118221 - mozilla interface spontaneously disappears after some time

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Core :: XUL, defect)

Description

[matejcik]

When I use Mozilla browser(v0.9.7) for about half hour, all graphics disappear. 
All the pictures on the web page are replaced with background color and all 
skinnable components become "transparent" - I mean that they don't repaint and 
can be overdrawn by draging other windows. Mozilla then becomes unusable, for 
no buttons are shown (and it doesn't respond to clicks on their positions)

I'm not sure whether it is Mozilla's fault (but I think so), the problem also 
affects other software, such as Trillian communicator (skinned graphic is 
garbled), DownloadAccellerator (buttons become invisible), ACDSee (no picture 
is shown, error message saying "display driver could not create bitmap"). All 
this is corrected when Mozilla is shut down.
When I restart Mozilla, only the window title is shown. This affects all 
Mozilla components.

I tried to take a screenshot, but the system was "low on resources" and I was 
unable to save the screenshot.

Comment 1

[Warner Young]

The real reason you see this is the "low on resources" problem.  Check your
system resources when this happens and see what the percentage is.  FWIW, right
after I boot my system resources are about 95%, and after I've been using it for
a day, it's around 65%.

Possible causes: running too many programs at the same time;  bad video driver;
 too many icons on the desktop or in your system tray, especially at 24bpp or
32bpp; very large wallpaper files;  ActiveDesktop is activated with moving or
animated wallpapers.

Comment 2

[matejcik]

User resources need to drop under 40% (GDI resources about 43%) according to 
Cacheman, then the problem appears. However, the real problem is that when I 
shutdown Mozilla (and resource levels raise) and I restart it, browser doesn't 
show up at all (only the window title) and Mail/News show only nongraphic parts 
(that is mailbox tree, message list and message text).

By now I am trying different video drivers (different versions of Detonators - 
I have nvidia Vanta 16MB), but those I've tried so far (the oldest and the 
newest) just don't work.

Comment 3

[Asa Dotzler [:asa]]

what kind of machine are you running and what other applications are active when
you see this problem?

Comment 4

[matejcik]

I have Duron 750MHz on Abit KT7A, 256MB SDRAM, nVidia Vanta with 16MB VRAM, old 
ISA 33.6kbit modem, fm-801 based soundcard (same chip as in Genius Soundmaker 
Live). My OS is Win98 SE Czech version with 32bit color enabled system tray 
(alright, I'll try it with the original one first), I run CPUload (shows cpu 
load graph in systray), LazyCat (automatic CD catalogue), Sensiva, Cacheman, 
AVG antivirus, ConnectionMeter (dial-up phone costs counter), Trillian 
communicator and Transparent (makes desktop icons names transparent).

Comment 5

[Asa Dotzler [:asa]]

If you close all the other apps so that it's just mozilla and the system running
do you see the same problem?

Comment 6

[Mike Schuette]

I've seen this problem countless times on win9x when it's simply been too long
since I rebooted.  This is because of windows' poor resource management, and as
such is an OS problem, not a mozilla problem.  I can say this confidently, since
the reporter also mentioned that this happens within other programs.  Once the
resources are gone, they never come back, and closing every app in the system
will not solve the problem until you reboot.

Not being rude, merely objective :)

The only thing the reporter can do is upgrade to windows2k (or linux ;)

Marking invalid.  Feel free to reopen if you feel this is a mozilla-specific
problem.

Comment 7

[timeless]

bah, there's a valid report of this somewhere in bugzilla, there are things we 
can do...

and usually loging out fixes this [well it does on 2k, i haven't used 9x in so 
long that i don't remember]

Comment 8

[matejcik]

I hope I've made the bug parameters changes right.

My new discoveries: 
1) The bug only affects interface widgets, except scroll bars. The engine works 
on properly, and with use of keyboard shortcuts I am able to browse, receive 
mail etc. as if nothing happened. Those "low on resources" problems were 
probably caused by something else (I suspect Trillian, but that's another story)

2) Interface sometimes disappears when loading a site and then reappears when 
the page is loaded. "Common" disappear is unaffected by this.

3) The bug seems independent on resource levels, it can appear at 30% to 70%. 
When there is nothing else to consume resources, it takes cca. one hour.

To "Mike Schuette": I'm switching to Linux as soon as WineX is released ;)

Comment 9

[Asa Dotzler [:asa]]

reassign

Comment 10

[matejcik]

no longer in 0.9.8

Comment 11

[Pascal Chevrel (relman team) -> :pascalc]

???

This bug did not disappear in 0.9.8 (unless it depended on a bug fixed today !).
I have the latest build and this bug is still there, I had to reboot after lunch
because of it. It doesn't depend on a low ressource problem, I have a brand new
Athlon1700XP, 256MB ram and a 64MB Nvidia board but it seems not to be be enough
for mozilla. Since no other browser (opera 5/6 +IE6) provock this bug, and since
I DO NOT have this problem with NS6.2.1 (opened 24/24) on an older 500Mhz/128MB
machine, I think that this is definitely a mozilla bug and that win98 is not to
be blamed (at least not entirely).

Comment 12

[Warner Young]

Pascal, your system resources don't depend on how much RAM you have.  Have you
checked the system resources (right-click My Computer, choose Properties, then
the Performance tab) to see what your resources actually are when you get this
problem?

Comment 13

[Pascal Chevrel (relman team) -> :pascalc]

Yes, I have already checked it when the problem occurs and I coud not say that
this problem is directly related to available ressources. The bug already
occurred on my machine with more than 60% of free ressources while for instance,
it doesn't happen right now althouqh I have only 27% free ressources. 

The two machines have a very similar setup (same software, same peripherals,
same general use) nevertheless, this problem only occurs with the newest machine
wich has a much faster CPU, more RAM, more video RAM, more HD space and
supposedly a less ressource-hungry browser (moz0.9.8 vs NS6.2.1 on the older PC) 

Mozilla is the only software causing this bug and this bug never happenned so
far with programs which theoretically require much more ressources than a
browser (like applying filters to 20MB images with Photoshop, converting CD
tracks to MP3s, CAD...).

Comment 14

[Michael Lefevre]

*** Bug 123846 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***