Slow Firefox performance and high CPU load when tlp is installed

[Wolf Rogner]

After installing Firefox 55 the browser generates huge cpu load, startup is extremely slow (it takes > 10s for the taskbar to accept entries after launch (this is new to 55)

Due to high cpu load the computer tends to overheat, ventilation jumps in making the machine extremely loud.

Using Chromium does not show these symptoms (on the same page).

---
LSB Ubuntu 17.04 (budgie desktop)
firefox:
  Installed: 55.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.17.04.2
  Candidate: 55.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.17.04.2
  Version table:
 *** 55.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.17.04.2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-security/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     50.1.0+build2-0ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty/main amd64 Packages

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.04
Package: firefox 55.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.17.04.2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-32.36-generic 4.10.17
Uname: Linux 4.10.0-32-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.4-0ubuntu4.5
Architecture: amd64
BuildID: 20170814193419
CurrentDesktop: Budgie:GNOME
Date: Thu Aug 17 16:30:30 2017
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-05-25 (83 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Budgie 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Release amd64 (20170412)
SourcePackage: firefox
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Wolf Rogner (war-rsb)]

This issue seems somehow related to #1710978.
Deinstalling tlp (and associated programs) the issue disappears.

[Raphaël Halimi (raph)]

Hi,

Debian TLP package maintainer here. Two questions :

- What version of tlp was installed ?
- Did you make changes to its default configuration ?

[Wolf Rogner (war-rsb)]

tlp 0.9-3 (Ubuntu 17.04 default)
No changes to default config made.

Issues are:
higher CPU load (not only in Firefox)
not fully charged battery on laptops (stops at 94% of capacity)
kicks in fans arbitrarily (even when CPU temp is below average normal state)
terminates bluetooth connections every 2 mins
terminates network connections every 2-5 mins

Possibly effects systemd-resolverd.service as well - terminates name resolution every 5-10 mins (had one issue after deinstall, therefore not 100% confident in this)

Mind: deinstalling eliminates a set of issues (see above).

Maybe you check whether machine is a thinkpad and only install then.

[Raphaël Halimi (raph)]

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Hi, sorry for the late answer, I'm quite busy these days.

Le 21/08/2017 à 13:27, Wolf Rogner a écrit :
> Mind: deinstalling eliminates a set of issues (see above).

Which issues did it eliminate exactly ? From what I can tell:

> higher CPU load (not only in Firefox)

It's the first time I hear about this one.

> not fully charged battery on laptops (stops at 94% of capacity)

This may be related to battery charge thresholds, but the default TLP
configuration doesn't change them. Some questions to narrow down the
problem :

- - Which model of ThinkPad do you have ?
- - Did you change those thresholds by other means ? Please check
/etc/sysfs.conf and snippets under /etc/sysfs.d
- - Do you dual boot Windows on this machine, and have Lenovo power
manager installed in it ?

> kicks in fans arbitrarily (even when CPU temp is below average
> normal state)

I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with TLP. I have this problem on
two distinct X200 and uninstalling TLP didn't fix it. Unfortunately I
noticed this problem after a long time and I'm not sure what change on
my machines caused it, it may be a kernel upgrade (I noticed it after
upgrading to Debian Jessie). I also noticed that, when unplugged from
AC, after a while, the fan calms down, but the problem comes back after
re-plugging. If you can tell me more I'm interested.

> terminates bluetooth connections every 2 mins

This is a known problem and it's more or less fixed by version 1.0 of
TLP (which I had uploaded by my sponsor in Debian Unstable, but
unfortunately didn't make it in Artful before the sync freeze). When
it will be synced to Ubuntu, you may request a backport (but don't
take my word on that, I'm not sure of how the process works for
Ubuntu, the package may need to hit a stable release first;
documentation I found on the web only states "from within the Ubuntu
repositories"). In the meantime, you could use packages from
upstream's PPA. In any case, you'll have to set the new option
USB_BLACKLIST_BTUSB to 1.

> terminates network connections every 2-5 mins

I'm really not sure about this one. Maybe change the value of
PCIE_ASPM_ON_BAT or various RUNTIME_PM* options ?

> Maybe you check whether machine is a thinkpad and only install
> then.

No. TLP works on all kind of laptops. The only ThinkPad-specific
features are the ones related to battery (dis)charge thresholds.

Regards,

- --
Raphaël Halimi
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[Wolf Rogner (war-rsb)]

Which Thinkpad? None. Tlp comes by default in every Ubuntu installation (even 17.10)

Removing tlp allows the battery to be loaded up to 98%.
On other machines up to 100% (newer system).
The battery life is extended after deinstall by approx 15%. (I don't have an exact test suite though, just average work).

Currently I experiment with Ubuntu 17.10.
I have tlp deinstalled and
a) my network is reasonable stable
b) bluetooth is broken
c) Firefox does not cause high CPU and fan speeds

Haven't got the time to experiment with tlp. At least, it's deinstallable on its own.

[linrunner (linrunner)]

@Wolf: you do not even *try* to prove your claim of a bug in TLP. Your descriptions jump aimlessly from topic to topic (including redundancy with #1710978).

Before you open a bug report you should have a thorough look into the TLP FAQ http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-faq.html where you'll find plenty of workarounds for common problems with kernel power saving and into TLP Troubleshooting http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-troubleshooting.html .

For remaining questions I suggest you seek advice in a Linux and/or Thinkpad oriented forum. The bug tracker is not a support forum!

[Wolf Rogner (war-rsb)]

I'm not seeking advice, I report issues.

I have tlp deinstalled and the symptoms are gone.

If you don't need any further testing that is fine with me.
Thanks for your efforts.

[dino99 (9d9)]

That version is now dead
http://news.softpedia.com/news/ubuntu-17-04-zesty-zapus-has-reached-end-of-life-upgrade-to-ubuntu-17-10-now-519360.shtml