Firefox crashes
Random crashes
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Hi, AliceWyman & Cor-el, I hope you see this because after all this time I can report problem solved once and for all. I've been busy the last couple of months and haven't had the time (or ambition) to work on it. However, about two weeks ago, a light bulb came on. I've spent the last week proving my solution because it has been so intermittent. It turns out we've been looking in the wrong place! It's a hardware problem not software. I don't know what gave me the idea, but running memtest 86 from a bootable cd revealed an intermittent memory stick error. I replaced the memory and haven't had a problem for a week. To be sure, I just put the old memory back and FireFox immediately crashed on start up. This has to be one for the books. You may want to pass this on to anybody who has an intermittent problem. There should be several passes made in memtest 86 to be sure of finding a possible problem.
Thanks for all your help.
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Sorry to hear that your Firefox seems to be crashing. Please perform the following steps to give us a crash report ID that helps us find out more about the cause of the crash.
- Enter about:crashes in the Firefox location bar (that's where you enter your website names) and press Enter. You should now see a list of submitted crash reports.
- Copy the most recent 5 report IDs that you see in the crash report window and paste them into your forum response.
Thanks in advance for your help!
More information and further troubleshooting steps can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) article.
You can also try an easy fix by reseting Firefox, while keeping your bookmarks, history, passwords, etc: Here is how
Oops, sorry we missed the crash ID
No doubt you had already read Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) as you did post a crashID
A few more crashIDs may be useful to Kadir and it would probably help if those were from crashes whilst Firefox is in safe mode (&/or after a reset).
For forum cross referencing purposes
- Report for CrashID bp-73b6fd8a-b3bb-4f60-aa08-04ecd2120810
- Crash Signature:
nsOverflowClipWrapper::WrapItem(nsDisplayListBuilder*, nsDisplayItem*) - related bug 713486
< The above bug is dormant, no longer in contact with original user. >
- Crash Signature:
(Note There is a slight possibility the file FileMonitor32.dll is suspicious, as it is undated; mentioned in your report and in http://www.file.net/process/filemonitor32.dll.html but it is not mentioned in the crashing thread so I see no point in an unnecessary wild goose chase for Malware at this point)
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Hi, thanks for helping. This has been driving me crazy for months. I've been lucky to get some reports through because usually I would get "problem submitting report". Still not sure how I fixed that one. I've tried everything I could think of. I'm more used to the traditional tech support, so bear with me. Here are some crash reports: bp-054efc84-0c18-4cc6-852b-e0c7f21208098/9/20128:57 AMbp-195b4026-3f70-4fa6-a53c-ee5c221208088/8/20127:39 PMbp-25ad56d2-9c73-468c-9e6a-bf23e21208088/8/20127:38 PMbp-542b859a-93ff-4111-8d6b-207b521208088/8/20123:05 PMbp-a15318b3-9cda-455d-a193-7b5c221208088/8/20122:31 PMd210a009-91a7-4d94-8136-973ac102a5cf8/6/20124:40 PM753d191f-77fa-4e9d-ac91-aeb811be8aa28/6/20121:40 PM5ce6e80e-9cb1-4895-a7fd-d0e89e027e2d8/6/20121:20 PMe42b267d-9643-4a3a-b6c5-4b0f5c2984618/6/201211:56 AM37b0b2ea-ffcc-4b1d-8c59-47e1341f21fe8/3/20127:59 PM Thanks again for your help.
In the related bug 713486 it says, Probably related to HWA in Firefox (layout?). Disabling HWA seems to stop the crashes.
Try turning off hardware acceleration in the Firefox Options window - Advanced panel General tab. Related article: Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems
Hi, Alice
Thanks, but I already tried that. Thanks again.
Others will give answers, but of the above my comment is that I see one from safe mode and am guessing it is graphics related.
- Report for CrashID bp-25ad56d2-9c73-468c-9e6a-bf23e2120808
- Signature: nsFrame::DisplayBorderBackgroundOutline(nsDisplayListBuilder*, nsDisplayListSet const&, bool)
- Related Bug 722030 (& Bug 772330 )
Have you checked your graphics drivers are up to date ?
Thanks to all who replied. I will try some of these things over the weekend. Please bear with me until Monday for two reasons: 1. it's the weekend and the wife has plans. :-) 2. I probably should have mentioned this earlier with my comment about random crashes: the crashes are just that; random. The time between ranges from a few minutes to a maximum so far of 2 1/2 days. So, it takes time to see if something really worked or not.
Have a great weekend.
Try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.
- Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"
- https://hacks.mozilla.org/2010/09/hardware-acceleration/
See also:
Hi,
Back from the weekend. John99, my graphics drivers are up to date. Cor-el, thanks I tried that but still crashed.
I'm trying something right now, (uninstalled a program) but won't know for a while because as I stated earlier, crashes can be as much as 2 days apart, even though I mostly go to the same web sites.
I'll post again when either it crashes again or I decide the program was causing a conflict.
Thanks again for your help.
OK, it was a program I had updated recently. I had uninstalled it but after about 16 hours (not continuous) Firefox crashed again, so it wasn't that. Any more ideas, no matter how weird, would be appreciated. Is there any possibility that it's a case of something NOT being there as opposed to something that is there? Also, most of the crashes (but not all) seem to come during or after I visit WFTV.com. This is the site I probably visit the most. It's one of my local TV station sites. I clear the cache when leaving Firefox, but not during. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Does Firefox run without crashing when you restart in Firefox Safe Mode and select "Continue in Safe Mode?" If Firefox doesn't crash in Firefox Safe Mode, try disabling all of your extensions in the Add-ons Manager, then restart Firefox as explained in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article (you can skip disabling hardware acceleration, since you already tried that).
If Firefox still crashes in Firefox Safe Mode, there are some other suggestions here you can try:
Hi, Alice I'm running in safe mode right now, but if this thing runs true to form, it could be as much as 2 days before it might crash. (or maybe in the next 10 minutes, it's that unpredictable). I've run half a dozen malware and anti-virus programs to no avail. I've even run 2 from cd. Nothing, except the usual tracking cookies. I'll either keep trying or give up and live with the crashes. I've put aside a half dozen projects because of this stupid thing. Oh well, thanks for trying and if you get any other ideas, let me know. I'll post back here when I decide if it's really working in safe mode, or if it crashes again.
Try to do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\) before reinstalling a fresh copy of Firefox.
Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.
- Firefox 14.0.x: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html
Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible, to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.
- Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you will also lose your personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.
Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.
- It is important to delete the Firefox program folder to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
Your bookmarks and other profile data are stored in the Firefox Profile Folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.
You can also try to create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Basic Troubleshooting: Make a new profile":
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.
See:
Hi, I've lost track of all the things I've tried, so I'm starting again. I've been running in safe mode since Monday night and so far no crashes. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean much because I've gone almost three days in normal mode without crashes. I just went back to normal mode and almost immediately got a crash. I disabled a couple of extensions (I only have 5) and will see what happens. I only have one plug-in (Shockwave) and that wasn't disabled in safe mode, so I leaving that alone for now. I'll post again when something else happens.
You said I disabled a couple of extensions and that you will see what happens. If you are able to continue using Firefox without crashing with those extensions disabled then it's likely one of them was causing the crash.
The report for crash ID bp-73b6fd8a-b3bb-4f60-aa08-04ecd2120810 (08-10-2012) only shows Extension IDs, not the extension name. It might help if you used the "Copy all to clipboard" button on the Troubleshooting Information page, which you can open from the Firefox Help menu, and then paste that information here.
Hi Alice,
It hasn't crashed lately, but on the other hand I haven't been using it much today because I have other things to do. Here's the Clipboard information as it stands right now. Maybe you can spot something useful. Thanks.
Application Basics
Name Firefox
Version 14.0.1
User Agent Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1
Profile Folder
Show Folder
Enabled Plugins
about:plugins
Build Configuration
about:buildconfig
Crash Reports
about:crashes
Memory Use
about:memory
Extensions
Name
Version
Enabled
ID
Xmarks 4.1.0 true foxmarks@kei.com
Bookmark Favicon Changer 1.65 false bookmarkfaviconchanger@sonthakit
Forecastfox 2.2.1 false {0538E3E3-7E9B-4d49-8831-A227C80A7AD3}
Lazarus: Form Recovery 2.3 false lazarus@interclue.com
Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 0.0.0 false {20a82645-c095-46ed-80e3-08825760534b}
Password Exporter 1.2.1 false {B17C1C5A-04B1-11DB-9804-B622A1EF5492}
Personas 1.6.2 false personas@christopher.beard
Restartless Restart 8 false restartless.restart@erikvold.com
Tab Mix Plus 0.4.0.3 false {dc572301-7619-498c-a57d-39143191b318}
Important Modified Preferences
Name
Value
accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar 0
browser.cache.disk.capacity 1048576
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run false
browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value 286720
browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion 4
browser.search.openintab true
browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash false
browser.startup.homepage http://my.yahoo.com/
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID 20120713134347
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone 14.0.1
browser.tabs.autoHide true
browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab false
browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground true
browser.tabs.onTop false
browser.tabs.tabMaxWidth 190
extensions.lastAppVersion 14.0.1
font.minimum-size.x-western 12
font.name.serif.x-western Arial
font.size.variable.x-western 15
gfx.direct2d.disabled true
layers.acceleration.disabled true
network.cookie.prefsMigrated true
places.database.lastMaintenance 1345085664
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages 26631
privacy.clearOnShutdown.cookies false
privacy.clearOnShutdown.downloads false
privacy.clearOnShutdown.formdata false
privacy.clearOnShutdown.history false
privacy.clearOnShutdown.sessions false
privacy.cpd.cookies false
privacy.cpd.extensions-tabmix false
privacy.cpd.sessions false
privacy.donottrackheader.enabled true
privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs true
privacy.sanitize.sanitizeOnShutdown true
privacy.sanitize.timeSpan 4
security.warn_viewing_mixed false
Graphics
Adapter Description NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS
Vendor ID 0x10de
Device ID 0x10c3
Adapter RAM Unknown
Adapter Drivers nv4_disp
Driver Version 6.14.13.142
Driver Date 5-15-2012
WebGL Renderer Google Inc. -- ANGLE (NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS) -- OpenGL ES 2.0 (ANGLE 1.0.0.1041)
GPU Accelerated Windows 0
JavaScript
Incremental GC 1
Library Versions
Expected minimum version
Version in use
NSPR 4.9 4.9
NSS 3.13.5.0 Basic ECC 3.13.5.0 Basic ECC
NSS Util 3.13.5.0 3.13.5.0
NSS SSL 3.13.5.0 Basic ECC 3.13.5.0 Basic ECC
NSS S/MIME 3.13.5.0 Basic ECC 3.13.5.0 Basic ECC
Just an update at 11:44 my time, Firefox just crashed with only shockwave plug-in and x-marks extension enabled. I just disabled x-marks and will see what happens.
Actually, I'm pretty positive that if anything the shockwave plug-in could cause it (or hardware acceleration in general)
Hi Kadir, thanks for joining in. However, 1. when I was in Safe mode shockwave was not disabled, but Firefox didn't crash either. 2. I have hardware acceleration disabled in general.
Thanks for your input.
spinner, Your Troubleshooting Information list does show "GPU Accelerated Windows - 0" which means you do have Hardware Acceleration disabled in your Firefox Advanced Options.
If Firefox continues to run in normal mode without crashing with your extensions disabled, you could try enabling them one by one and test in between, to see if you can identify the problem extension.
P.S. I missed your reply that Firefox just crashed with only shockwave plug-in and x-marks extension enabled. Can you post the bp- crash report ID?
Update the Shockwave Flash plugin to Flash 11.4 if you haven't done so already (See Flash Plugin - Keep it up to date and troubleshoot problems under Updating Flash), then keep all extensions disabled and us know if Firefox still crashes.
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