Sudden black screen on Firefox

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johnpd
Posts: 38
Joined: November 1st, 2004, 8:06 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by johnpd »

I have exactly the same issue and error message #4101 on Firefox 32 bit. I am using NVIDIA driver version 376.54 dated 12/29/2016 which was installed by Windows update back in February. This problem has occurred twice since I upgraded to Firefox v54 and Windows 10 Creators Update. This is the sequence of events:

June 15: Updated Firefox to v54.0.
June 17: Upgraded Windows 10 to the Creators Update.
June 29: Got the first display error. I upgraded to v54.0.1 that same day. I don't recall which came first. I suspect the error occurred first.
July 16: Got the 2nd display error.

JohnD

Edit: Confirmed that I received the 1st error before updating to FF 54.0.1.
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Diazruanova1
Posts: 122
Joined: May 4th, 2005, 6:45 am

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by Diazruanova1 »

Same here with Nvidia latest driver, FFx 54.0.1 x64 and the latest Windows 10 x64 build, but the problem started with FFx 53 :x
EasterEEL
Posts: 9
Joined: February 23rd, 2013, 2:23 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by EasterEEL »

Using DDU to fully uninstall the Nvidia drivers and rollback to 378.49 seems to haver fixed the problem; no black screen for more than a week now.

However I had to use gpedit to enable "Do not include drivers with Windows Updates" to stop Windows Update updating the Nvidia drivers to 382.05.

I am going to try switching to the 64bit version of Firefox (54.0.1) and then if no problems for a week will then update to the latest Nvidia drivers.
Tricky3
Posts: 1
Joined: July 25th, 2017, 5:52 am

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by Tricky3 »

Just replying here once to let people know I've come across the same issue on 64. It's been happening for roughly a month, maybe two. None of the solutions I found online so far seem to work. Keep on it.
EasterEEL
Posts: 9
Joined: February 23rd, 2013, 2:23 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by EasterEEL »

First black screen since rolling back to 378.49 (only using PC occasionally) and since switching to the 64bit version of Firefox (54.0.1) so not looking good for the 64bit version. I had no black screens for eight days after rolling back to Nvidia 378.49 drivers with the 32bit version of FF.

In my mind this rules out the full DDU clean-up sorting things out and also that the issue is only with drivers after 378.49. As the 384.94 drivers are just released I am trying those out to see what happens before deciding on next actions. I may rollback to FF 32bit or pre Windows Creator Update or just stop using FF for the time being. The Windows Fall Creators Update comes out in a few months so maybe wait for that.

The black screen is a consequence of the display error (event error message 4101: Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered). So some users get the black screen issue because they have general problem with their display hardware/drivers and consequently have been reporting for several years, often this is caused by overclocking graphics cards too aggressively. However there are various threads on nVidia, reddit etc suggesting hitherto unaffected systems now have this issue since the release of WCU, so this will need to be fixed by either Microsoft, Nvidia or Firefox; but I'm not holding my breath.

I can confirm my system was built in 2015 and has never had this problem until I updated to WCU and it only happens when using Firefox which is hardly stressing the graphics card. GPU-z logged my 1080ti graphics card operating at GPU 135MHz, Shader 270MHz and Memory 405MHz, Temp 36C when the last FF black screen event occurred.
TwwIX
Posts: 7
Joined: March 30th, 2005, 11:10 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by TwwIX »

EasterEEL wrote:I have been getting this problem exactly as described since updating to the Creators Edition of Windows 10. I held off updating for while due to incompatibilities with Checkpoint VPN software.

The issue manifests as a black screen affecting all open tabs in Firefox. Minimising / maximising has no effect.
Completely random, it can happen when I am browsing, scrolling, switching tabs or just moving the mouse across a web page.
Opening another instance of Firefox has the same issue.
The only resolution is to completely close Firefox and start again.

I never saw this problem prior to updating to Creators Edition.
I have rolled back to pre Creators Edition and cannot recreate the problem.
Roll forward to Creators Edition and the problem returns.
Firefox is same version with same add-ons.
Same graphics drivers used (March-17) - NVidia 378.78-desktop-win10-64bit-international-whql.
I tried most recent graphics drivers (June-17) with Creators Edition and no improvement - Nvidia 384.76-desktop-win10-64bit-international-whql.

The issue is accompanied with the event error message 4101: Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered. Therefore I am certain the Firefox black screen is as a result of the display error. However the display error message is only occurring when using Firefox and is not repeatable playing games or running benchmarks. I am very confident this display issue has been introduced with Creators Edition and only occurs with Firefox but have not been able to track down exactly what is going on and continuing to investigate.

Yep. Same here. Tabs go blank, i can still hear the sound if i am on YouTube etc., and i have to restart Firefox.

I did not start experiencing this issue until i updated Win 10 to the Creators Update a few weeks ago. Same issues persists on my GTX 970 as well as my back up GTX 660. I have tried numerous of the recent drivers and used DDU to no avail.

Just like you. This has only happened with Firefox so far. No issues gaming etc.

Rolling back to ancient drivers ain't an option. Looks like i will have to get used to using Chrome.
EasterEEL
Posts: 9
Joined: February 23rd, 2013, 2:23 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by EasterEEL »

Sad to report issue is occurring with FF 64bit, latest Nvidia drivers and WCU, for me typically a couple of times a week. I have installed the Restart add-on and when FF goes black on me just click on the Restart icon and within about 10 seconds it closes and re-opens FF with all tabs and passwords preserved.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefo ... /re-start/

If the autumn WCU refresh does not fix then I will probably ditch FF.
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mightyglydd
Posts: 9813
Joined: November 4th, 2006, 7:07 pm
Location: Hollywood Ca.

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by mightyglydd »

#KeepFightingMichael and Alex.
EasterEEL
Posts: 9
Joined: February 23rd, 2013, 2:23 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by EasterEEL »

Yes I have although not for long enough to conclusively prove it resolved the issue. Unfortunately it makes FF sluggish when also watching SkySports or BTSports TV streaming or in fact any site showing HQ videos (MSN being an example) on my PC.

Just seen FF 55.0 is out so trying that out, not holding my breath.
mindtrapper
Posts: 1
Joined: August 26th, 2017, 3:06 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by mindtrapper »

Having similar problems with latest ESR, Creators Update and previous to last NVIDIA drivers (and the one before that).

I am currently testing turning media.wmf.skip-blacklist in about:config to true. My theory is that maybe Firefox is somehow blacklisting NVIDIA drivers. So far it's going well but it's only been a few hours.

If that fails (and I expect it probably will), I am thinking of a way to use my iGPU for all things Firefox-Hardware-Acceleration related and NVIDIA for everything else. Haven't quite figured out how to make Firefox not use NVIDIA at all so far though. I have only seen people having that happen by accident. :D

EDIT: It failed, skip-blacklsit doesn't work.
debitaber
Posts: 3
Joined: July 7th, 2016, 12:13 pm

Re: Sudden black screen on Firefox

Post by debitaber »

Firefox V55 32-bit running on Ubuntu 14.04, Dell Poweredge T20.
I have been working on this for months in my office. Multiple machines have the issue but mine is the worst - I probably push it the hardest too.
Problems started after upgrade from V51. Black/white screen, browser locks up. Got progressively worse through each update. From fresh start, sometimes the black/white turn color again, but now there are long delays between clicks and entering from keyboard. Shortly after, browser locks up tight - but only the browser. so I kill the process, make sure all child process shut down too, wait a couple of minutes, restart Firefox and I get a little less time before it happens again.
I have:
changed hardware acceleration settings back and forth;
disabled plugins;
started in safemoode;
removed and recreated my entire ~/ firefox profile;
checked about:support and gone through settings there;
someone suggested setting browser.tabs.remote.autostart to false - saw minor improvement over a little longer period of time, but then black/white lockup occurred again, so changed it back;
someone suggested setting dom.ipc.plugins.asyncdrawing to false - wasn't sure if I'd ever get FF to stabilize again long enough to rest that;
logged out of my profile, logged back in a "guest" so my settings are new each time - didn't turn black/white but crashed every 5-10 minutes with Mozilla message to send information and restart;
logged in as administrator - not a solution of course, to test - black/white lockups occurred;
Installed earlier version of V51 - not a solution of course due to security - ran for hours with no lockup.
I do have an nvidia card - however, this only started after the upgrade to V55.
If someone has a linux nvidia driver that works, I'm willing to give that a shot too. This is very discouraging as Firefox has been my go-to browser since startup.
Thanks for any assistance.
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