xorg use cpu 100% sometime with firefox

[braseb]

Binary package hint: firefox

when I use firefox sometime xorg up to 100% usage cpu and firefox stop to work. After a few secondes he work again...

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: firefox 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-19.28-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-19-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: i386
Date: Wed Apr 14 06:14:35 2010
FirefoxPackages:
 firefox 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
 firefox-gnome-support 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
 firefox-branding 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
 abroswer N/A
 abrowser-branding N/A
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Alpha i386 (20100411)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=fr_FR.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: firefox

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Thank you for reporting this to Ubuntu. Are you able to consistently reproduce this on any specific sites?

[braseb (braseb37)]

yes I reproduce the bug with the site of launchpad but my iso of lucid is
"old" i am not test with a recent image. I test this on a recent image next
week.
i see this bug on a live cd without kms(nomodeset at startup) after do
install of driver proprietary drivers nvidia 195.xxx with jockey.

2010/4/18 Draycen DeCator <email address hidden>

> Thank you for reporting this to Ubuntu. Are you able to consistently
> reproduce this on any specific sites?
>
> ** Changed in: firefox (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> xorg use cpu 100% sometime with firefox
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/562802
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “firefox” package in Ubuntu: Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: firefox
>
> when I use firefox sometime xorg up to 100% usage cpu and firefox stop to
> work. After a few secondes he work again...
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
> Package: firefox 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-19.28-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
> Uname: Linux 2.6.32-19-generic i686
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
> Architecture: i386
> Date: Wed Apr 14 06:14:35 2010
> FirefoxPackages:
> firefox 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> firefox-gnome-support 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> firefox-branding 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> abroswer N/A
> abrowser-branding N/A
> LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Alpha i386 (20100411)
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=fr_FR.utf8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: firefox
>
> To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/562802/+subscribe
>

[braseb (braseb37)]

yes I reproduce the bug with the site of launchpad but my iso of lucid is "old" i am not test with a recent image. I test this on a recent image next week.
i see this bug on a live cd without kms(nomodeset at startup) after do install of driver proprietary drivers nvidia 195.xxx with jockey.

[braseb (braseb37)]

iso 's date :12/04/2010

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Thanks for the extra information. Does this only start after you activate the Nvidia driver? Can you please confirm that it is the Xorg process that uses 100% of the CPU by running 'top' in a terminal and reproducing this bug?

[bedhead75 (bedhead999)]

I can confirm that this happens to me running a fresh install of Ubuntu 10.04 (64-bit). I'm using the 195 .xxx Nvidia drivers that were installed with jockey. When running "top", I can see that the %CPU of Xorg process shoots up when scrolling through certain pages. This happens with Compiz on or off and appears independent of visual effects setting levels.

One thing I've noticed is that his consistently happens with text-rich pages, such as this very launchpad bug report page, but it doesn't happen for pages that have a lot of images. I can open up two tabs in Firefox, one for this page, and another with mainly images, and I'll notice that Xorg CPU use shoots up MUCH higher only when this text-rich is being displayed. It seems the problem is related to text rendering/redrawing.

I don't see any errors in the Xorg log, but I'd be happy to post more information or whatever log reports needed.

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@bedhead75
Thanks for the extra information. Could you run Firefox from a terminal and let us know what output you get when you reproduce this bug?

[Michal Hruby (mhr3)]

Affects me too, proprietary nvidia 195. Firefox doesn't show anything in the console besides:
(firefox-bin:23018): Gdk-WARNING **: XID collision, trouble ahead

[braseb (braseb37)]

i test the top command and this is xorg process that is at 100% when scrolling on page of launchpad.
this is with 195 nvidia drivers no with nv.

[braseb (braseb37)]

sorry nouveau not nv

[GeekTantra (geektantra)]

POSSIBLE WORKAROUND:
I was also facing the same problem in Ubuntu 10.04/Firefox 3.6.3/nVidia 195.xx driver/XOrg 1.7.6. The work around was reinstalling/Upgrading Firefox using ubuntuzilla. That seems to have fixed the problem.

[eggbert (c0de-munkey)]

I am also experiencing this. xorg cpu usage spikes up past 60% usage when scrolling a page. It actually happens if I scroll up and down this page. Fans kick on and everything.

Running the restricted nvidia driver 195.36.15.

Also, scrolling in Google Chrome, xorg cpu spikes up to 40%, which seems a little high.

I have a Q6600 Core 2 quad processor.

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Thanks for all of the responses everyone. If this is still happening for anyone, can you please let us know if any other applications other than Firefox cause the xorg process to use 100% of the CPU? Also, if this is still affecting you, can you try running Firefox in a terminal and see if the output is similar to comment #9?

[CKX (chester-kollschen)]

Since this problem affects me, too, I did some test. Maybe the results can help to track down the problem.

I am running Ubuntu Lucid Lynx (32 Bit) on an AMD 64x2 4800 CPU with an NVidia 8800 GTS GPU on a 1920x1080 display. I am currently using the 195.xxx drivers from the repos but I also tested with vesa, nouveau and even the new nvidia-256.xxx -- only to realize that the selected driver doesn't seem to have an effect on this specific bug.

The problem is that Firefox makes Xorg use 100% CPU when initially displaying or when scrolling certain pages. On some pages this leads to heavy delays and scrolling turns out to be very jumpy. The effect is most noticable when grabbing the vertical scrollbar and quickly dragging it up and down.

It's not clear what exactly triggers the problem. There are long pages that scroll smoothly and short pages that stutter (even this one). But I found one page that reliably stutters on my configuration so I used that one for my following tests:

http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2010/04/ubuntu-1004-post-install-guide-what-to.html

Before Lucid, I was using Interpid which came with Firefox 3.0.x (IIRC) where I didn't have the problem. So I downloaded Firefox 3.0.19 from mozilla.org and gave it a try on Lucid. When fully loaded, the above page "flies" with Firefox 3.0.19. Though it's quite long and contains many images, scrolling is fast and smooth.

Next, I tried with Firefox 3.5.19. Here the problem began: Scrolling stutters on the above page and makes Xorg take 100% CPU.

For fun, I also tried the current snapshot of Firefox 3.7 aka Minefield and amazingly: The problem has gone again! Minefield does not fly as fast as 3.0.19 but it did not stutter as 3.5.19 and 3.6.3 did.

BTW: I had no console outputs while running my tests.

[Micah Gersten (micahg)]

Is anyone using mutter / gnome-shell here? There's a similar upstream bug with people using those apps.

[Michele Roviello (micheleroviello)]

Same problem on Ubuntu Lucid with nvidia's proprietary drivers. No problem with Google Chrome.

[Lazy (ubuntu-bugs-oittaa)]

Ubuntu 10.04 and Nouveau here. Xorg especially spikes to 100% when using Google image search on Firefox.

[braseb (braseb37)]

this bug is alway present in firefox 3.6.12 and firefox 4 with all the upgrade of ubuntu lucid.
Are there a fix?

[Techie (adzinets)]

Same problem here on Ubuntu 10.10 with firefox 3.6.12. Although CPU usage is high when scrolling in many apps (Chrome, Evince, nautilus), the slowness only happens in firefox on text-heavy sites like http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html

[Andy Cress (arcress)]

Here is a possible solution to a problem with similar symptoms.
http://blog.kelsin.net/2009/02/24/slow-firefox-high-xorg-cpu-usage-debian-and-ubuntu-solved/
It says to add the AccelMethod line to xorg.conf.

[braseb (braseb37)]

no it is for the intel card
for me it's with a nvidia card and the proprietary driver
the problem is alway here on ubuntu 10.10 and the drivers nvidia 260 on the
ppa on my geforce 7600 GS and on my portable computer with a G205

2010/11/24 Andy Cress <email address hidden>

> Here is a possible solution to a problem with similar symptoms.
>
> http://blog.kelsin.net/2009/02/24/slow-firefox-high-xorg-cpu-usage-debian-and-ubuntu-solved/
> It says to add the AccelMethod line to xorg.conf.
>
> --
> xorg use cpu 100% sometime with firefox
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/562802
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “firefox” package in Ubuntu: Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: firefox
>
> when I use firefox sometime xorg up to 100% usage cpu and firefox stop to
> work. After a few secondes he work again...
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
> Package: firefox 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-19.28-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
> Uname: Linux 2.6.32-19-generic i686
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
> Architecture: i386
> Date: Wed Apr 14 06:14:35 2010
> FirefoxPackages:
> firefox 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> firefox-gnome-support 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> firefox-branding 3.6.3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
> abroswer N/A
> abrowser-branding N/A
> LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Alpha i386 (20100411)
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=fr_FR.utf8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: firefox
>
> To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/562802/+subscribe
>

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for firefox (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Pekka Vanhoja (pekka-vanhoja-gmail)]

I'm seeing similar behaviour. I'm currently running Ubuntu 11.04, Firefox 4.0.1+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.3 and nvidia-173 173.14.30-0ubuntu1 on on Dell D630 laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2,4 GHz with 4 GB RAM). Especially often this seems to happen with Facebook photos, if I click on a link on Facebook to see some photo the machine jams for a while and xorg CPU usage spikes up to 100 % in top. Sometimes there are no problems at all. I would say it's something like 4/10 times when it jams in either opening a photo or switching between the photos in Facebook.

[Pekka Vanhoja (pekka-vanhoja-gmail)]

Looks like the issue was resolved for me by updating the nvidia drivers to current. When I upgrade from 10.04 there were some issue with the current drivers and I downgraded to 173. Now when I tried the current version installed and runs nice.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.