firefox running very slow

[Reaccion Raul]

Hi,

I'm running on Linux Mint 17 and Firefox go really slow. I installed Chromium and compared to Firefox is a rocket.

Are there any set up or way to update Firefox to a faster version? I would prefer to use Firefox instead of Chromium, i would like to stay away from google as much as i can.

[Cosmo.]

The cause might be the Firefox profile.
To find this out do the following:
Close FF.
Open your file-manager and make hidden files visible (press ctrl-h).
Rename the folder .mozilla to .mozilla.bck
Start FF, this will create automatically a new FF-profile.
Check.

To get back to your old profile:
Close FF.
Delete the new folder .mozilla
Rename the folder .mozila.bck back to .mozilla
Start FF. Done.

[Hoser Rob]

It may be RAM ... chrome/chromium runs much faster than FF with low memory. Please generate a system report by copying/pasting this into the terminal and then copy/paste the text output here:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

[Reaccion Raul]

My computer it's an oldie that's for sure, it's the reason why i came to Linux Mint.

I will try later to reset Firefox but it shouldn't be the issue, i installed it a month back or so? I only use Ghostery and Adblock add-ons.

Code: Select all

System:    Host: raul-Aspire-7720Z Kernel: 3.19.0-32-generic i686 (32 bit gcc: 4.8.2)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.2 (Gtk 2.24.23) Distro: Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa
Machine:   Mobo: Acer model: Poyang v: V1.45
           Bios: Acer v: V1.45 date: 11/10/2008
CPU:       Dual core Intel Pentium Dual T2330 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 6384
           clock speeds: max: 1600 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 1333 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary)
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.17.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1440x900@59.9hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 965GM x86/MMX/SSE2
           GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.5.9 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k3.19.0-32-generic
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom NetLink BCM5787M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express
           driver: tg3 v: 3.137 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
           driver: ath5k bus-ID: 06:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (7.3% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500BEVS size: 250.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 51G used: 16G (32%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.14GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 175 Uptime: 7 min Memory: 414.7/2005.6MB
           Init: Upstart runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.111) inxi: 2.2.28 

[Hoser Rob]

Well, I think 2G RAM shoule be enough for Xfce. Have you tried turniing off 3D acceleration in Firefox?

[TeaSwigger]

Hi,

I'm running on Linux Mint 17 and Firefox go really slow. I installed Chromium and compared to Firefox is a rocket.

Are there any set up or way to update Firefox to a faster version? I would prefer to use Firefox instead of Chromium, i would like to stay away from google as much as i can.

Hello. A few suggestions:

Switch from AdBlock to uBlock Origin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ck-origin/ (an excellent suggestion from member phb21).
Policy Control may be of interest: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... y-control/ . And/or you may want look into what it does and see if you want to make any adjustments accordingly.
Under firefox preferences > advanced > general > browsing, try it with all options unchecked - it runs better without hardware accelleration, autoscrolling, smooth scolling, spell check etc, on all the systems I've tried it on.
Under firefox preferences > advanced > data choices, uncheck both options.
You might disable the "pocket" business: enter about:config in the url bar; search for extensions.pocket.enabled and toggle it to false.
Under firefox preferences > privacy > location bar, disabling all that might help a bit.
You might want to limit its storage/history overriding cache management under firefox preferences > advanced > network and setting it at 0 or other fairly low number.
This tip at Pjotr's helpful site regarding 'sessionstore' : https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... -hard-disk - you may also want to see if any of the tips there such as on the "Speed up your Mint!" page may be applicable and of interest. You may also look into the suggestion re: intel graphics here: https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... l-graphics if it appies to your system.
Of course as you probably know, keep to a modest number of tabs.

Good luck with it.

[Hoser Rob]

... Switch from AdBlock to uBlock Origin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ck-origin/ (an excellent suggestion from member phd21)....

That's a much better ad blocker. No doubt. The other ideas there are good too.

[Brian Potter]

I have 8gb of RAM and have the same issue as the OP. FF is slow compared to chromium, in fact this is a common grumble about FF on Windows too. Its a topic that pops up on various forums. I tried removing AdBlock Plus and replacing with ublock origin but that didnt work and I found ublock would not remove the annoying facebook "like" buttons that plague various forums so I switched back to AdBlock Plus. Turning off Hardware acceleration makes no difference in my case.

I will try the other tips mentioned in this thread and report back. It will be interesting to see how these tweaks effect both me and the OP with our different RAM amounts. My pc is 10 years old but I recently upped the ram and cpu to the highest that the mother board would accept.

[Brian Potter]

Well I have applied every tip in this thread and the tips at pjotrs website. Firefox is still way slower than chromium. A lot slower. I guess thats just the way firefox is. It used to be fast years ago but not nowadays.

Even though it is slower than chromium I will still use firefox as my main browser. Why? Because I like Firefox, its secure and I am familiar with it. I just wish mozzilla would speed it up a bit so it matches the likes of chromium for speed.

[Reaccion Raul]

I would say it runs faster, still not up to Chromium standard but on an acceptable level. Even online streaming video play nice now, it used to be a nightmare (on both, Linux and Windows). I still have to check a lot more since i just tried some pages for some minutes but it seems to work and load them better. I guess disabling the 3D thing could make a lot on my computer?

[sverkere]

Firefox has in my experience improved hardware acceleration a lot in later versions (it is planned to be fully supported from version 57). Although very old hardware may not have the capability..

Check out: https://cialu.net/enable-hardware-accel ... ke-faster/

[alan2001]

I have a 9 year old computer here, running completely up to date with Mint 18.2 and Cinammon. I have also been having issues with FIrefox for ages now and I'm completely fed up with it!

I absolutely love Firefox. It's got all my favourite plugins configured perfectly, I love the customisability, I love Sync, I love everything about it. EXCEPT for the way it constantly bogs down when I'm playing video and messing around with Google Maps, especially on Earth & Street View modes.

This all seemed like video-related stuff, so I upgraded my video card (yet again) to an Asus Geforce 210 with 1GB onboard, hoping that this would fix it. It didn't. I have also just recently put in an SSD hard disk, which also hasn't helped.

So I'm gonna try some of the tips mentioned above (starting with switching out AdBlock for uBlock.) Thanks for that. In the mean time, as usual, I'll just open up Chrome if I want to watch some YouTube.

[whispers]

excellent solution = fixed my slow FF

" The cause might be the Firefox profile.
To find this out do the following:
Close FF.
Open your file-manager and make hidden files visible (press ctrl-h).
Rename the folder .mozilla to .mozilla.bck
Start FF, this will create automatically a new FF-profile.
Check.

To get back to your old profile:
Close FF.
Delete the new folder .mozilla
Rename the folder .mozila.bck back to .mozilla
Start FF. Done. "

thank you