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Containers - how can I set the maximum size of each? (Firefox CP Content) to solve sluggish performance

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Very sluggish performance, scrolling or changing tabs etc. There are 7 "Firefox CP Content" processes running, each about 800 MB but I've seen them go to maybe 1.3 GB. I'm thinking that swapping that much memory takes a long time, so maybe if I force them to be no mor then 500 MB It might help.

Can't find a Preference for "cache size" anymore - why not Content Process Limit is maxed out at 7.

Very sluggish performance, scrolling or changing tabs etc. There are 7 "Firefox CP Content" processes running, each about 800 MB but I've seen them go to maybe 1.3 GB. I'm thinking that swapping that much memory takes a long time, so maybe if I force them to be no mor then 500 MB It might help. Can't find a Preference for "cache size" anymore - why not Content Process Limit is maxed out at 7.

All Replies (8)

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I am not aware of how Containers interact with content processes.

Generally speaking, Firefox will open different tabs in different content processes, and the memory use by any given tab may or may not be a factor in which process is used for the next tab.

What do you mean by this:

FireFoxSucks said

I'm thinking that swapping that much memory takes a long time, so maybe if I force them to be no mor then 500 MB It might help.

Swapping??

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My computer doesn't have enough RAM to keep everything I have running in RAM. So I presume Firefox has a logical method of "containerizing" and when I open a tab it closes the last container & opens the one containing the new tab. So smaller is faster. There is 2.77 GB cached at the moment. A large fraction of each Web Process is "compressed."

Firefox ought to manage memory use by having all tabs in a Window within the same Container.

Also I would like to turn off background tabs ability to send & receive data, to reduce the thruput load on my connection. I have huge BufferBloat problems.

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image here:xxxxxxx

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Swapping, in the sense of using hard drive space to extend memory, is managed by your OS.

Firefox has internal features to unload low priority tabs to spare memory, but this is not implemented by default (there were some problems when it was enabled automatically so it was turned off again) -- you would need to use an extension to pause/suspend/unload an open tab.

Firefox has internal features to reduce bandwidth usage by background tabs, but when this was enabled by default, users complained that music players and videos in side windows stopped, so it is no longer enabled by default. For example, from the Firefox 61 time frame: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1228604

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You can possibly reduce number on content processes via the Options/Preferences page.

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jscher2000 said

-- you would need to use an extension to pause/suspend/unload an open tab. Firefox has internal features to reduce bandwidth usage by background tabs, but when this was enabled by default, users complained that music players and videos in side windows stopped, so it is no longer enabled by default. For example, from the Firefox 61 time frame: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1228604

Got any addon names in mind? there used to be one that told me which tabs were using the most runtime. Stopped working after containers I guess. How would I enable this internal feature? to throttle, set to 1? or True for the other?

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cor-el said

You can possibly reduce number on content processes via the Options/Preferences page.

Why would I want fewer? Seems to me that more allows the computer to stop the ones not being actively used ?

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FireFoxSucks said

jscher2000 said
-- you would need to use an extension to pause/suspend/unload an open tab.

Got any addon names in mind?

No, I've read about a couple but have no idea which ones are actually good.