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Explain Parameters of firefox.exe

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

u20210512
u20210512
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Hello,

On a Windows 10 Task Manager panel I see the Firefox application running with parameters like:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -contentproc --channel="9328.0.2143754315\1267831822" -parentBuildID 20210622155641 -prefsHandle 1708 -prefMapHandle 1700 -prefsLen 1 -prefMapSize 261986 -appdir "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\browser" - 9328 "\\.\pipe\gecko-crash-server-pipe.9328" 1652 gpu

1) What do the parameters "-contentproc --channel" and value "\\.\pipe\gecko-crash-server-pipe.9328" mean?

2) Where could I find a list of the parameters I can use with firefox.exe?

I've attached a screenshot of task manager Command line column that shows each of the Firefox running processes

Thanks

Hello, On a Windows 10 Task Manager panel I see the Firefox application running with parameters like: "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -contentproc --channel="9328.0.2143754315\1267831822" -parentBuildID 20210622155641 -prefsHandle 1708 -prefMapHandle 1700 -prefsLen 1 -prefMapSize 261986 -appdir "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\browser" - 9328 "\\.\pipe\gecko-crash-server-pipe.9328" 1652 gpu 1) What do the parameters "-contentproc --channel" and value "\\.\pipe\gecko-crash-server-pipe.9328" mean? 2) Where could I find a list of the parameters I can use with firefox.exe? I've attached a screenshot of task manager Command line column that shows each of the Firefox running processes Thanks
Attached screenshots

All Replies (3)

TyDraniu
TyDraniu
  • Top 25 Contributor
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These are content/gpu process identifiers. You can't use it with a main firefox process.

u20210512
u20210512 Question owner
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Thank you TyDraniu. Why do you think the command lines are showing this way ? By the way, I made no changes to the installation of Firefox.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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That are separate sub processes used by Firefox and Firefox communicates with these processes via UDP ports and are launched by Firefox with their own parameters.

See the about:memory page for info about content processes.

It is quite normal to see more Firefox processes running.

  • process for the main Firefox thread (user interface)
  • one or more content processes, see:
    Options/Preferences -> General -> Performance
    remove checkmark: [ ] "Use recommended performance settings"
  • process for the compositor thread
  • process for extensions
  • process for WebRender when this feature is enabled

You can find the current multi-process state on the Troubleshooting Information page (about:support).

  • "Help -> Troubleshooting Information"
    "Application Basics": Multiprocess Windows
    "Remote Processes" further down

See also the about:memory page for information about the process IDs.