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Topic: Firefox 1.0.3

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Melancholie Offline

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Posts: 18
Joined: April 2005

Posted: May 11 2005,22:01

Well, I have reduced cache to 10MB, 1MB, 100KB, 0KB. It's always the same problem. And I also think that websites with Java and JavaScript does slow down the browser more than other websites. I am using a HD-install of DSL with a swap partition of 250MB (much, I know, but I have just 64MB RAM (and 233 MHz)). Although it shouldn't be necessary, I did set up a DOS swap file (64MB, I think). Now Firefox works fine! But I do not really know whether the DOS swap file is the reason or the use of IceWM (could this also have any effects?). With Firefox 1.0.4 (a hotfix which comes out in the next days, I think) I will check if it really is the DOS file that fixed my problem. But actually a DOS swap file should not be needed in my case. Or should it? --- Melancholie

cbagger01

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Posts: 4264
Joined: Oct. 2003

Posted: May 12 2005,00:10

swapfile / swap partition is a good idea if you only have 64MB of RAM.

As for Firefox, I am stumped.

I would give the opera.uci extension a try and see if performance improves.

Also, try and keep track of your memory usage that is shown on the little dockapp on the right side of the desktop.

Rapidweather Offline

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Joined: Jan. 2004

Posted: May 12 2005,01:30

I did see on the Mozillazine forums that Firefox 1.03 has a memory problem, where tabs are opened, but when you close them, the memory is not released. The Microsoft I.E. folks will tell you that their browser is better in this regard, expecially in S.P. 2, than Firefox. The forums report that the memory problem will get fixed by the 1.1 release. Yes, Opera is a better choice on machines with limited RAM and CPU power. And, a swap file (linux) is necessary, especially when trying to run Firefox on computers like that. Currently, I am running SuSE 6 on a PII with 128 MB ram, and a linux swap partition, and it uses memory very well, TOP reports 61624K free, with no swap currently being used. It is probably best to run a kernel that more nearly matches the machines capacity. SuSE is a 2.2 kernel.
DSL, being a 2.4 kernel, is a heavier load, but worth it, if you can run it
on your box. SuSE is nothing to brag about, it lacks multimedia and drivers, compared to Win 98.

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Melancholie Offline

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Posts: 18
Joined: April 2005

Posted: May 12 2005,16:12

Good to know that this is not a problem of DSL :-)

So, thank you very much for this information! I had a look on the Mozilla Firefox website and forum too, but I didn't find anything about the firefox 1.0.3 slow down problem. But I guess that's exactly my problem! Especially when Tabs, Java, JavaScript are used, the browser slows down very quickly with only 64MB RAM. So I just have to wait for version 1.1. (But for those who have the same problem: a DOS swap file (System->Setup DOS swapfile) seems to improve performance of Firefox 1.0.3!

Opera: Although it seems to be a problem of Firefox itself, I will give Opera a try in the next days. But honestly I do not like Opera because of its ads! With a resolution of 640x480 the advertisements are very annoying! --- Thanks, Melancholie

PS: The weird thing I forgot to write: When I recognized a slow down I had a look on memory usage! 35% of RAM were still free and the swap partition was not used (or only 2% of it). But CPU usage was at nearly 100% in those moments! --- Melancholie

8 replies since April 28 2005,16:22

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