First: Please update your plugins to the latest version. Check to make sure you are up to date:

• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/

If you see any issues also see:

• Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

Second: you might try the beta version of Firefox. Black screen usually indicates graphics, however there are also tools created:

For example:

• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fire.../about-addons-memory/
• Ramback as well

Disabling hardware acceleration in Firefox is another work around: Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration. Since this feature was added to Firefox, it has gradually improved, but there still are a few glitches.

You might need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.).

Then perform these steps:

1. Open Firefox Options window (Preferences on Mac or Linux) as follows:
   • In Firefox 29.0 and above, click the menu button and select Options for Windows or Preferences on Mac or Linux.
   • In Firefox 28.0 and previous versions, click the orange Firefox button at the top left, then select the "Options" button, or, if there is no Firefox button at the top, go to Tools > Options.
2. In the Firefox Options (or Preferences) window, click the Advanced tab, then select General.
3. In the settings list, you should find the Use hardware acceleration when available checkbox. Uncheck this checkbox.
4. Now, restart Firefox and see if the problems persist.

Additionally, please check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in the following Knowledge base articles:

• Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

• Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

As this takes a while to reproduce, it will be a few days before my next response, however I wanted to update on some information.

• The only plugin I had enabled that was out of date was silverlight, and that has since been updated.

• Upon disabling hardware acceleration previously, that sort of fixed the problem. It allowed my browser to remain somewhat functional but disabled any video content I tried to load immediately.

Beyond that, if the problem persists after updating silverlight and disabling hardware acceleration once again, I'll check out Ramback and see if that solves my issue. If it persists further, I'll update this post again with additional information.

Thanks!

These steps have solved the black screen issue, however have not solved the high RAM usage and eventual malfunction of firefox issue.

Even after using Ramback, Task Manager showed FireFox still using upwards of 3GB of my physical memory.

It's entirely possible that this is an ongoing issue and may never end up solved, but the point was to bring it to Mozilla Support's attention, which I have done for the time being.

If you have further steps for me to try to reduce or reset the amount of physical memory that FireFox is using after several hours of idle use, feel free to reply. Thanks for solving my black screen issue :)

I retract my previous statement as I've just had the black screen come back after hitting 3.0GB of physical memory used according to Task Manager. Please see previous post for more questions.

Hi nicholasw2k, Thank you for your responses. Would you mind sharing the drivers you have for the computer's ram?

webglRenderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (AMD Radeon R9 200 Series Direct3D9Ex vs_3_0 ps_3_0) 

Let's make sure they are both up to date and that this is correct, black screen was a past issue and updating the drivers solved some, but not all.

• Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL

Hi guigs2,

I am running driver version 14.501.1003.0 for Windows 7 Ultimate as my Graphics Driver. I made an attempt to update before posting this as a "just in case" type of deal and I'm already up to date on my graphics drivers.

The card specifically is a Gigabyte Radeon R9 270x

I would only say its the ram if its also not working in other browsers. Since it is only happening with Firefox, and you already mentioned the type in your question description (apologies for missing this).

We can try another angle, perhaps a memory report. It can show what is useing the most memory in Firefox: about:memory https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/d.../about%3Amemory

I tried other references to memory caps to try to find the peak memory where Firefox starts to panic as you are seeing in the graphics barf.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Talk:Reducing_memory_usage_-_Firefox...
• various addons for video performance also started

Please also make sure that it does not happen in Safe Mode (to eliminate an add on being an issue)Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode

When it's nearing the point of no return I'll run a memory report and paste the contents here. After that I'll run FF in safemode and see what happens then. Will report back if it happens even in safe mode. If it doesn't then I'll mark this as resolved and figure out which of my addons is causing it.

Edit: In the next post is the memory report taken when task manager looks as described in the attached image in this post. Some links were changed slightly to keep information private (i.e. in facebook.com/<user information goes here> , the user information has been removed).

Main Process Explicit Allocations

806.90 MB (100.0%) -- explicit ├──282.99 MB (35.07%) -- window-objects │ ├───90.47 MB (11.21%) -- top(https://twitter.com/, id=169) │ │ ├──57.93 MB (07.18%) -- active │ │ │ ├──57.44 MB (07.12%) -- window(https://twitter.com/) │ │ │ │ ├──23.91 MB (02.96%) -- js-compartment(https://twitter.com/) │ │ │ │ │ ├──21.88 MB (02.71%) -- classes │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──12.48 MB (01.55%) ++ (22 tiny) │ │ │ │ │ │ └───9.39 MB (01.16%) ++ class(Object) │ │ │ │ │ └───2.04 MB (00.25%) ++ (7 tiny) │ │ │ │ ├──16.88 MB (02.09%) -- dom │ │ │ │ │ ├───8.55 MB (01.06%) ── orphan-nodes │ │ │ │ │ └───8.33 MB (01.03%) ++ (5 tiny) │ │ │ │ ├──13.16 MB (01.63%) ++ layout │ │ │ │ └───3.49 MB (00.43%) ++ (2 tiny) │ │ │ └───0.50 MB (00.06%) ++ window(about:blank) │ │ └──32.54 MB (04.03%) -- js-zone(0x24205000) │ │ ├──17.75 MB (02.20%) ++ strings │ │ ├──11.86 MB (01.47%) ── unused-gc-things │ │ └───2.92 MB (00.36%) ++ (6 tiny) │ ├───57.31 MB (07.10%) -- top(https://www.facebook.com/, id=55) │ │ ├──31.42 MB (03.89%) -- active │ │ │ ├──26.40 MB (03.27%) -- window(https://www.facebook.com/) │ │ │ │ ├──16.29 MB (02.02%) -- js-compartment(https://www.facebook.com/) │ │ │ │ │ ├──14.59 MB (01.81%) ++ classes │ │ │ │ │ └───1.71 MB (00.21%) ++ (7 tiny) │ │ │ │ └──10.10 MB (01.25%) ++ (4 tiny) │ │ │ └───5.02 MB (00.62%) ++ (2 tiny) │ │ └──25.89 MB (03.21%) -- js-zone(0xee0c800) │ │ ├──21.32 MB (02.64%) ── unused-gc-things │ │ └───4.57 MB (00.57%) ++ (7 tiny) │ ├───44.63 MB (05.53%) -- top(http://sar-soulasylum.enjin.com/forum, id=65) │ │ ├──37.06 MB (04.59%) -- active │ │ │ ├──19.97 MB (02.47%) -- window(http://sar-soulasylum.enjin.com/forum) │ │ │ │ ├──12.04 MB (01.49%) -- js-compartment(http://sar-soulasylum.enjin.com/forum) │ │ │ │ │ ├──11.23 MB (01.39%) ++ classes │ │ │ │ │ └───0.81 MB (00.10%) ++ (6 tiny) │ │ │ │ └───7.93 MB (00.98%) ++ (4 tiny) │ │ │ └──17.10 MB (02.12%) ++ (7 tiny) │ │ └───7.57 MB (00.94%) ++ js-zone(0x1d162c00) │ ├───30.41 MB (03.77%) ++ (11 tiny) │ ├───19.41 MB (02.41%) -- top(https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions, id=8) │ │ ├──16.40 MB (02.03%) -- active │ │ │ ├───9.70 MB (01.20%) ++ window(https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions) │ │ │ └───6.70 MB (00.83%) ++ (3 tiny) │ │ └───3.01 MB (00.37%) ++ js-zone(0x19c2c400) │ ├───14.35 MB (01.78%) -- top(none)/detached │ │ ├──10.51 MB (01.30%) -- window(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul) │ │ │ ├───8.65 MB (01.07%) ++ js-compartment([System Principal], about:blank) │ │ │ └───1.86 MB (00.23%) ++ (3 tiny) │ │ └───3.84 MB (00.48%) ++ (5 tiny) │ ├───13.84 MB (01.72%) -- top(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul, id=3) │ │ ├───9.00 MB (01.12%) -- active │ │ │ ├──8.60 MB (01.07%) ++ window(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul) │ │ │ └──0.40 MB (00.05%) ++ (2 tiny) │ │ └───4.84 MB (00.60%) ++ js-zone(0xf406c00) │ └───12.55 MB (01.56%) -- top(http://deviantart.com/, id=181) │ ├───9.89 MB (01.23%) -- active │ │ ├──9.74 MB (01.21%) ++ window(http://deviantart.com/) │ │ └──0.15 MB (00.02%) ++ window(about:blank) │ └───2.66 MB (00.33%) ++ js-zone(0x32048c00) ├──155.74 MB (19.30%) -- js-non-window │ ├───81.28 MB (10.07%) -- zones │ │ ├──62.24 MB (07.71%) -- zone(0x2592000) │ │ │ ├──35.52 MB (04.40%) ++ (287 tiny) │ │ │ └──26.72 MB (03.31%) ++ strings │ │ ├──13.52 MB (01.68%) -- zone(0x258e000) │ │ │ ├──11.72 MB (01.45%) -- strings │ │ │ │ ├──11.61 MB (01.44%) ++ string(<non-notable strings>) │ │ │ │ └───0.10 MB (00.01%) ++ (5 tiny) │ │ │ └───1.80 MB (00.22%) ++ (5 tiny) │ │ └───5.52 MB (00.68%) ++ (23 tiny) │ ├───63.37 MB (07.85%) -- runtime │ │ ├──16.08 MB (01.99%) ── atoms-table │ │ ├──14.52 MB (01.80%) -- gc │ │ │ ├──13.00 MB (01.61%) ── nursery-committed │ │ │ └───1.52 MB (00.19%) ++ (3 tiny) │ │ ├──12.21 MB (01.51%) ++ (9 tiny) │ │ ├──11.12 MB (01.38%) ── script-data │ │ └───9.44 MB (01.17%) ++ code │ └───11.08 MB (01.37%) ++ gc-heap ├──130.58 MB (16.18%) ── heap-unclassified ├───58.61 MB (07.26%) -- heap-overhead │ ├──50.31 MB (06.23%) ── bin-unused │ └───8.31 MB (01.03%) ++ (3 tiny) ├───43.08 MB (05.34%) -- network │ ├──43.08 MB (05.34%) -- cache2 │ │ ├──37.57 MB (04.66%) ── memory-storage(/M) │ │ └───5.50 MB (00.68%) ++ (6 tiny) │ └───0.01 MB (00.00%) ++ (4 tiny) ├───31.52 MB (03.91%) -- add-ons │ ├──18.70 MB (02.32%) -- {d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}/js-non-window/zones/zone(0x2592000)/compartment([System Principal], jar:file:///C:/Users/<User>/AppData/Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/lpg6sobg.default/extensions/%7Bd10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d%7D.xpi!/bootstrap.js (from: resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm:4322)) │ │ ├──17.97 MB (02.23%) -- classes │ │ │ ├──11.60 MB (01.44%) ++ class(Object) │ │ │ └───6.37 MB (00.79%) ++ (8 tiny) │ │ └───0.74 MB (00.09%) ++ (7 tiny) │ ├──12.42 MB (01.54%) ++ {a8864317-e18b-4292-99d9-e6e65ab905d3} │ └───0.40 MB (00.05%) ++ (2 tiny) ├───29.80 MB (03.69%) -- images │ ├──26.86 MB (03.33%) -- content/raster │ │ ├──26.84 MB (03.33%) ++ used │ │ └───0.02 MB (00.00%) ++ unused/<non-notable images> │ └───2.94 MB (00.36%) ++ (2 tiny) ├───26.06 MB (03.23%) -- gfx │ ├──19.75 MB (02.45%) ── heap-textures │ └───6.31 MB (00.78%) ++ (5 tiny) ├───15.59 MB (01.93%) ++ (15 tiny) ├───12.46 MB (01.54%) -- storage │ ├───9.87 MB (01.22%) ++ sqlite │ └───2.59 MB (00.32%) ++ prefix-set ├───10.42 MB (01.29%) ++ workers/workers(chrome) └───10.04 MB (01.24%) -- layout

   ├───9.76 MB (01.21%) ── style-sheet-service
   └───0.28 MB (00.03%) ── style-sheet-cache

Other Measurements

4,095.94 MB (100.0%) -- address-space ├──3,184.16 MB (77.74%) -- commit │ ├──2,847.96 MB (69.53%) -- private │ │ ├──2,823.12 MB (68.92%) ── readwrite [2888] │ │ └─────24.84 MB (00.61%) ++ (6 tiny) │ ├────197.37 MB (04.82%) -- image │ │ ├──109.46 MB (02.67%) ── execute-read [180] │ │ ├───79.34 MB (01.94%) ── readonly [395] │ │ └────8.57 MB (00.21%) ++ (3 tiny) │ └────138.83 MB (03.39%) -- mapped │ ├───90.25 MB (02.20%) ── readonly [56] │ ├───47.81 MB (01.17%) ── readwrite [65] │ └────0.77 MB (00.02%) ++ (2 tiny) ├────499.32 MB (12.19%) ── free [661] └────412.45 MB (10.07%) -- reserved

    ├──382.37 MB (09.34%) ── private [2123]
    └───30.08 MB (00.73%) ++ (2 tiny)

46.84 MB (100.0%) -- decommitted ├──44.91 MB (95.90%) -- js-non-window │ ├──41.91 MB (89.49%) ── gc-heap/decommitted-arenas │ └───3.00 MB (06.41%) ── runtime/gc/nursery-decommitted └───1.92 MB (04.10%) -- workers/workers(chrome)

   ├──0.70 MB (01.48%) -- worker(resource:///modules/sessionstore/SessionWorker.js, 0x1621a800)
   │  ├──0.70 MB (01.48%) ── gc-heap/decommitted-arenas
   │  └──0.00 MB (00.00%) ── runtime/gc/nursery-decommitted
   ├──0.64 MB (01.38%) -- worker(resource://gre/modules/PageThumbsWorker.js, 0xda9e400)
   │  ├──0.64 MB (01.38%) ── gc-heap/decommitted-arenas
   │  └──0.00 MB (00.00%) ── runtime/gc/nursery-decommitted
   └──0.58 MB (01.24%) -- worker(resource://gre/modules/osfile/osfile_async_worker.js, 0xe2c8c00)
      ├──0.58 MB (01.24%) ── gc-heap/decommitted-arenas
      └──0.00 MB (00.00%) ── runtime/gc/nursery-decommitted

9,406 (100.0%) -- event-counts ├──9,383 (99.76%) -- window-objects │ ├──2,794 (29.70%) -- top(none)/detached │ │ ├──2,618 (27.83%) ── window(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul)/dom/event-listeners [4] │ │ ├────167 (01.78%) ── window(chrome://browser/content/places/places.xul)/dom/event-listeners │ │ └──────9 (00.10%) ── window(https://twitter.com/i/cards/tfw/v1/613359197753774080?advertiser_name=Visa&cardname=promo_website&is_following_advertiser=false&forward=true&impression_id=575442ef09fb8d4b#xdm_e=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com&xdm_c=default1114&xdm_p=1)/dom/event-listeners │ ├──2,025 (21.53%) -- top(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul, id=3)/active │ │ ├──1,984 (21.09%) -- window(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul)/dom │ │ │ ├──1,977 (21.02%) ── event-listeners │ │ │ └──────7 (00.07%) ── event-targets │ │ └─────41 (00.44%) ++ (2 tiny) │ ├──1,351 (14.36%) -- top(https://twitter.com/, id=169)/active │ │ ├──1,342 (14.27%) -- window(https://twitter.com/)/dom │ │ │ ├──1,323 (14.07%) ── event-listeners │ │ │ └─────19 (00.20%) ── event-targets │ │ └──────9 (00.10%) ── window(about:blank)/dom/event-targets [9] │ ├────987 (10.49%) -- top(https://www.facebook.com/, id=55)/active │ │ ├──979 (10.41%) -- window(https://www.facebook.com/)/dom │ │ │ ├──943 (10.03%) ── event-listeners │ │ │ └───36 (00.38%) ── event-targets │ │ └────8 (00.09%) ++ (2 tiny) │ ├────566 (06.02%) -- top(http://www.knightsandmerchants.net/forum/index.php?sid=73cb91a33bbe2b243d95868557dd23b1, id=163)/active/window(http://www.knightsandmerchants.net/forum/index.php?sid=73cb91a33bbe2b243d95868557dd23b1)/dom │ │ ├──546 (05.80%) ── event-listeners │ │ └───20 (00.21%) ── event-targets │ ├────398 (04.23%) -- top(https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions, id=8)/active │ │ ├──311 (03.31%) -- window(https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions)/dom │ │ │ ├──309 (03.29%) ── event-listeners │ │ │ └────2 (00.02%) ── event-targets │ │ └───87 (00.92%) ++ (3 tiny) │ ├────324 (03.44%) -- top(http://www.cartoongenerals.com/main/index.php?/index, id=158)

Running FireFox in safe mode seems to have solved or at least slowed the excessive RAM issue however FireFox now has terrible performance much sooner. Adding in constant freezes and scripts constantly crashing, it would appear that the addons and extensions I was running were helping to solve those issues.

What I'll do now is reload standard firefox and turn my extensions on one by one to see which one seems to be causing the most spikes in ram usage.

AdBlock Plus so far seems to be keeping FireFox stable no problem. Going to turn on my toolbar next. Will edit this post with further information after observing FireFox's behavior.

Edit: Reason to believe it's my toolbar as with AdBlock plus, FireFox was remaining at around or under 1GB of used Physical RAM. After re-enabling my toolbar I've jumped up to 2GB. Will be contacting the toolbar developer soon.

(delayed response) I took a look again at your troubleshooting information and there was an add on that may have been updated since the beginning of this thread, at least the signed version "Released May 3, 2014 ":

• https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/fire.../the-addon-bar/

I am still learning how to read these reports but it looks like the window/.xul is another name for the Firefox interface. "│ │ ├──1,984 (21.09%) -- window(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul)/dom" But mine was about 50% with 7 windows that have been open all week -mac 10.10 on beta. It looks like it breaks down for each window how much memory Firefox is using or the "browser.xul" In conclusion still it seems that your method is best for troubleshooting, trial and error. I would be happy to learn anymore you might have discovered.

If there are more issues, there is another work around: try a new profile.

• Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles

EDIT: as a follow up, we can also file a bug if assistance is needed