Force "multiprocess mode" in FF 52

[dmiranda]

I dropped ff52 a few years ago, mainly because of privacy/security/extensions support concerns, and I had e10 enabled. I sacrificed speed back then, but now it is getting to be too much of a drag. So I was happy to find this thread one or two weeks ago, and now testing over the settings that @VistaLover reviewed in the second or third post of this thread. So far I'm happy with it. But testing.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

2 hours ago, XPerceniol said:

<0T>

Oh I'm sorry, but I simply can't resist. I so badly want to hang on to whats left of my 40's, so I"ll pretend I don't know anything about those record things you speak of and consider myself "younger" (I'm young at heart)

All kidding aside:

I might take your advice re Serpent then; though I'm not afraid of trying it just out of curiosity but just to test.

@dmiranda ... are you working with Serpent or Firefox with your modifications?

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read your posting above - question answered

@XPerceniol - you cited in one of the 360Chrome threads that multi-process (several .exe's in the Windows Task Manager) is one of the things that you do not like about Chrome-based browsers.

So I must admit, I'm a bit confused that you are attempting to bring multi-process to FF-based browsers when that support by its developers never matured anywhere near the level of Chrome development (from my understanding).

Edited July 19, 2021 by ArcticFoxie

[XPerceniol]

12 minutes ago, ArcticFoxie said:

@XPerceniol - you cited in one of the 360Chrome threads that multi-process (several .exe's in the Windows Task Manager) is one of the things that you do not like about Chrome-based browsers.

So I must admit, I'm a bit confused that you are attempting to bring multi-process to FF-based browsers when that support by its developers never matured anywhere near the level of Chrome development (from my understanding).

Ahh .. very good - you keep track

I was quite shocked seeing this today myself as we just discussed it before, and (only) because, in that 360Chrome thread, you (yourself) addressed multi-process (or said it wasn't that simple and a "balance"), I decided to take a closer look at this wishfully thinking somehow that is the "Magical" answer to our troubles.

Quote

There are pros and cons to multi-process.

It's really not as "simplistic" as opening up Window's Task Manager and gasping for air because your browser is using 8 processes but only 15 to 20 percent more RAM than a single-process equivalent browser session in something like MyPal or New Moon.

The debate has been "raging" since 2015 or so.

But after doing my own research this evening, I've decided to forgo it actually. To tell you the truth, I don't (fully) understand multi-process and, for now, would rather keep it as it as is.

Edited July 19, 2021 by XPerceniol
Edited

[XPerceniol]

But, of course, chrome is a whole different ball game that I am just about clueless completely.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

It does get tricky.

Most people's reasoning and logical analysis is based on what is called "linear thinking".

ie, they don't think and reason in terms of integrals and differentials (ie, calculus), they think in terms of a "line", whether that line is linear or curved, monomial or polynomial, it is still a "line".

It gets even worse when most people think that they can "multi-task" when in reality, at the cerebral cortex level, our brain simply does not multi-task - period.

Training your left and right hand to perform tasks in different planes (ie, patting head and rubbing belly) is nowhere near the true definition of "multi-tasking".

Having 20 tabs open in a web browser also doesn't mean that you are multi-tasking, it's actually more in-tune with Attention Deficit Disorder and bouncing around like a squirrel as far as the cerebral cortex is concerned.

Computers, on the other hand, if you have a multi-core processor, then that computer can truly multi-task.

Whereas a single-core computer can not - that single-core computer has Attention Deficit Disorder and is bouncing around like a squirrel.

That's also why single-core computers had to have faster clock speeds and massive cooling fans (and I've seen some that even had their own "radiator" and was water-cooled - no anti-freeze required, waka waka waka).

A multi-core processor can perform the same amount of tasks with a lower clock speed and a power supply that doesn't dim the lights when you turn it on (yeah, exaggerating for effect - but I remember the days when turning the TV on dimmed the living room light slightly or the days when you turned the computer's CRT on and it sounded like it just inhaled all the air in the room).

And if you do a lot of benchmark tests as opposed to just relying on your "gut" and "placebo effect", then you may have noticed that most benchmark programs will include a single core score and a multi core score - the two reveal very different aspects of your computer.

And the same goes for your web browser in general.

 

But anyway, what was the question again, I think I may be suffering a small bout of ADD...  1 + 1 = 10...

Edited July 20, 2021 by ArcticFoxie

[dmiranda]

Well, I finally found a sticky notes extension able to replace internotes, and am planning to keep multiprocess on for my working profile as well. My reasons:

1) For my casual profile, it allows me to run social media with reasonable speed (not as good as with the various versions of 360, but for casual browsing I do not need that much speed -i prefer a modicum level of privacy/security). I still have the modded 360s there when needed if I want fast food.

2) In my work profile I often work with 20+tabs, for reasons related to my work and the way I organize it. Call it whatever you want, but I need those many tabs or at least am used/organized to do my work that way. Years of discipline/routines/extension customizations to do what I want, how I want it. With sp52 with no ie10, though, I was reaching a point where more than 5 tabs would stall the browser for up to half a minute, and sometimes stay there, all tabs frozen circling and no movement until I restarted the browser. With e10 enabled, things are back to what it was before I moved to sp52 from ff52 (because I could/cannot trust ff52 anymore -that is me and my use of the web, btw).

If anyone is seriously interested, I am quite willing to share more details. Bottom line (but subject to more testing) it makes the whole thing enjoyable once again. Thanks @Tommy for pinning this thread and so bringing it to my attention. Cheers!

[dmiranda]

30 minutes ago, ArcticFoxie said:

That's also why single-core computers had to have faster clock speeds and massive cooling fans (and I've seen some that even had their own "radiator" and was water-cooled - no anti-freeze required, waka waka waka).

Good point. Up to intel i3 I used those, anti-freeze and all. It was a blast spending a day or two setting the damn thing up. With i5 and up, as you note, though, there has been no need (for me) to do it anymore -probably because I do not play games :P

[NotHereToPlayGames]

I've never been into games.

The closeset I ever got into the gaming craze was when the local Dairy Queen had a tabletop Ms. Pac-Man.

[XPerceniol]

12 hours ago, dmiranda said:

Well, I finally found a sticky notes extension able to replace internotes, and am planning to keep multiprocess on for my working profile as well. My reasons:

1) For my casual profile, it allows me to run social media with reasonable speed (not as good as with the various versions of 360, but for casual browsing I do not need that much speed -i prefer a modicum level of privacy/security). I still have the modded 360s there when needed if I want fast food.

2) In my work profile I often work with 20+tabs, for reasons related to my work and the way I organize it. Call it whatever you want, but I need those many tabs or at least am used/organized to do my work that way. Years of discipline/routines/extension customizations to do what I want, how I want it. With sp52 with no ie10, though, I was reaching a point where more than 5 tabs would stall the browser for up to half a minute, and sometimes stay there, all tabs frozen circling and no movement until I restarted the browser. With e10 enabled, things are back to what it was before I moved to sp52 from ff52 (because I could/cannot trust ff52 anymore -that is me and my use of the web, btw).

If anyone is seriously interested, I am quite willing to share more details. Bottom line (but subject to more testing) it makes the whole thing enjoyable once again. Thanks @Tommy for pinning this thread and so bringing it to my attention. Cheers!

Good day/evening all.

OK! (to reassure myself everything is OK and not in complete chaos ... hehe)

Ugh ... the search doesn't work here for me since the forum went down and I've had to do this the long way and read everything - 2 and 1/2 hours on this topic.

I'd like more details @dmiranda if you would be so kind as to share them and I will give it a whirl tonight. I mean; why not?! I'm NOT worried about corrupting anything at my end as I LOVE to tweak (and break) things. I'm well backed up (which reminds me, I'm going to enjoy a nice glass of prune juice shortly) =P

So, from the research I've done today, this is my findings.

It appears, all we need to do, is:

user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.force-enable", true);
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.autostart", true);
user_pref("extensions.e10sBlocksEnabling", false);
user_pref("extensions.e10sMultiBlockedByAddons", false); [This prevents the blocking of multiple content processes by add-ons.]
user_pref("dom.ipc.processCount", 4);
user_pref("dom.ipc.process.webLargeAllocation", 4); [sets the maximum number of processes]

Of course, assuming we decide to go with the magic number 4

user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2", true); // (FF49+) (hidden pref)
~From what I read ... reset it (and restart) and it goes away as its not needed.

user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.separateFileUriProcess", true);
 

I presume this would only apply to Serpent 55 and likely not applicable to XP anyway.
~As VistaLover Stated:
    In Firefox 53.0+ and on Win7+, an additional process is spawned when e10s has been activated: this is the GPU_PROCESS (about:support -> Graphics -> GPU_PROCESS); this requires the Win7 version of D3D11 and, again, your installed gfx card has to be compatible...

........user_pref("dom.ipc.processHangMonitor", true);
~This is not hidden in Serpent and defaulted to true - does anybody know what this does?

Please accept my apologies for any mistakes and I wrote this today.

EDIT:

Again, that latest Serpent 52 - What I find a bit odd, is, in the string:

app.support.e10sAccessibilityUrl

https://support.mozilla.org/1/firefox/%VERSION%/%OS%/%LOCALE%/accessibility-ppt

And, also, the string:

app.support.BaseURL

https://support.mozilla.org/1/firefox/%VERSION%/%OS%/%LOCALE%/

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by XPerceniol

[XPerceniol]

12 hours ago, dmiranda said:

Bottom line (but subject to more testing) it makes the whole thing enjoyable once again.

I'm all for enjoyment :)

Did somebody mention fast food? I'll have get back to this after some curly fries and a shake!

[XPerceniol]

Well.. I must say, there is a noticeable difference - with 3 tabs open - youtube actually is playing fine. However, the memory usage is still an issue

I'll work with it for a while and see if it any better this way. Again this is the latest Serpent 52 - I've not tried (yet) with 55.

EDIT:

Below are my prefs used.

user_pref("browser.tabs.animate", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.crashReporting.sendReport", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.loadInBackground", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.autostart", true);
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.force-enable", true);
user_pref("browser.tabs.warnOnOpen", false);

user_pref("extensions.e10sBlocksEnabling", false);
user_pref("extensions.e10sMultiBlockedByAddons", false);

user_pref("dom.ipc.process.webLargeAllocation", 4);
user_pref("dom.ipc.processCount", 4);

user_pref("general.oscpu.override", "Windows NT 10.0");
user_pref("general.platform.override", "");
user_pref("general.useragent.compatMode.version", "78");
user_pref("general.useragent.override", "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:78.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/78.0");

user_pref("javascript.options.asmjs", false);
user_pref("javascript.options.strict", true);
user_pref("javascript.options.wasm", false);

user_pref("layers.acceleration.enabled", false);

user_pref("network.IDN.restriction_profile", "strict");
 

So, I must thank @roytam1 for leaving this code in Serpent and allowing us to still use it for testing purposes

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by XPerceniol

[dmiranda]

Thanks for the feedback, @XPerceniol. Following your posts, I am testing the following settings (the last 3 I had commented out before), and seem to make a bit of a positive difference on tests like https://testdrive-archive.azurewebsites.net/performance/chalkboard/.  We'll see if they lead to (more frequent crashes).

Two notes. 1) the magic number 4 may be increased, but I preferred to start low -will increase as I progress testing. 2) the autostart.2 thinguie was there somehow before even starting the tests; I reset it, and left commented in user.js for future use if it reappears.

// MULTIPROCESS
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.force-enable", true);
user_pref("dom.ipc.processCount", 4); //increase to 8 once stable
user_pref("extensions.e10sBlocksEnabling", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.autostart", true); // (FF49+) (hidden pref)
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2",); //in case it comes back, reset it
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.separateFileUriProcess", true); // discussed before in this thread, it may help prevent full crashes
user_pref("extensions.e10sMultiBlockedByAddons", false); // not sure if necessary, most extensions are legacy
user_pref("dom.ipc.process.webLargeAllocation", 4); //increase to 8 once stable

Finally, I'm testing the following settings you suggested. Let's see. Thanks!

user_pref("general.useragent.compatMode.version", "78");
user_pref("general.useragent.override", "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:78.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/78.0");
user_pref("javascript.options.strict", true); // wonder if this conflicts with umatrix/ublock/noscript
user_pref("layers.acceleration.enabled", false); // may this slowdown things?
user_pref("network.IDN.restriction_profile", "strict"); // not sure about this, will see, maybe high?

Edited July 21, 2021 by dmiranda

[dmiranda]

11 minutes ago, dmiranda said:

OOOPS

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by dmiranda

[dmiranda]

A few more notes:

1) As somebody (sorry, couldn't find the comment) recommended in this forum in the last two days, install process lasso. It definitely helps taming multiprocess excesses that end up in crashes. It is free https://bitsum.com/company-news/process-lasso-v8-final-release-for-windows-xp-and-2003-completed/

2) I just realized that some items in user.js DO NOT get entered or effect the expected change in about:config (see comments in the user.js entries below. For example, browser.tabs.remote.autostart gets created, but browser.tabs.remote. separatefileUriProcess doesn't.  Similarly odd, dom.ipc.processCount gets modified (from 1 to 4), but javascript.options.strict doesn't change from false to true, as instructed in user.js. A pain in the neck. I comment in those items below.

3) In trying to set @XPerceniol suggested useragent, I realized that it did not get entered via user.js. You need to enter such manually (while being there, I tried to reset the useragent.override items for whatsapp and other sites, since I am using uacontrol-0.1.3.1.1-signed.1-signed. I then realized that they cannot be reset! After restart they remain as a name with an empty string.

4)If your machine has the juice, enable hardware acceleration in preferences, and the layers.something noted below. With one process doing so slow things down (I've been there). With multiprocess, it is almost like being back in 2010 (I feel so much younger).

Below my current user.js settings:

user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.force-enable", true);
user_pref("dom.ipc.processCount", 4);
user_pref("extensions.e10sBlocksEnabling", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.autostart", true);  
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2",); // reset may be addon created 
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.separateFileUriProcess", true); // add manually
user_pref("extensions.e10sMultiBlockedByAddons", false); // add manually
user_pref("dom.ipc.process.webLargeAllocation", 4);  // add manually

user_pref("layers.acceleration.enabled", true); // already default
user_pref("layers.acceleration.force-enabled", true); // add manually
user_pref("layers.force-active", true); // set manually
user_pref("javascript.options.strict", true); // set manually

With all of the above, sp52 plays heavy-scrioted sites (YT, gmail, FB, etc) almost as well as 360Chrome. Normal pages load fast!

Cheers! 

[XPerceniol]

Awesome!!!

That is great news indeed. Gawd .. anything to feel younger without all the hair die shoe polish job (I'm almost totally gray). We've (without question) found the "fountain of youth" right here in this thread ... hehe. Of course, there is that saying, also, putting lipstick on a pig LMAO All joking aside, I don't know that I'd even want to go through it all again with this new generation. I'm a stubborn old fart and not ashamed to admit it.

I've been also having pretty good results with the settings; as well.

although, as VistaLover suggested earlier in this thread:

I was under the impression this pref would only work with FF53 (or Basilisk 55)
user_pref("browser.tabs.remote.separateFileUriProcess", true); // add manually

Though, you must have a better graphics card than I, because my system is actually worse with hardware acceleration enabled .. so I'm stick with what I got I guess.

Edited July 21, 2021 by XPerceniol
so many typos :(