1275039 - [e10s] Block e10s on Windows XP

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

The crash rates on WinXP e10s are not yet on par with non-e10s. The theory is that it's due to more complicated graphics/hw-accel support on WinXP.

Until the crash criteria is met, we should not activate e10s for WinXP users.

Comment 1

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

Blassey, is this block meant for:
 - all channels
 - beta/release only
 - release only
?

Comment 2

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

I also would like to point out that there is already a block for hw-accelerated WinXP.  I imagine I can remove that check since this one is meant to supersede it

Comment 3

[Brad Lassey [:blassey] (use needinfo?)]

release only. I presume we'll eventually want to enable e10s on XP so we should keep testing it in pre-release channels

Comment 4

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

Attachment: MozReview Request: Bug 1275039 - Block e10s from being activated for release users on Windows XP. r=jimm

There's some reorganization of the code in aboutSupport to support displaying Windows XP as a string without needing to be localized, as this will require an uplift to Aurora.

Review commit: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/54690/diff/#index_header
See other reviews: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/54690/

Comment 5

[Jim Mathies [:jimm]]

Comment on attachment 8755616 [details]
MozReview Request: Bug 1275039 - Block e10s from being activated for release users on Windows XP. r=jimm

https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/54690/#review51774

Comment 6

[Pulsebot]

https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/fx-team/rev/e3977905475d

Comment 7

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/e3977905475d

Comment 8

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

Comment on attachment 8755616 [details]
MozReview Request: Bug 1275039 - Block e10s from being activated for release users on Windows XP. r=jimm

Approval Request Comment
[Feature/regressing bug #]: blocks e10s on WindowsXP, only on the release channel
[User impact if declined]: e10s is crashier on WinXP and the plan for the initial rollout is to exclude WinXP until crash rates are on par with non-e10s
[Describe test coverage new/current, TreeHerder]: landed in central
[Risks and why]: just limited to activating/not activating e10s on Windows XP
[String/UUID change made/needed]: the patch has an unlocalized string "Windows XP" to be displayed in about:support in case e10s is blocked.

Comment 9

[Sylvestre Ledru [:Sylvestre]]

Comment on attachment 8755616 [details]
MozReview Request: Bug 1275039 - Block e10s from being activated for release users on Windows XP. r=jimm

Sure, let's do it!

Comment 10

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-aurora/rev/f056a916bf8e

Comment 11

[ovidiu boca[:Ovidiu]]

I tested this fix on Windows XP x64 with Firefox Developer Edition 48.0a2(2016-05-31) and the "Enable multi-process Firefox Developer Edition" checkbox is inactive and can't be activated, like expected. I also try to activate e10s from about:config but with the same result. 

I talk with Ryan and he told me to do try to change the channel-pref.js from aurora to release, everything works as expected, in about:config the app.update.channel is set to release (not in bold), and multi-process remains disabled. 

NOTE: I found a new issue. 

STR:

1. Start Aurora with new profile
2. Go to Options

AR: After 1 sec the "Always check Firefox Developer Edition is your default browser" checkbox becomes inactive (grayed out) but the check mark is present. If I do the changes described above the result is the same, the checkbox is grayed out. 

ER: Only the "Enable multi-process Firefox Developer Edition" checkbox should be grayed out but not the "Always check Firefox Developer Edition is your default browser" checkbox.

Should I file a new bug?

Comment 12

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

Hi Ovidiu,

yeah, please file a new bug for that. I believe it's unrelated to the e10s code.

Comment 13

[ovidiu boca[:Ovidiu]]

 This is the bug that I filed for issue described in comment 11. 
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1277459

Comment 14

[ovidiu boca[:Ovidiu]]

Tested on Win XP Firefox Developer Edition 49.0a2 (2016-06-02) with the following steps:

1. Start Firefox
2. Go to Options -> Advanced -> uncheck the "Use hardware acceleration when available" 
3. Restart the browser 
4. Go to Option -> General -> verify if the "Enable multi-process Firefox Developer Edition" checkbox is checked 
5. Go into channel-pref.js and change the pref to "release"
6. Restart the browser
7. Go to Option -> General -> verify if the "Enable multi-process Firefox Developer Edition" checkbox is unchecked and grayed out.

These are the steps that I followed to test this issue and everything go as expected. I will mark this as Verified Fixed.