TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

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bbbl67
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by bbbl67 »

DanRaisch wrote:Try switching off the Global Search and Indexing function. Find that under Tools->Options->Advanced->General tab->uncheck "Enable Global Search and Indexer".

Okay, thanks, I've done that now, and I'll monitor the situation and see how it goes. What are the disadvantages of turning the indexing off? I switched to TB 3 months ago, and shouldn't the database have been indexed by now?
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DanRaisch
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by DanRaisch »

It should have completed the initial indexing in the first day or so of use but it has to maintain that index. When there are performance issues relating to Global Indexing it can sometimes help to delete the file global-messages-db.sqlite (found in the profile folder) and let Thunderbird recreate the index.

The disadvantage of turning off Global Indexing is that the functionality to search across all accounts at the same time is not available.
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tanstaafl
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by tanstaafl »

Global indexing is useful if most of your messages are scattered across multiple accounts and/or you didn't organize your messages in a folder hierarchy. I have nine accounts but 95% of my messages are in one account, where I have a well organized folder hierarchy. So I stick with the QuickFilterToolbar instead of Global searching since I usually know which folder a message is in, and it saves a lot of resources.
bbbl67
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by bbbl67 »

Okay, here's an update, the Global Search and Indexer is off now, and it's still sitting in memory using up more than 800MB again.
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tanstaafl
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by tanstaafl »

Just to be clear, you're not using any IMAP accounts?

Try running in safe mode (not to be confused with windows safe mode) for a while and see if you have the same problem. It disables all add-ons. Perhaps one of your add-ons has a memory leak. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

I suggest you install process explorer from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 96653.aspx . Its sort of like task manager on steroids. Run it, select thunderbird.exe in the list of processes, right click and select properties, and then performance. What does it list for virtual memory?

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/1972 ... plorer.jpg
bbbl67
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by bbbl67 »

tanstaafl wrote:Just to be clear, you're not using any IMAP accounts?

Try running in safe mode (not to be confused with windows safe mode) for a while and see if you have the same problem. It disables all add-ons. Perhaps one of your add-ons has a memory leak. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

I suggest you install process explorer from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 96653.aspx . Its sort of like task manager on steroids. Run it, select thunderbird.exe in the list of processes, right click and select properties, and then performance. What does it list for virtual memory?

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/1972 ... plorer.jpg

Actually, yes I have one Imap account on Gmail.

I already have Procexplorer so I'll use that on it too.
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tanstaafl
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by tanstaafl »

I suggest you temporarily disable message synchronization for the Gmail IMAP account, and see what impact that has.
bbbl67
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by bbbl67 »

tanstaafl wrote:I suggest you install process explorer from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 96653.aspx . Its sort of like task manager on steroids. Run it, select thunderbird.exe in the list of processes, right click and select properties, and then performance. What does it list for virtual memory?


Okay, here's what it lists under the memory sections:

Virtual Memory
  • Private Bytes 909,008K
  • Peak Private Bytes 935,916K
  • Virtual Size 1,115,612K
  • Page Faults 275,867
  • Page Fault Delta 0

Physical Memory
  • Memory Priority 5
  • Working Set 895,492K
    • WS Private 869,672K
    • WS Shareable 25,820K
    • WS Shared 14,908K
  • Peak Working Set 921,896K
bbbl67
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by bbbl67 »

tanstaafl wrote:I suggest you temporarily disable message synchronization for the Gmail IMAP account, and see what impact that has.

Well, disabling the IMAP account has reduced memory usage. Still way too much like going from over 800MB down to over 300MB. Here's the memory usage so far:

Virtual Memory
  • Private Bytes 287,744K
  • Peak Private Bytes 303,312K
  • Virtual Size 469,012K
  • Page Faults 115,186
  • Page Fault Delta 0

Physical Memory
  • Memory Priority 5
  • Working Set 299,612K
    • WS Private 272,636K
    • WS Shareable 26,976K
    • WS Shared 15,444K
  • Peak Working Set 313,812K
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tanstaafl
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by tanstaafl »

http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinov ... 55406.aspx (most thorough)
http://cybernetnews.com/cybernotes-wind ... explained/
http://forum.sysinternals.com/topic18296.html
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1984 ... orking-set

Your private working set (the physical memory used only by Thunderbird, that is not shared with any other processes. So it excludes shared libraries, DLL's etc.) is 869,672KB. I'm around 22,874KB after about 12 hours. Its not clear to me why the big difference with both global search and the IMAP message synchronization disabled. My working set is currently 43MB with a peak of 63MB.

Your working set shared is 14,908KB while mine is 2004KB and I have 5 extensions loaded. Did you ever try running in safe mode? I think mine never went over 3000KB when I had over a dozen extensions.
wsmwk
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by wsmwk »

bbbl67,

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Te ... e_Problems has a precise process and list of issues. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it. It *should* help you get to the issue more quickly.

Please post your results of going through it so we can determine if it helps or whether there are any items missing from the list. (and also whether there are items in it which are too technical for users to follow)

thanks
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tanstaafl
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by tanstaafl »

The link to a leak monitor add-on on that wiki page points to a Firefox add-on. There is no corresponding add-on for Thunderbird on the Mozilla Add-ons web site. I looked on the authors web page and the only reference to Thunderbird was a "This version also claims Thunderbird compatibility." on a very old version in the version history . The actual file is leak_monitor-0.4.5-fx.xpi , which doesn't follow the format I'm used to seeing for add-ons that work with Firefox, SeaMonkey and Thunderbird.

I took a quick look at Performance:Leak Tools. As I scanned each of the suggestions my reactions are browser-centric, requires debug builds, Perl, or a commercial product, doesn't work under Windows..... There might be something there a technically included windows user can do using the existing Thunderbird bits but its not easy to find.

The biggest problem I have with the wiki page is that it expects you to read and understand lots of bug reports and if none of them help and you have already disabled indexing (windows integration, IMAP and global search) and tried safe mode its basically just asking you to enable MSGDB:5,timestamp logging and then file a bug report.
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by wsmwk »

datapoint - the wiki page has been public for months with, and still does have, a notice that improvements are welcome. Anyone can edit it, or suggest improvements in multiple ways and venues.

tanstaafl wrote:The link to a leak monitor add-on on that wiki page points to a Firefox add-on. There is no corresponding add-on for Thunderbird on the Mozilla Add-ons web site. I looked on the authors web page and the only reference to Thunderbird was a "This version also claims Thunderbird compatibility." on a very old version in the version history . The actual file is leak_monitor-0.4.5-fx.xpi , which doesn't follow the format I'm used to seeing for add-ons that work with Firefox, SeaMonkey and Thunderbird.

I took a quick look at Performance:Leak Tools. As I scanned each of the suggestions my reactions are browser-centric, requires debug builds, Perl, or a commercial product, doesn't work under Windows..... There might be something there a technically included windows user can do using the existing Thunderbird bits but its not easy to find.

good points. revised. (note: to date, gloda has no known memory leaks, so the item has been there only for the technically inclined, and forthe unlikely event that a leak is suspected)

tanstaafl wrote:The biggest problem I have with the wiki page is that it expects you to read and understand lots of bug reports ...

Ah, you must be referring to step 14. Fair point. Suggestions?

tanstaafl wrote:and if none of them help and you have already disabled indexing (windows integration, IMAP and global search) and tried safe mode its basically just asking you to enable MSGDB:5,timestamp logging and then file a bug report.

What additions or changes would you advise in this area to help the user?
wsmwk
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by wsmwk »

tanstaafl wrote:The biggest problem I have with the wiki page is that it expects you to read and understand lots of bug reports and if none of them help and you have already disabled indexing (windows integration, IMAP and global search) and tried safe mode its basically just asking you to enable MSGDB:5,timestamp logging and then file a bug report.


datapoint - https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=542234#c40 demonstrates that citing bugs in some way is helpful - he arrived at the bug via the bug references in the wiki.

Suggestions on how to resolve your concerns?
Last edited by wsmwk on February 24th, 2011, 1:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
bbbl67
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Re: TB 3.1.2 using up nearly 1GB of memory!

Post by bbbl67 »

Another thing to note, is that memory utilization only gets bad after scanning newsgroup accounts. These are all text-based newsgroups too, no binaries.
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