[dundee] Graphics cards, Firefox and Thunderbird.

[Owen Bowers Adams]

>
> >And Paul, don't get me started on top posting!
> > Could it be a memory issue?  20 FF tabs is the equivalent to running
> > 20 Firefox applications?  I had a similar issue with a VM recently
>
> >
> > On 19 Mar 2014, at 19:31, Malcolm <malcolm at wxlr.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > > I'm struggling to work out why my computer won't load firefox and
> > > thunderbird.
>


> > > I was running PCLinuxOS and if I tried to start either FF or TB the
> > > computer would lock up.
>


> > > Finally the point of my post: Is it possible that the graphics card
> > > is faulty/overheating/possessed? £20 will get me one from Ebay so
> > > it's not that bad if I have to buy one to eliminate this
> > > possibility.
>


> > > Added as it might be relevant: I frequently have about 20 FF
> > > windows open at any one time.
>


> > > Any other suggestions for a cure are welcome.
>


If you are using gmail, top posting is the default.

However! That's not relevant to the task at hand.

On the memory side of things. I think the simple answer is 'it depends'.
Sadly there's not really enough information to go on. 20 tabs can use a
huge amount of memory, or they can use next to nothing. The actual overhead
from Firefox itself isn't huge ( especially in recent years ) but the
content from pages, themes, extensions etc can all add up. I'm going to
make an assumption however that the memory isnt an issue.

You mentioned that on PCLinuxOS that the system 'hung', however the mouse
still moved and you could click. It's just nothing happened. This generally
indicates an issue with X and quite possibly the Nvidia kernel module.
Sadly without having access to a system experiencing the fault it's hard to
be certain what the problem is /was.

A small silver lining/bit of advice. Before ripping out the graphics card (
and don't be scared of Nvidia cards. They're honestly fine and the linux
support isn't that bad. ATI vs Nvidia often comes down to arguing for the
sake of arguing ) check what version of of the Nvidia kernel module your
using. It might be worthwhile trying the nouveau driver. I once saw a
similar issue prior to the 319.12 version from Nvidia (specifically with
switching firefox tabs)
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