Firefox 4, extensions and memory leaks?

[Snowdog]

I had been reading reports of Firefox leaking memory, so I purposefully didn't close it all day.

Now it is using > 1GB, even if I close all but one tab.

I read some reports indicating extensions are doing this, but memory fluctuates so much anyway it is hard to narrow which extensions it might be.

Has anyone read any good discussions about this?

I am not trying to slag Firefox, it is my favorite browser, but big memory leaks are very annoying.

 

[Mike Connor]

I keep seeing this, but I have no such problems. My Firefox runs all day, ( and usually most of the night! ), at the moment with these addons;

Application: Firefox 4.0 (20110318052756)
Operating System: WINNT (x86-msvc)

April 4, 2011

Total number of items: 31

- 2 Pane Bookmarks 0.6.2011011701
    {FD61379B-066A-4afc-89DE-89FB24D907C2}
    [URL="http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/xul/_bookmarks2pane.html.en"]XUL Apps > 2 Pane Bookmarks - outsider reflex[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:17:04
    Firefox 3.5 - 4.0.*
    shows the Bookmarks sidebar panel with 2 pane style like 0pera.
March 23, 2011 23:00:09
    Firefox 3.5 - 4.2a1pre
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL] 1.0b1 - 1.0.*
    SeaMonkey 2.0 - 2.2a1pre
    Songbird 1.9.0a - 1.10.0a
    Thunderbird 3.0 - 3.3a4pre
    {a23983c0-fd0e-11dc-95ff-0800200c9a66} 1.1 - 4.1a1pre
    {a79fe89b-6662-4ff4-8e88-09950ad4dfde} 0.1 - 100.0
    Ads were yesterday!
- Add to Search Bar 2.0
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL]http://firefox.maltekraus.de/extensions/add-to-search-bar[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:17:04
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    Add any search on any page to the Search Bar.
- All-in-One Sidebar 0.7.13
    {097d3191-e6fa-4728-9826-b533d755359d}
    [URL="http://addonlab.com"]All-in-One Sidebar :: Sidebar Extension for Mozilla Firefox :: firefox.eXXile.net[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:00:09
    Firefox 3.6 - 4.0.*
    Sidebar control with award-winning user experience!
- AutoPager 0.6.2.6
    (Disabled)
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://www.teesoft.info/"]Home - teesoft, make software to a tee[/URL]
    April 1, 2011 11:49:48
    Firefox 1.5 - 4.0.*
    Flock 0.5 - 2.5+
    Mozilla 1.7 - 1.8+
    SeaMonkey 1.0 - 2.1a3
    {a23983c0-fd0e-11dc-95ff-0800200c9a66} 1.0a1 - 4.0b2pre
    AutoPager is a Firefox/Mozilla extension to autoload the next page(s) in the background. You can also use it as an XPath generator.
- CheckPlaces 2.4.5
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://www.andyhalford.com/checkplaces/index.html"]CheckPlaces Firefox Extension[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:17:04
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    Checks bookmarks are valid
- Click&Clean 3.6.5.0
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://www.hotcleaner.com"]Homepage - Click&Clean[/URL]
    March 26, 2011 00:20:53
    March 23, 2011 23:17:04
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    Just one click to Delete private data, erase the internet history and other tracks on your computer.
- Custom Buttons 0.0.5.4pre2
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://custombuttons.mozdev.org/"]mozdev.org - custombuttons: index[/URL]
    April 2, 2011 21:01:36
    March 31, 2011 16:07:06
    Firefox 1.5 - 4.2a1pre
    Flock 0.7 - 1.5+
    SeaMonkey 2.0 - 2.1b3pre
    Sunbird 0.2 - 1.0pre
    Thunderbird 2.0 - 3.3a3pre
    {20aa4150-b5f4-11de-8a39-0800200c9a66} 0.8b1 - 0.8b3
    Gives a possibility to create custom toolbarbuttons.
- Download Statusbar 0.9.8
    {D4DD63FA-01E4-46a7-B6B1-EDAB7D6AD389}
    [URL="http://downloadstatusbar.mozdev.org/"]mozdev.org - downloadstatusbar: index[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:07:58
    Firefox 3.6 - 4.0.*
    View and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar
- DownloadHelper 4.8.6
    {b9db16a4-6edc-47ec-a1f4-b86292ed211d}
    [URL="http://www.downloadhelper.net"]DownloadHelper - Media download Firefox extension[/URL]
    April 1, 2011 21:45:50
    March 23, 2011 23:17:04
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    Flock 0.4 - 2.5.*
    SeaMonkey 2.0 - 2.0.*
    Songbird 1.4.1 - 1.6a
    Download videos and images from many sites
- Extension List Dumper 1.15.0
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://www.sogame.cat/"]Sogame Add-ons[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:17:04
    Firefox 1.5 - 4.0.*
    Flock 1.0 - 2.*
    Songbird 0.4 - 1.10.0a
    Sunbird 0.3 - 0.9
    Thunderbird 1.5 - 3.1.*
    Dumps a list of the installed extensions.
- Extension Options Menu 1.13
    {1feca320-6b4d-11df-a08a-0800200c9a66}
    [URL="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=2141579"][Ext] Extension Options Menu • mozillaZine Forums[/URL]
    March 28, 2011 23:03:21
    Firefox 3.7a5pre - 4.2a1pre
    Thunderbird 3.3a1 - 3.3a4pre
    Adds extension options dialogs to the Tools and Titlebar menus. Includes toolbar icon.
- FastestFox 4.3.5
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://smarterfox.com/"]FastestFox: Browse Faster[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:00:09
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    View "related articles" box on Wikipedia, search selected text from popup bubble and context menu, search from the Awesomebar, easily switch search engines for a search, and visit bookmarks with keyboard shortcuts!
- FireGestures 1.6.3
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://www.xuldev.org/firegestures/"]FireGestures :: Firefox Extension[/URL]
    April 1, 2011 21:45:49
    March 23, 2011 23:17:04
    Firefox 3.5 - 4.0.*
    Executes various commands with mouse gestures.
- FoxTab 1.4.1
    (Disabled)
    {ef4e370e-d9f0-4e00-b93e-a4f274cfdd5a}
    [URL="http://www.foxtab.com/"]FoxTab :: Explore the way you like it.[/URL]
    April 1, 2011 13:32:50
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    Flock 1.0 - 2.0.*
    3D tab management - your top sites, tab flipping and recently closed tabs.
- Google Shortcuts 2.1.6
    {5C46D283-ABDE-4dce-B83C-08881401921C}
    [URL="http://code.google.com/p/google-shortcuts/"]google-shortcuts - Display all Google services as buttons or as a space-saving dropdown menu next to your address bar. - Google Project Hosting[/URL]
    March 29, 2011 18:47:08
    Firefox 2.0a1 - 4.0.*
    Display all Google services as buttons or as a space-saving dropdown menu next to your address bar. Reach services like Gmail, Google reader, Google maps, Google calendar, and many more in a single click from your browser.
- Hide Caption Titlebar Plus 2.1.6
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL]https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/13505/[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 18:36:10
    Firefox 3.5 - 4.0.*
    "Maximize your screen content space by controlling the presence of Firefox window Title bar (Caption) and borders!" 
    - Hide the caption of Firefox with 'smart' options (and key fixes and improvements). Now with new buttons always at topright corner! Tested with several Chromifox-like themes (see home page)
- LinkExtend 1.1.2
    {cf47767d-5f3a-4e32-9fce-5d79565c9702}
    [URL="http://www.linkextend.com/"]LinkExtend - The Ultimate Browsing Tool[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:25:11
    Firefox 1.5 - 4.0.*
    Flock 0.4+ - 1.5+
    The Ultimate Link Tool!
- Locationbar² 1.0.6
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://en.design-noir.de/mozilla/locationbar2/"]design-noir | Mozilla | Locationbar²[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:25:11
    Firefox 3.6 - 4.0.*
    Formats and linkifies addresses in your Location bar.
- Menu Icons Plus 2.1
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://www.codedawn.com/"]CodeDawn[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 18:36:10
    Firefox 4.0b11 - 4.0.*
    Menu icon sets and tweaks.
- Movable Firefox Button 1.3
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/movable-firefox-button/[/URL]
    March 28, 2011 13:04:35
    Firefox 4.0b7pre - 4.0.*
    Move Firefox Button to anywhere you want
- NoSquint 2.1
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL]http://urandom.ca/nosquint/[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:05:02
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    Manage site-specific zoom levels and color settings
- OptimizeGoogle 0.78.2
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://www.optimizegoogle.com/"]OptimizeGoogle for Firefox[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:25:11
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL] 1.0 - 1.*
    Firefox 1.0 - 4.0.*
    Flock 0.4 - 2.0.*
    SeaMonkey 1.0 - 2.0.*
    Songbird 0.4 - 0.9
    Enhance Google search results and remove ads and spam
- ScrapBook 1.4.3
    {53A03D43-5363-4669-8190-99061B2DEBA5}
    [URL="http://amb.vis.ne.jp/mozilla/scrapbook/"]SCRAPBOOK :: Firefox Extension[/URL]
    March 24, 2011 21:51:24
    Firefox 3.6 - 4.0.*
    Helps you to save Web pages and organize the collection.
- Simple Timer + Clocks 1.3.2
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL="http://simpletimerclocks.mozdev.org/"]Simple Timer + Clocks[/URL]
    March 31, 2011 16:33:06
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.2a1pre
    A timer, calendar, track local times world-wide, and more
- Status-4-Evar 2011.03.21.22
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/status-4-evar/?src=api[/URL]
    March 25, 2011 10:02:54
    Firefox 4.0 - 4.2a1pre
    Status widgets and progress indicators for Firefox 4+
- stf 1.6.2
    {6ba00d3b-3a96-402a-ad28-d7281f781f93}
    [URL]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8785/[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:00:09
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    Save's selected text to local file.
- Stop Autoplay 1.2.1
    {2e61e246-e640-4c56-b1ed-f146dbed48cd}
    [URL="http://netticat.ath.cx/forum/index.php"]Netticat's Forums[/URL]
    March 31, 2011 23:51:58
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    SeaMonkey 2.0 - 2.1b3
    Disable the autoplay of the embedded music and movie.
- Tab Mix Plus 0.3.8.5
    {dc572301-7619-498c-a57d-39143191b318}
    [URL="http://tmp.garyr.net"]Tab Mix Plus[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:05:02
    Firefox 3.5 - 4.0.*
    Tab browsing with an added boost.
- Theme Font & Size Changer 0.8
    {f69e22c7-bc50-414a-9269-0f5c344cd94c}
    [URL="http://barisderin.com/?p=286"]Theme Font & Size Changer « Baris Derin[/URL]
    March 23, 2011 23:25:11
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.0.*
    SeaMonkey 2.0 - 2.0.*
    Thunderbird 3.0b4 - 3.1.*
    Instantly changes the font family and size of all windows, menus, toolbars, etc within Firefox
- URL Tooltip 1.2.1
    [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
    [URL]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/url-tooltip/?src=api[/URL]
    March 25, 2011 10:52:07
    Firefox 3.0 - 4.2a1pre
    Displays URL in hyperlink tooltips.

and upwards of forty tabs, and I have no problems whatsoever. It is very fast and very comfortable.

I also run four desktops on a dual monitor rig at the same time, and use GIMP in the second desktop for image editing.

I use Windows Pager for the desktops.

I can only conclude that some other errors are involved in these reports.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Snowdog]

and upwards of forty tabs, and I have no problems whatsoever. It is very fast and very comfortable.

I can only conclude that some other errors are involved in these reports.

Mine is fast and smooth too, but it is using 1.5G of memory with three tabs open after running FF all day.

Extensions I see people blame are often AdblockPlus which I do run... I guess I will have to do a lot of testing to find the culprit.

 

[Fayla]

I'm afraid that there will always be poorly coded software making the rounds. Issues like this probably go a long way to explain why browsers like Opera and Chrome avoided user-made extensions for such a long time.

I wouldn't exclude factors like browser plugins either, like what was sighted in an example here: Memory consumption for flash web applications do not release from the browser | Firefox Support Forum | Firefox Help

My Firefox runs nice, it only has five extensions and no plugins.

I had been reading reports of Firefox leaking memory, so I purposefully didn't close it all day.

Now it is using > 1GB, even if I close all but one tab.

I read some reports indicating extensions are doing this, but memory fluctuates so much anyway it is hard to narrow which extensions it might be.

Has anyone read any good discussions about this?

I am not trying to slag Firefox, it is my favorite browser, but big memory leaks are very annoying.

 

[Littlemutt]

I don't know how many of these cause memory issues, but I know that 'firebug' uses tons of memory, and should be disabled when not being used. Download Helper may also leak. Here is a list of addons that will affect performance:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/performance/#addon-11

 

[Snowdog]

Thanks Littlemutt.

But before going to bed last night, I disabled all my extensions(and restart obviously). Did a mass open of 30 tabs waited for them to ramp up, then closed them, did this twice and my memory was already at 380 MB with only 1 tab only.

In another thread I was told that garbage collection would clean this up. So I went to bed with firefox idle with 1 tab open (and all extensions disabled). This morning it was using 400 MB. So extensions aren't my only problem (but they do make it worse).

So far I have been told it is extensions, it is plugins, it is my profile. So just about anything connected with Firefox causes it to leak memory. I am coming to the conclusion that Firefox is the problem.

 

[whyandwhat4]

Thanks Littlemutt.

But before going to bed last night, I disabled all my extensions(and restart obviously). Did a mass open of 30 tabs waited for them to ramp up, then closed them, did this twice and my memory was already at 380 MB with only 1 tab only.

In another thread I was told that garbage collection would clean this up. So I went to bed with firefox idle with 1 tab open (and all extensions disabled). This morning it was using 400 MB. So extensions aren't my only problem (but they do make it worse).

So far I have been told it is extensions, it is plugins, it is my profile. So just about anything connected with Firefox causes it to leak memory. I am coming to the conclusion that Firefox is the problem.

GOOD ONE

 

[TheOneBobbyGunn]

Memory Fox 6.0

Give this a try: Browser Memory Mozilla Firefox Add-on Extension – Memory Fox It's an extension that recovers memory for you. I'm using it, and I can tell you it works wonders. Every minute (you can set custom times) it recovers memory, so Firefox never goes over 100,000K for me no matter how many tabs I have open. To be sure you can open your browser, and task manager at the same time, and watch as a minute goes by. You see the memory just building. 50,000K, 89,000K, 100,000K, a minute goes by and BOOM, back down to 50,000K. I have not had any bad results from using it. Very stable.

 

[Fayla]

When I was using 3.6 with two extensions and one tab, I had about 100MB usage. But the 4.0 betas on average seemed to use 120MB more memory with the same two extensions and same single tab. The beta memory usage never dropped below 220mb and quickly ran up to 0.5GB RAM usage when in active use.

Soon as Firefox released the final version 4.0 I found that the memory usage was dropped down to near 3.6 levels.

Currently I have the 4.2 pre-release installed too and just like the past 4.0 betas, it uses on average 120MB more memory It's like they disable any sort of memory management in the beta/pre-releases, then re-enable those features in the final release.