Periodic slow to halt, unable to paste some applications
Every now and then, Firefox grinds to a halt.
This might be once a day, or every two or three days, but it happens regularly.
Often the only way i can fix it when it gets to the 'grind' stage is to shut down. Sometimes i can closed stalled activities on Activity Monitor which makes it responsive again, and less commonly by using Force Quit - the problem there being that once Firefox is in 'grind' stage with the pinwheel rolling, Force Quit either takes a long time to come up or doesn't come up at all (at least within my patience limit).
The other issues i have is with pasting. I'm unable to paste anything into Google docs, though paste works fine in another browser like Maxthon. I'm also unable to paste links into Facebook, and editing posts is a drama. Again, both these things work fine in Maxthon.
When i first used Quantum, the very first version, i was blown away. I'd given up on the Firefox earlier because it had become a behemoth: slow, staggering and halting. Then i noticed that with updates it started to stagger again at times (as described in the first 3 paragraphs).
With these additional pasting problems its again starting to make evaluate whether i should make another browser my main one. I still like Quantum, and don't want to switch again, so i hope these issues can be resolved.
All Replies (5)
Many have had trouble with copy/paste between programs, Copy from the original. Paste to a 'word' type program. Now copy from 'word' to where you want to go.
Prazon said
Every now and then, Firefox grinds to a halt.
What were you ding at the time? Surfing? Just sitting there? Walked away?
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
Thanks Fred, although i've previously tried copying and pasting as you suggested (and i tried again just now), and it just doesn't work for me in Google Docs.
I got fed up last time and just used Maxthon instead (where pasting works).
When Firefox starts grinding, i'm browsing, and sometimes when i then get a freeze i walk away for a while, and occasionally the problem resolves itself, but often not.
If i simply restart normally, not in Safe Mode, the problem isn't there. But it invariably comes back at some point (a few hours later, a day later etc).
Are you saying i should try Safe Mode for a few days (if Firefox lasts that long)?
Modified by Prazon
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode
Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes). If the problem goes away, that tells us one thing. If it does not, that tells us something else.
Thanks again, Fred, i understand, but if the problem goes away when i restart normally, how is safe mode going to assist?
Modified by Prazon
Can you post your extensions list?
You can create a new profile to test if your current profile is causing the problem.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.