1231120 - Tiles on New Tab Flickering while loading a (slow) website

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: New Tab Page, defect)

Description

[akshayshipurkar]

Attachment: Screenshot 2015-12-08 20.07.52.png

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:42.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/42.0
Build ID: 20151029151421

Steps to reproduce:

1.To reproduce the bug you need to throttle your internet speed / open a slow site.
2. Enter the address of website in the address bar.
3. try to hover the mouse over any of the top sites and try moving it a bit from one site to other.
4.you will notice a random flickering of contents in the tab (top-site icon /speed dial).


Actual results:

Random flickering of contents in the tab (top-site icon /speed dial).


Expected results:

As soon as the user enters a url in the address bar the content in the top-sites tab should stop responding stay as it is or the page should turn blank and directly load the website.
design wise the page staying unresponsive will be better than a blank page as nobody likes to stare at blank screen.
It was difficult for me the take screenshot of the bug but i tried my level best.

Comment 1

[[:Towkir] Ahmed]

It would be nice if you provide your about:support (graphics part) here.
and you are talking about the tiles flickering while loading a site. right ?

Comment 2

[akshayshipurkar]

yes i'am talking about flickering and i have included the whole about:support

Application Basics
------------------

Name: Firefox
Version: 42.0
Build ID: 20151029151421
Update Channel: release
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:42.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/42.0
Multiprocess Windows: 0/1 (default: false)
Safe Mode: false

Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
---------------------------------

All Crash Reports

Extensions
----------

Name: uBlock
Version: 0.9.5.0.1-let-fixed
Enabled: true
ID: {2b10c1c8-a11f-4bad-fe9c-1c11e82cac42}

Name: Adobe Acrobat - Create PDF
Version: 1.1
Enabled: false
ID: [e-mail]

Name: Avast Online Security
Version: 10.2.0.187
Enabled: false
ID: [e-mail]

Name: IDM CC
Version: 7.3.99
Enabled: false
ID: [e-mail]

Graphics
--------

Adapter Description: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
Adapter Description (GPU #2): NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
Adapter Drivers: igdumdim64 igd10iumd64 igd10iumd64 igd12umd64 igdumdim32 igd10iumd32 igd10iumd32 igd12umd32
Adapter Drivers (GPU #2): nvd3dumx,nvwgf2umx,nvwgf2umx,nvwgf2umx nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Adapter RAM: Unknown
Adapter RAM (GPU #2): 2048
Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: none
Device ID: 0x0416
Device ID (GPU #2): 0x1292
Direct2D Enabled: true
DirectWrite Enabled: true (10.0.10240.16430)
Driver Date: 7-17-2015
Driver Date (GPU #2): 7-22-2015
Driver Version: 10.18.15.4256
Driver Version (GPU #2): 10.18.13.5362
GPU #2 Active: false
GPU Accelerated Windows: 1/1 Direct3D 11 (OMTC)
Subsys ID: 1963103c
Subsys ID (GPU #2): 219a103c
Supports Hardware H264 Decoding: true
Vendor ID: 0x8086
Vendor ID (GPU #2): 0x10de
WebGL Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600 Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0)
windowLayerManagerRemote: true
AzureCanvasBackend: direct2d 1.1
AzureContentBackend: direct2d 1.1
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo
AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

Important Modified Preferences
------------------------------

accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0
browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 3
browser.download.importedFromSqlite: true
browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 7
browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20151029151421
browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20151029151421
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 42.0
dom.apps.reset-permissions: true
dom.mozApps.used: true
extensions.lastAppVersion: 42.0
font.internaluseonly.changed: true
gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 0
gfx.driver-init.appVersion: 42.0
gfx.driver-init.deviceID: 0x0416
gfx.driver-init.driverVersion: 10.18.15.4256
gfx.driver-init.feature-d2d: true
gfx.driver-init.feature-d3d11: true
gfx.driver-init.status: 2
media.gmp-eme-adobe.abi: x86-msvc
media.gmp-eme-adobe.lastUpdate: 1449795741
media.gmp-eme-adobe.version: 15
media.gmp-gmpopenh264.abi: x86-msvc
media.gmp-gmpopenh264.lastUpdate: 1449795749
media.gmp-gmpopenh264.version: 1.5.1
media.gmp-manager.buildID: 20151029151421
media.gmp-manager.lastCheck: 1449888506
media.hardware-video-decoding.failed: false
network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true
network.predictor.cleaned-up: true
places.database.lastMaintenance: 1449799120
places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858
plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf
plugin.importedState: true
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_bgcolor: false
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_bgimages: false
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_duplex: -437918235
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_edge_bottom: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_edge_left: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_edge_right: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_edge_top: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_evenpages: true
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_in_color: true
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_margin_bottom: 0.5
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_margin_left: 0.5
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_margin_right: 0.5
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_margin_top: 0.5
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_oddpages: true
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_orientation: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_page_delay: 50
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_paper_data: 9
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_paper_height: 11.00
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_paper_name:
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_paper_size_type: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_paper_size_unit: 1
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_paper_width: 8.50
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_resolution: -437918235
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_reversed: false
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_scaling: 1.00
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_shrink_to_fit: true
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_to_file: false
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0
print.printer_Adobe_PDF.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0
privacy.cpd.offlineApps: true
privacy.cpd.siteSettings: true
privacy.sanitize.migrateClearSavedPwdsOnExit: true
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privacy.sanitize.timeSpan: 0
security.sandbox.content.tempDirSuffix: {a2c43a94-6382-419b-8a6d-7eade3520fa0}
storage.vacuum.last.index: 1
storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1448427204

Important Locked Preferences
----------------------------

JavaScript
----------

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility
-------------

Activated: false
Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions
----------------

NSPR
Expected minimum version: 4.10.10
Version in use: 4.10.10

NSS
Expected minimum version: 3.19.4 Basic ECC
Version in use: 3.19.4 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME
Expected minimum version: 3.19.4 Basic ECC
Version in use: 3.19.4 Basic ECC

NSSSSL
Expected minimum version: 3.19.4 Basic ECC
Version in use: 3.19.4 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL
Expected minimum version: 3.19.4
Version in use: 3.19.4

Experimental Features
---------------------

Comment 5

[Daniel Beardsmore]

This is a duplicate of bug 1167154.

I don't believe this is a graphics driver bug. The bug occurs when the browser has committed to displaying the incoming page (selected from any of the tiles) but the new page hasn't yet returned enough content to allow it to render. In this interim limbo period, moving the cursor between tiles twice (including to a different tile and back, which is the easiest example to reproduce) causes two tiles (including the being pointed at) to change to and from their :hover state repeatedly in a rapid loop until the incoming page appears.

The bug does not occur if the site does not load at all (using a non-responding IP does not help); it only occurs once the site connects and Gecko is waiting for enough of the page to load to be able to show anything.

However, for the record, my graphics details:

Adapter Description	AMD Radeon HD 7500 Series
Adapter Drivers	aticfx64 aticfx64 aticfx64 amdxc64 aticfx32 aticfx32 aticfx32 amdxc32 atiumd64 atidxx64 atidxx64 atiumdag atidxx32 atidxx32 atiumdva atiumd6a atitmm64
Adapter RAM	1024
Asynchronous Pan/Zoom	none
Device ID	0x675d
Direct2D Enabled	true
DirectWrite Enabled	true (10.0.10586.0)
Driver Date	8-21-2015
Driver Version	15.201.1151.0
GPU #2 Active	false
GPU Accelerated Windows	7/7 Direct3D 11 (OMTC)
Subsys ID	2b201028
Supports Hardware H264 Decoding	Yes
Vendor ID	0x1002
WebGL Renderer	Google Inc. -- ANGLE (AMD Radeon HD 7500 Series Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0)
windowLayerManagerRemote	true
AzureCanvasBackend	direct2d 1.1
AzureContentBackend	direct2d 1.1
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend	cairo
AzureSkiaAccelerated	0

I've noticed this bug for several versions now (bug 1167154 indicates it went back as far as 39 -- I honestly can't remember, but that sounds about right). I was previously running Windows 8.1 Pro, and I've upgraded in-place to Windows 10 Pro, and subsequently reinstalled Firefox as the new 64-bit version.

Comment 7

[21Naown]

Maybe this bug has been fixed when Firefox got e10s + graphics management in a process? I did not see this bug anymore (plus the behaviour of the loading of the webpages has changed I think).

Comment 8

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I don't foresee ever having e10 since the add-on situation is so dire. Firefox 53 in fully vintage operating mode still has the bug, although at the moment it's not as noticeable.

Comment 9

[Jessilyn Davis]

Hello!

This bug has been closed due to inactivity and/or the potential for this bug to no longer be an issue with the new Discovery Stream-powered New Tab experience.

Please help us triage by reopening if this issue still persists and should be addressed.

Thanks!