I just updated the Bugzilla Bug 453704 ( https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=453704 ) with new information I gathered while troubleshooting one of my problem labs this afternoon. Here is the text I posted there:
****** Ok - here's the scoop after being on-site and testing out a full lab (35 thin-clients) launching Firefox, with no current ~/.mozilla profile (I nuked them all before testing), with and withOUT pref("toolkit.storage.synchronous", 0); set in /etc/firefox/pref/firefox.js (which will affect ALL users): ---------------------------------------------------------- 'toolkit.storage.synchronous' pref NOT set): Running Firefox on local LTSP server with no profile with the following command: strace -f -e fsync firefox 2>&1 | fgrep fsync | wc -l Rendered 99 counts of fsync. --- 'toolkit.storage.synchronous' pref SET): Running Firefox on local LTSP server with no profile with the following command: strace -f -e fsync firefox 2>&1 | fgrep fsync | wc -l Rendered 28 counts of fsync. --- 'toolkit.storage.synchronous' pref NOT set): Running Firefox on local LTSP server with existing profile (from above) with the following command: strace -f -e fsync firefox 2>&1 | fgrep fsync | wc -l And then opening up tabs for slashdot.org, yahoo.com and google.com: Rendered 48 counts of fsync. --- 'toolkit.storage.synchronous' pref SET): Running Firefox on local LTSP server with existing profile (from above) with the following command: strace -f -e fsync firefox 2>&1 | fgrep fsync | wc -l And then opening up tabs for slashdot.org, yahoo.com and google.com: Rendered 24 counts of fsync. ---------------------------------------------------------- Ok. So now we have sort of a baseline of how the toolkit pref works for fsyncing. Now what I did was simulated a full class of students coming in, logging into Gnome, and, all at the same time, launching Firefox. Instances of launching a full lab of thin-client firefox sessions, with NO profile, were pretty different when 'toolkit.storage.synchronous' was set as opposed to not. Without it set, we waited for about 15 minutes, and only about 1/2 of the thin-clients had launched Firefox. WITH it set, again, with new profiles (I nuke them every time), it took about 5 minutes for all systems to launch Firefox. Better, but still really really bad. I used the following command on 3 different thin-clients to guage where firefox was hanging. I saw a commonality through all of them - it would hang at this point in the strace: --- stat64("/usr/lib/xulrunner-1.9.0.1/components/nsWebHandlerApp.js", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=6920, ...}) = 0 open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY) = 15 read(15, --- RIGHT at the "read(15, " it would hang for 3-8 minutes before it proceeded through and load Firefox. "15" was also "19" and "23" - not sure if this matters. Sometimes it would proceed through and load the UI, sometimes it would process a bunch more strace info and then hang on another "read(19, " line. AND, it wasn't always right after the "nsWebHandlerApp.js" line - a couple of other times it was here: --- open ("/dev/random", 0_RDONLY) = 19 (read (19, --- And it would hang. AFTER launching the UI (finally), I saw (which might be completely normal) a continuous cycle of the following in strace: --- gettimeofday({1221521746, 829628}, NULL) = 0 read(3, 0x8075324, 4096) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable) poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=3, events=POLLIN}, {fd=8, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=11, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=13, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN}], 7, 0) = 0 --- It would hang at "poll( "and cycle through these messages. You can find the 3 different workstations' strace logs, with and without the toolkit pref enabled, here: http://logicalnetworking.net/other/ac/ I really hope this information helps. After seeing this happen with my own two eyes, I have to say...wow. -- Extreme slowness, "Firefox is already running" error for >3 users launching Firefox in LTSP environment https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/269188 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs