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finotti
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Post subject: [Solved] Firefox in Second X Session
 Posted: 16.06.2016, 09:49
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Joined: 2010-09-12
Posts: 493
Status: Offline
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I've noticed something weird in my system.
I usually need to have a second X session running. I go to a virtual terminal and run
Code:
startx /usr/bin/fluxbox -- :1
and so run fluxbox, since it is very lightweight. Recently I've noticed that Firefox lags a lot, even if I have a single window/tab with a page of plain HTML (no scripts or ads), scrolling with the mouse (or keys) freezes all the time. (I can drag the scroller, though, and it goes very smoothly.) I checked "top" and there is no high memory or CPU usage at all.
I've tried it all: safe-mode, deleted .mozilla, different user, same problem.
Chromium has no problem at all.
If I run KDE in parallel (much heavier!), I have no problems.
So, it seemed to be fluxbox. So, I tried wmii (running in parallel again) and had the same problem! (I tried to install openbox, but for some reason I get a lot of error messages on start up.)
I've checked X.log.o, kernel.log and messages.log and found nothing.
BUT, if I start the new session (running fluxbox) from SDDM, I have no problem at all! (Does anyone know what command SDDM uses to start the new session?) I would much prefer to start it from the TTY, as I often have it already open...
Any ideas or suggestions?
EDIT: I cannot reproduce this problem on my laptop... |
Last edited by finotti on 12.08.2016, 10:20; edited 1 time in total
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slh
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Post subject: RE: Firefox in Second X Session
Posted: 16.06.2016, 18:02
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Joined: 2010-08-25
Posts: 962
Status: Offline
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| There might be an issue with acceleration (iceweasel does try to use it) and concurrent access to it, in addition you can try to start iceweasel with -no-remote. |
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finotti
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Post subject: RE: Firefox in Second X Session
Posted: 17.06.2016, 13:56
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Joined: 2010-09-12
Posts: 493
Status: Offline
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Thanks slh for the reply!
I tried disabling hardware acceleration, with no effect. Also, -no-remote did not help. In fact, the second session in running a different user. (Also, note that running KDE in parallel, instead of fluxbox, I have no problem... So, it is not firefox by itself, but when combined with fluxbox or wmii, at least, things go wrong. But, NOT if I start those sessions from SDDM...)
I also moved all the .* files and directories to a backup directory, to make sure it was not some configuration file, but it also did not help. (I should try a new user... I will try that soon, but it seems unlikely it would work.)
But, things got even weirder: coincidentally, just yesterday I bought a second monitor. When I first started fluxbox (in parallel with KDE), the monitors were mirrored. What happened was the following: I could see [the same] firefox window in both screens [mirrored], on the new monitor, it scrolled just fine, in the old it froze as before, even though it was same instance of firefox. (BTW, the now monitor, which was working, was connected to same cable and port as the old monitor before (VGA), while the old monitor was in a new port/cable (DVI), so that was not the problem.)
I set two screens with xrandr and if I drag firefox to the old monitor, it would freeze when scrolling, if I drag to the new one, no problems. Then, I logged out and set X for the two screens and set the new monitor as "primary". When I restarted fluxbox, the new monitor now would freeze, while the old would work just fine!
I must say that, beside the annoyance, the problem-solver in me is obsessed in finding what could be happening here. I just find it all so baffling...
BTW, here is some info about the system:
Code:
$ infobash -v3
Host/Kernel/OS "debian" running Linux 4.6.0-1.slh.1-aptosid-amd64 x86_64 UEFI64 [ aptosid 2013-01 Ἑσπερίδες - kde-full - (201305050307) ]
CPU Info 8x Intel Core i7-4771 @ 8192 KB cache flags( sse3 ht nx lm vmx ) clocked at [ 3541.152 MHz ]
Videocard Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller tty resolution ( 133x75 )
Network cards Intel I217-V
Processes 298 | Uptime 8:06 | Memory 3694.9/15737.2MB | HDD WDC WD10EALS-00Z,Samsung SSD 840,WDC WD20EARX-00P,WDC WD20EARX-00P,WDC WD40EZRX-00S Size 9257GB (51%used) | Runlevel 5 | Client Shell | Infobash v3.50
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slh
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Post subject: RE: Firefox in Second X Session
Posted: 17.06.2016, 18:34
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Joined: 2010-08-25
Posts: 962
Status: Offline
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What are you actually trying to accomplish?
Do you really need/ want a multi-seat (different users on different screens) environment or do you 'just' want a large, merged desktop spanning over both screens (rather than mirroring)?
The later could be accomplished nicely by
Code:
$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/30-screen.conf
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "DP1"
Option "Primary" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "HDMI3"
Option "RightOf" "DP1"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller"
Option "Monitor-DP1" "DP1"
Option "Monitor-HDMI3" "HDMI3"
EndSection
(you need to choose DP1/ HDMI according to your local circumstances, of course - check xrandr for the port names) |
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finotti
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Post subject: RE: Firefox in Second X Session
Posted: 17.06.2016, 19:39
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Joined: 2010-09-12
Posts: 493
Status: Offline
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My situation is the following: my wife uses the computer mostly. When I want to use, sometimes I prefer to start a new X session rather than mess with hers. So, I usually start a new session (with my user) in a virtual terminal or an X session (from the virtual terminal) running fluxbox if I need to. This is all independent of the new monitor. I was having problems running firefox (as described above) before that.
I've configure X already for two monitors and it works (in both KDE and fluxbox), with no problems. (Very similar to what you've posted above.)
But, whichever is the primary monitor (when running fluxbox in parallel to KDE, started from a VT, not from SDDM) when I place the firefox window in that monitor (primary), I have problems with firefox freezing when scrolling. If I move the same firefox window (in the same fluxbox session etc., without closing, just drag it to the secondary monitor), then the freezing problems immediately goes away.
What I am trying to fix is this freezing (or lagging) of firefox when scrolling. (There are other visual problems with it, like sometimes Ctrl+Tab does not show the firefox page, just blank.)
I am trying to pinpoint what is causing the problem, but the situation is very weird. The problem does not happen with Chromium (instead of firefox) in any situation, it does not happen in KDE (started from VT or from SDDM) but does in fluxbox and wmii (started from the VT), it does not happen (in any window manager) when started from SDDM, there is no high usage of memory or CPU (plenty left!).
When it does happen (so fluxbox or wmii started from the VT), now with two monitors, it happens *only* when the window is placed in the primary monitor (and not at all when the window is placed in the other monitor). |
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slh
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Post subject: RE: Firefox in Second X Session
Posted: 17.06.2016, 20:21
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Joined: 2010-08-25
Posts: 962
Status: Offline
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| Personally I'm not really a fan of starting X sessions manually, without the display manager doing session supervision, because these days, desktop environments need a lot of setup (DBus, et al) to actually work to perfection. Have you tried the "switch user" option offered by KDE? |
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finotti
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Post subject: RE: Firefox in Second X Session
Posted: 17.06.2016, 20:28
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Joined: 2010-09-12
Posts: 493
Status: Offline
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Yes, that is what I meant by SDDM. It works fine there.
It is just more convenient for me to manually start X since I sometimes am already working on a VT and starting manually is much quicker.
Thanks for your help! |
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finotti
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Post subject: RE: Firefox in Second X Session
Posted: 12.08.2016, 10:19
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Joined: 2010-09-12
Posts: 493
Status: Offline
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Finally, solved! It seems that the intel driver was not being properly loaded. Adding
Code:
Driver "intel"
in the section "Device" of 10-monitor.conf suggested by slh above fixed the issue.
Thanks for the support! |
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