Fluxbox and Google Chrome

[viking777]

Although I think that Opera is probably the best browser I have ever used, I have given up hope of their developers ever admitting responsibility for the fact that it does not handle javascript properly, and thus will not work with my banking site, and thus is no use to me even though I like it. So I decided to install Google Chrome instead.

I installed it everywhere but it just doesn't seem to like Fluxbox. I have the Fluxbox wm running over a gnome install as well as a standalone fluxbox ce. On both the Fluxbox ce and the Fluxbox over Gnome installation it is dreadful, it refuses to load about 75% of all pages I visit (it just times out) and sometimes it takes up to a minute to actually start up.

If I switch to the Gnome desktop (same installation remember) it seems to work perfectly. Does anyone else notice this? The site that fails to load most consistently is this forum. I get the header and the green page background then nothing else until it times out, but if I use the gnome desktop is starts straight away. It also seems to run normally under Xfce, just not Fluxbox.

It is only my second choice browser, I use Firefox for most things, but I am a firm believer that you should have two (at least) of everything on Linux, especially distros, but also browsers.

BTW this problem is, I am sure, a problem with Chrome rather than Fluxbox (after all Chrome is still beta/unstable - I have tried both) but I would just be interested to know if anyone else is experiencing it.

EDIT. This morning when I tried to open the forum in Chrome the browser crashed completely!

[meskarune]

I will install chrome and see if I can figure this out.

[viking777]

Well I am using it again today and wouldn't you know it seems to be working perfectly

I certainly haven't updated Chrome because their update server http://dl.google.com/linux is down and has been for several days. I have had some updates for Mint though, maybe they have made a difference?

Correction. If I run it on the installation that has Fluxbox running over Gnome then Chrome works. On the Fluxbox only version it still doesn't.

[viking777]

Later on in the day and it has gone back to the original behaviour. I might have a clue as to why it is so slow to start, although it doesn't explain why it won't load web pages.

I investigated the running processes after using chrome for a while (mostly unsuccessfully, most pages just timing out). There were 13 processes running at the same time and another seemed to be added every time I tried to load another page. I couldn't be bothered to kill all 13 so I just rebooted. After restart I loaded Chrome and it started 6 processes simultaneously before I even tried to load a web page!

Contrast this to Firefox which loads only one process when it starts up and loads all web pages faultlessly.

If this behaviour is by design then it is a very curious design indeed, it is a wonder that when it does work it works pretty speedily with all those processes hanging on it. Mind you most of the time it doesn't work anyhow.

NB this is on my Fluxbox installation running over the top of a gnome install with Chrome 5.0.342.9 beta.

Just tried it on Fluxbox CE. Result - 1st start up 3 processes (no web pages loaded). 2nd start up - long delay, 9 processes (no web pages loaded). 3rd startup - even longer delay, 12 processes (still no web pages loaded!).

Something wrong methinks?

[fbsduser]

It's a pretty strange thing you got going there. I say because Chrome only starts one process per running tab (regardless if the tab was opened in a new window or in the current one), this is what they call "sandboxing". But it should have only one process when you open the browser with no pages loaded. When you load a page upon opening the browser it uses the same process that was already loaded (since you open the page in the tab that was already open). It only starts new process as you open tabs (in a 1:1 process:tab ratio).

[viking777]

That is strange then, because even running on Gnome or Xfce, where it works normally, when I open Chrome up (one tab and no pages loaded except the new tab page) I get 6 or 7 processes running simultaneously. But at least on Gnome these don't increase every time you open a web page! And also with Gnome they all go away when you shut Chrome down whereas on Fluxbox they all keep running and when you reopen it you get another 3 or 4 added with the result that the whole thing grinds to a halt.

[shane]

Do you get the same behavior if you run Chromium? Chrome is based on Chromium which is completely open source (i.e. No Google closed source stuff and no H.264 codec but it still has some Google tracking code). Also, try starting the browser from terminal... hopefully there should be some helpful error messages.

Chrome starts a new process for every tab so having multiple processes is normal... it's a feature. But having an increasing number of processes every time you start it could mean that the processes are not terminating as expected. I do not know why.

Try Chromium ( http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-instal ... ckage.html )
and see the terminal output from Chrome.

[caris_mere]

I too tried using Google Chrome and I couldn't get any page to load except www.google.com. I'm also running Fluxbox CE Mint 8.

Hope it get's fixed. I'm getting tired of how slow firefox is.

[palmito_bom]

Neither Chrome nor Chromium work properly for me on Mint LXDE CE-- exactly the same problems as the previous poster. Have had to shift to Swiftfox to get reasonable browser performance as Firefox is slow and Midori doesn't have enough bells and whistles.

[viking777]

Do you get the same behavior if you run Chromium? Chrome is based on Chromium which is completely open source (i.e. No Google closed source stuff and no H.264 codec but it still has some Google tracking code). Also, try starting the browser from terminal... hopefully there should be some helpful error messages.

Chrome starts a new process for every tab so having multiple processes is normal... it's a feature. But having an increasing number of processes every time you start it could mean that the processes are not terminating as expected. I do not know why.

Try Chromium ( http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-instal ... ckage.html )
and see the terminal output from Chrome.

Thanks for the suggestion Shane, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I get 6 processes started every time I start Chromium up, another for every tab I open, and none of them terminate when I shut down the browser. In addition, it very rarely succeeds in actually loading a web page, exactly the same as Chrome.
I hate to say it (because I love Fluxbox dearly ) but it doesn't happen if I am running Gnome.

[shane]

I installed Chromium in a Mint FB virtual machine and I see what you mean... but I don't know why it is doing that. This is the first time I have seen this in Chromium. I hope it is just a problem with the current build... something that will go away with a future build. You might want to submit a bug report on launchpad just so that it does not go unnoticed.

[smurfslover]

Experiencing the same problem here, seems to improve a little when i reset chromium's config after every update i get from ubuntu's daily ppa for chromium.

[laceygriffen]

Here this is a very helpful site all the topics discussed here in the forums are useful also all the posts are very informative.Fluxbox is supplied with lots of native options such as tabbing, grouping, a long list of keycommands, Chainable Keygrabber, fully editable menu and much, much more.

[Kendall]

There don't seem to be any problems in the early development builds for Mint 9 Fluxbox. I'll keep checking with every build I do and if anything changes I'll let you guys know.

[Biker]

I run a discussion forum and I've discovered that Chrome can sometimes trip the syn flood protection not only on the server, but also on local routers, effectively shutting down an entire home network. While Chrome is a nice concept on paper, it has a long way to go before I'd consider it as a primary browser. I've recommended that my members use it sparingly and if they have issues, they're on their own.

[smurfslover]

Been a while since i tried it but after updating chromium and extra's from ubuntu's daily ppa and deleting all config and cache directories chromium seems to be working flawless on Mint Fluxbox 8.
On loading facebook games (non flash) the browser used to 'hang' halfway the page, no the pages load fine and about 3 to 10 times faster as firefox depending on the facebook game (mafia wars f.e. is terribly slow on firefox)
I was planning to install latest mepis antix over my mint because of this (cause i'm addicted to chromium) so it looks like mint is gonna be my second os longer than expected.