Facebook crashes Firefox when typing a comment by making "@" suggestions.
This is the same problem as https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/987650
What the moderator, cor-el, did not understand and the poster could not seem to explain is that it is not Firefox's autofill that is the cause of the problem. So, clearing the forms history will not fix this issue.
It is Firefox's reaction to Facebook's attempt to present a dropdown list of friend and page suggestions for addition to your comment the same way it would if you typed "@" first. FB's attempt to make things simpler for it's users by doing this without the "@" symbol seems to be causing a conflict in Firefox that totally freezes the browser. "Mozilla Firefox (Not responding)" is displayed and no amount of waiting changes things. No option for a crash report or anything but to close it.
It happens randomly when typing in a comment or status, usually after 2 or 3 letters into a word that matches the first 2 or 3 letters of someone in your friends list or liked/followed pages/groups or even other commentators. Unfortunately, for me, that means even typing "the" can cause this issue. As far as I can tell, there is no way to turn this off in FB's settings.
I understand that this is caused by Facebooks implementation of the feature, but it is my hope that someone at Mozilla can offer a fix or patch for this since it's unclear how many FF users are affected and it may take some time before FB addresses the issue.
Please help. I would really prefer to not have to type my comments in Notepad before pasting them on FB.
Thanks.
All Replies (12)
It seems like Facebook is causing a sudden and intense memory demand on Firefox when this happens, as it tries to sort out what matches your entered text.
Could allocating more resources for firefox help with this? If so, how would I go about it? Setting FF's priority in Windows to high?
Someone who actually uses Facbook is more likely to be able to understand and help you.
What I am unsure of is are you able to reproduce this problem reliably ?
FB's attempt to make things simpler for it's users by doing this without the "@" symbol seems to be causing a conflict in Firefox that totally freezes the browser.
From the above it sounds like you are able to reproduce the problem.
However you also say
It happens randomly when typing in a comment or status, usually after 2 or 3 letters into a word that matches the first 2 or 3
That could indicate it hangs but you are not certain when to the nearest second or keypress when it will hang.
The first thing to do is test Firefox in safe mode and with a new clean profile. If it hangs, then we can expect the problem to be due to a problem on the FB site or with Firefox.
- Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode
- Disable or remove Add-ons_how-to-disable-plugins
- Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles
Even if it is a Firefox problem then as long as it is a clean install of Firefox that has the problem I imagine it will be investigated because FB is a popular site and both FB & Firefox developers should be able to investigate.
Are you able to explain carefully and exactly what needs to be done to make Firefox hang on FaceBook.
If you are able to do so others can try that and see if Firefox hangs for them. if it does we a have something to start investigating.
You may not be the only one having problems on FB, and I have seen other threads but on the other hand I see noone explaining how to reliably reproduce the issue.
The issue is also commented here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/991572
Beastmastre I agree. When the "not responding" crap happens I go to Task Manager and it shows 90%-100% CPU usage. Insane.
I will tag this as escalate so that HelpDesk reviews it.
I would point out the other thread mentioned by xmrazik currently has hundreds of views and 96 metoo votes. The thread mentioned in the OP has a couple hundred views and 35 metoo votes.
Various bugs already have been filed.
- e.g. Bug 977668 - Firefox hangs on Facebook text entry when inline lookups pop up
Bug 977668 probably should be confirmed. Now it even has a precise regression range identified.
I also asked the regression window code submitters if they have more info.
Thanks Rachel. I also saw your comments in the other thread. Sounds like we are making progress.
There should be a fix for this in Firefox 29. (Prior to that hopefully the fix will be available next week on the Beta channel.)
For more information please read recent posts in the thread
- Firefox 28 stops responding at Facebook dynamic search.
Read from /questions/991572?page=5#answer-555757
Update, the fix is now on all the pre-release channels, and first indications are that it is resolving facebook issues where it hangs when searching.
So, where can we find this fix? Firefox has froze up on me three times in the past 30 minutes while viewing and commenting on facebook.
Easiest method
Do not uninstall your current Firefox and certainly do NOT use any option to remove personal data; or you will destroy passwords, bookmarks and settings. Use an official site download and install Firefox Beta
Just install over the top of the existing Firefox 28 release.
Harder Method
Do a custom install as an additional browser with its own profile.
Note Firefox29 has a new User Interface ( Australis ) and looks different
- Common questions after updating to Firefox version 29
- https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/03/20/help-test-the-new-firefox-beta-faster-simplified-and-easier-to-customize/
If all goes to plan, everyone will get the fix in a couple of weeks when Firefox 29 is Released at the end of the Month ad Firefox updates automatically.