkKentThe3rd on 2018-10-27, 16:50, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-10-29, 14:07

Decided to turn on uBlock on YT at all times, the lag lessened.

IT'S STILL THERE, but noticeably less bad. Really makes you think..........

snertev

Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by snertev » 2018-10-30, 08:20

KlarkKentThe3rd wrote:Decided to turn on uBlock on YT at all times, the lag lessened.

IT'S STILL THERE, but noticeably less bad. Really makes you think..........
...how much javascript junk is deployed on YT. :thumbdown:

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-10-30, 12:16

I am confused (slightly). Is the 2GB of cache a part of the 5GB "used"?
Image

The difference of course being <6GB out of 8 being used VS me being out of memory.
Last edited by KlarkKentThe3rd on 2018-10-30, 12:27, edited 1 time in total.

KlarkKentThe3rd
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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-11-02, 03:02

I think I am starting to figure it out. EITHER

This beta build of Palemoon is not creating the preferences and history/cookie files correctly, and over time it becomes a bloated mess. Palemoon ITSELF (the program running) is trying to talk to the preferences/cookies files and is getting a headache in the process.

OR, since I am switching between builds, while keeping all the bookmarks and preferences and add-ons, there is a degree of incompatibility that causes the browser not being able to read the ~/Library folders properly (takes too long, causes lag).

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-11-07, 02:53

Installing Restart Manager seems to make things snappier. Just quitting takes a few seconds less.

Lew Rockwell Fan

Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by Lew Rockwell Fan » 2018-11-11, 06:45

KlarkKentThe3rd wrote:If I install that RAM add-on, could it potentially screw up anything in the already opened tabs?
I'd assume it could, though I can't recall it doing so. Basically, you set a threshold value and if PM RAM use crosses it, this shuts down and restarts PM, which dramatically reduces RAM usage. Sometimes it fails & I have to use xkill. Since I started monitoring RAM usage in my conky, it rarely gets to the point of locking my system anymore. If I notice total usage go over about 65% I kill it manually one way or another.

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-11-11, 19:29

That's nice to know.

But I know the lag was not caused by RAM maxing out, since turns out I recently was not using more than 7GB pretty much ever.

Lew Rockwell Fan

Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by Lew Rockwell Fan » 2018-11-11, 20:48

-Then you might want to monitor cpu usage as well.
-Are you sure that RAM usage is only an issue if you actually max it out? That's not a rhetorical question - I don't know & I'd like to. Could using 7 out of an available 8 slow you down?
-FWIW, my problem seems to have gone away completely immediately after installing NoScript. Yes, it is a tricky extension. If you use it, I'd recommend backing up your profile before you install it. (Actually, I do that before installing ANY extension.) But by Ghu's gonads, it does work! And I've tried a lot of the easier-to-use alternatives that didn't do the trick for me.
-If you try that, be forewarned, it is explicitly not supported. There is a whole thread on the topic, here:

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=19119&p=155934#p155934

You might want to read it. And you'll need to go to the author's site to get the latest Palemoon version. Details in the same thread. I'm using 5.1.9 with default settings except for allowing some specific domains to run scripts. I wish it had finer grained control, but if it were any more complex, I guess nobody would use it.
-NoScript is not easy to manage before you get the hang of it. I must have tried it and given up on it a dozen times before I finally begin to make efficient use of it.
Last edited by Lew Rockwell Fan on 2018-11-11, 21:06, edited 1 time in total.

KlarkKentThe3rd
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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-11-11, 22:32

I had the latest versions of PM compatible NoScript for a while now, 5.1.9 as well.

Right now the dreaded rainbow wheel barely appears, but sometimes there is random 1 second lag. Videos play fine, but typing, loading, scrolling, and pausing/unpausing the perfectly playing videos, THAT can be laggy. RAM is not maxed out, and every other program (especially offline ones) just do not lag.

I'll choose the easy route, and blame the browser itself. And since I am not a programmer, I don't know what is it.
Last edited by KlarkKentThe3rd on 2018-11-11, 22:32, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-11-11, 23:44

Okay, checked CPU usage. Whenever I scroll down on the regular old YouTube, to load suggested videos and comments, it lags (very slightly), and CPU goes up to 60%, 70, and above. This lag seems to be CPU related.
Last edited by KlarkKentThe3rd on 2018-11-11, 23:44, edited 1 time in total.

Lew Rockwell Fan

Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by Lew Rockwell Fan » 2018-11-12, 22:58

2 things occur to me off the cuff then:

-- If you are running anything else that is cpu intensive, you might think about taming it in order to give PM more to work with. I have 3 programs that I sometimes enable to start at boot but limited to using one specified core each. I have no idea how you'd do that if you aren't running under a 'nix.
-- Maybe experiment with which scripts you allow (actually, I think all we can control with NS is where the scripts come from) since they can be cpu intensive.

FWIW, I'm still delighted with performance since I reinstalled NS.

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-11-12, 23:35

I have nothing CPU intensive running in the background, and letting NS only allow necessary scripts so that sites run.

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Re: What could be causing recurring lag?

Unread post by KlarkKentThe3rd » 2018-11-13, 05:56

Watching a YT stream with the chat. PM eats 130% CPU sometimes (and goes as "low" as 70%). NoScript does not help. uBlock doesn't help either. Nothing else CPU heavy is running concurrently. This is either YT's fault, of Palemoon's.

Perhaps it's because I am on a 2012 MacBook running High Sierra. Perhaps not.

EDIT: 1 hour later, and the same stream (in the same quality) with the same chat now takes only 50% CPU. Something mysterious and magical changed and now it's all better.
Last edited by KlarkKentThe3rd on 2018-11-13, 07:02, edited 3 times in total.

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