1312528 - Disable async rendering by default on 49.0.2 using a system addon

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Core Graveyard :: Plug-ins, defect)

Description

[Benjamin Smedberg]

+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #1307108 +++

Async/direct plugin rendering has many regressions, and we need to turn it off in 49.0.2 (sorry!). 

Please implement the same pref flip as bug 1307108 but in reverse to disable.

This addon should be deployed to windows 32-bit only. We do *not* intend to deploy this to windows 64-bit, because it would cause more serious regressions in scrolling and IME support.

Comment 1

[Cory Price [:ckprice] (bugmail disabled, NI me!)]

Please do keep the [e-mail] mailing list updated with progress on intention to implement/ship[0].

[0] https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Go_Faster/Process#Process_to_Push_updates_to_release_channel

Comment 2

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Attachment: async_pref.patch

Comment 3

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Attachment: async_addon.patch

Comment 4

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Attachment: async_rendering.xpi

Comment 5

[Michelle Funches - QA]

QA Update: I will be running some test to ensure the addon works - currenlty I cannot install the addon "Firefox has prevented this site from installing and unverified addon" - Will there be a signed XPI?

Comment 6

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

I will get the addon signed after it has passed review.

Comment 7

[DEXTER]

Fix this on Win10x64 too!

Comment 8

[funoplay]

The worry is that right now these performance issues render so many popular games and sites unplayable. It's a big deal as millions access these games daily. The experience of users at http://www.friv.com for example is affected the point where even clicking on a game is near impossible owing to the lag. Friv is a world top 500 site. I'd echo Dexter above "Fix this on Win10x64 too!" Thanks guys.

Comment 9

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

My understanding is that the other regressions are serious enough that we consider this necessary despite performance regressions. @bsmedberg Can you confirm?

Comment 10

[Liz Henry (:lizzard) (relman/hg->git project)]

We definitely want to fix the issues for win64 too, but that fix will land in the Firefox 50 release which will happen Nov. 8th.  Since that happens in just a couple of weeks, it is best to wait for Firefox 50 to come out. The Firefox beta 50 that is planned to release later this week (Friday) should also work for win64 users. 

For win32, we can disable async rendering with this system add-on/hotfix; For win64 there are bigger code changes, so we'd need to ship a full release to fix async rendering/plugin drawing.

Comment 11

[Chris]

All affected devs from flash games: changing the wmode to "gpu" helps so far very good, and accellerates the game.

Comment 12

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

Comment on attachment 8804092 [details]
async_rendering.xpi

(no need to review the xpi)

Comment 13

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Comment on attachment 8804092 [details]
async_rendering.xpi

@jason Could I get this XPI signed please?

Comment 14

[:wezhou]

Attachment: async_rendering.signed.xpi

The file is signed.

Comment 15

[Michelle Funches - QA]

QA Update: The system addon to revert does what it is supposed to do. 
Test: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 with Firefox 32bit

Comment 16

[Cory Price [:ckprice] (bugmail disabled, NI me!)]

The release-sysaddon channel has been updated as follows and is ready for testing.

The rule shipping to 49.0.2 has been modified to ship the following add-on (there were previously no system add-ons shipping to this version).

- asyncrendering-2.0 (bug 1312528)

Comment 17

[Andrew Gurskiy]

Hi.

I installed async_rendering.signed.xpi and default value for dom.ipc.plugins.asyncdrawing.enabled changed to false. But  I still have issue with game performance on non debug version of Flash player version 23.0.0.205.

After restarting browser and computer I have the same result.

You can check by yourself - https://apps.facebook.com/slotomania

Best regards,
Slototmania TL 
Andrew Gurskiy

Comment 18

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Andrew - If your problems are independent of the |dom.ipc.plugins.asyncdrawing.enabled| pref, they are likely unrelated to this bug. You should file a separate bug for your issue.

Comment 19

[Cory Price [:ckprice] (bugmail disabled, NI me!)]

The following has been moved to the *release* channel

- 49.0/49.0.1 will now receive asyncrendering-2.0 instead of 1.0. No other changes.
- 49.0.2 will receive asyncrendering-2.0.

Comment 20

[Alice0775 White]

Is the addon shipped already?
How I can confirm?

Comment 21

[Benjamin Smedberg]

It should be shipped to 49.0.2 per comment 19. Check about:support to see if the addon is present and then the pref values.

Comment 22

[Alice0775 White]

(In reply to Benjamin Smedberg [:bsmedberg] from comment #21)
> It should be shipped to 49.0.2 per comment 19. Check about:support to see if
> the addon is present and then the pref values.

I open Firefox49.0.2 for a day. But it is not present in about:support.
The prefs is still true.

Why do not 49.0.3 release?

Comment 23

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Alice0775 - I believe that the changes do not show up until the browser is restarted.

Comment 24

[Alice0775 White]

(In reply to Kirk Steuber [:bytesized] from comment #23)
> Alice0775 - I believe that the changes do not show up until the browser is
> restarted.

Just now, I restart the browser. But nothing is changed.

Comment 25

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

Alice, do you have automatic Firefox updates disabled?

Comment 26

[Alice0775 White]

Yes, I set "Never check for updates (not recommended: security risk)"

Comment 27

[Alice0775 White]

Start Firefox49.0.2 with new profile and restart. But, the addon is not present. And the rpef is still true. Why?

So, User cannot control to get system addon. Anyway, I think hotfix system is not good solution.

Comment 28

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

Ok, so that's the reason. This is being tracked by bug 1307563 but there's no clear solution yet.

Comment 29

[Alice0775 White]

(In reply to :Felipe Gomes (needinfo me!) from comment #28)
> Ok, so that's the reason. This is being tracked by bug 1307563 but there's
> no clear solution yet.

Yes. That is.

How about comment#27?

Comment 30

[:Felipe Gomes (needinfo for replies!)]

(In reply to Alice0775 White from comment #29)
> (In reply to :Felipe Gomes (needinfo me!) from comment #28)
> > Ok, so that's the reason. This is being tracked by bug 1307563 but there's
> > no clear solution yet.
> 
> Yes. That is.
> 
> How about comment#27?

And that point is tracked by bug 1307553

Comment 31

[Alice0775 White]

Thanks

Comment 32

[Liz Henry (:lizzard) (relman/hg->git project)]

This was shipped last week, marking fixed for 49 and fixed overall. 

Please note that this is for win32 only.  If you are waiting on a fix for win64, please try the latest beta 50 version, currently beta 11: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/desktop/. 
The fix for win64 on the release channel should be available Nov. 15th.

Comment 33

[Fernando]

Thank you for sharing the way you solved this. I have one question, how can I activate Flash games at https://www.juegoskids.com/juegos-friv/ I mean, in Chrome, only clicking on the Flash button, but in Mozilla is not possible.

Comment 34

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Fernando- You should be able to activate Flash in Firefox as well. I tried to verify on your site, but I looked at different games for 10 minutes and only found HTML5 games rather than Flash games. Could you please include the link to a game that is not working so that I can verify the problem?

Comment 35

[Fernando]

Thank you, you can see a Flash game here: https://www.juegoskids.com/juegos/plants-vs-zombies/

Comment 36

[Robin Steuber (she/her) [:bytesized]]

Fernando- As far as I can tell everything is working fine. I click on the Flash object, it opens a panel asking me if I want to allow Flash, I click allow, and the Flash object loads as expected.

If it is not working for you, please file a new bug. This bug is not the place to discuss this problem.