My TenFourFox About:Config tweaks - and my addons

[eyoungren]

Having spent some time making these changes, is there any way I can copy my TenfourFox config file to my other machines using TFF rather then re-inputting the changes for each machine?
PS:
they are all PPC7450 except one which is a PPC970

if this is possible where would I locate it?

Absolutely! Everything is saved here: ~Username/Library/Application Support/Firefox

I usually just copy that folder to my desktop and then move it over to my other Macs when I want to replicate changes.

 

[harrymatic]

I just tried out these settings on my 867 MHz 12" PowerBook G4 and the results are spectacular. Before, any kind of browsing was a complete misery but now pages are very zippy and load really quickly. I haven't had a chance to try them out on my MDD machine but I would imagine that it will perform very well indeed. Thanks so much for sharing such a comprehensive guide, Erik.

 

[eyoungren]

I just tried out these settings on my 867 MHz 12" PowerBook G4 and the results are spectacular. Before, any kind of browsing was a complete misery but now pages are very zippy and load really quickly. I haven't had a chance to try them out on my MDD machine but I would imagine that it will perform very well indeed. Thanks so much for sharing such a comprehensive guide, Erik.

You are very welcome!

All of this is a result of constant and continual digging over a few years and a few browsers (Firefox, Flock, SeaMonkey and TenFourFox) to squeeze everything I could out of the browser. I'm glad I could share it with everyone.

 

[jbarley]

Would it be possible or even prudent to use these about:config mods on an up to date version of FireFox running under Yosemite?

 

[eyoungren]

Would it be possible or even prudent to use these about:config mods on an up to date version of FireFox running under Yosemite?

The one's concerning pipelining and ngpaintdelay most certainly would be acceptable. None of this would hurt anything. If Firefox has deprecated anything then it would simply be ignored.

As a precaution though, what you could do is copy your Firefox folder to your desktop. If something goes sideways or breaks you can put the folder back (overwriting).

You'll find it here: Macintosh HD>Users>~username>Library>Application Support>Firefox

TenFourFox uses the same folder by the way.

 

[jbarley]

Thanks, then I guess I'll have to give it a try.

 

[2984839]

Here's something that made a difference on OpenBSD on amd64. I don't know how applicable it will be with TFF in OS X.

Set layers.offmainthreadcomposition.enabled to true if it isn't already.

Set layers.acceleration.force-enabled to true

Set the environment variable MOZ_USE_OMTC=1. You can put this in your .profile so it persists across reboots.

Now type about::support and find the graphics section. Look for "GPU accelerated windows". Normally this will say something like "0/1 Basic". After doing this, it should say 1/1.

Again, I have no clue if this works on OS X or in TFF, or even if it is necessary in TFF but it is worth a try.

 

[eyoungren]

Here's something that made a difference on OpenBSD on amd64. I don't know how applicable it will be with TFF in OS X.

Set layers.offmainthreadcomposition.enabled to true if it isn't already.

Set layers.acceleration.force-enabled to true

Set the environment variable MOZ_USE_OMTC=1. You can put this in your .profile so it persists across reboots.

Now type about::support and find the graphics section. Look for "GPU accelerated windows". Normally this will say something like "0/1 Basic". After doing this, it should say 1/1.

Again, I have no clue if this works on OS X or in TFF, or even if it is necessary in TFF but it is worth a try.

This is helpful. I am perceiving a quicker response in the UI after setting all the about:config options.

Here is one more: layers.use-deprecated-textures (false)

However, I'm uncertain as to how to apply the environment variable. Any attempt at adding this to my profile.ini file results in the command being wiped out of the file whenever T4FX starts.

 

[2984839]

This is helpful. I am perceiving a quicker response in the UI after setting all the about:config options.

Here is one more: layers.use-deprecated-textures (false)

However, I'm uncertain as to how to apply the environment variable. Any attempt at adding this to my profile.ini file results in the command being wiped out of the file whenever T4FX starts.

It should be in ~/.profile, not Mozilla's profile.ini. You can safely create the file if it doesn't exist.

 

[eyoungren]

It should be in ~/.profile, not Mozilla's profile.ini. You can safely create the file if it doesn't exist.

OK. I opened TextEdit and typed in the following on one line.

MOZ_USE_OMTC=1

I then saved the file as .profile in ~/ which on my Mac equates to my home folder.

All of this AFTER I activated the show hidden files setting.

Still getting 0/1 on the about:support page. Either I did something wrong or it does not work this way on Mac.

I do have the "Use Hardware Acceleration" option checked in T4Fx's preferences.

 

[2984839]

OK. I opened TextEdit and typed in the following on one line.

MOZ_USE_OMTC=1

I then saved the file as .profile in ~/ which on my Mac equates to my home folder.

All of this AFTER I activated the show hidden files setting.

Still getting 0/1 on the about:support page. Either I did something wrong or it does not work this way on Mac.

I do have the "Use Hardware Acceleration" option checked in T4Fx's preferences.

You have to log out and log back in for your ~/.profile to be read and the environment variable to be set.

 

[eyoungren]

You have to log out and log back in for your ~/.profile to be read and the environment variable to be set.

Oh, OK. I will try that. Thanks!

 

[2984839]

Oh, OK. I will try that. Thanks!

Sorry, I just noticed a problem with your previous post I didn't see before. The line to set the variable should be "export MOZ_USE_OMTC=1" (without quotes, of course).

 

[eyoungren]

Sorry, I just noticed a problem with your previous post I didn't see before. The line to set the variable should be "export MOZ_USE_OMTC=1" (without quotes, of course).

OK, I went so far as to restart following both posts. I entered it as you have it in the quote above.

Still 0/1 on the about:support page.

Not sure if that matters at all as I have noticed a somewhat perceptable performance increase.

 

[2984839]

OK, I went so far as to restart following both posts. I entered it as you have it in the quote above.

Still 0/1 on the about:support page.

Not sure if that matters at all as I have noticed a somewhat perceptable performance increase.

Like I said, it may just not work in TFF/OS X, but if you notice a difference, I'd stay with it.

You can try viewing the console log to see if TFF is producing any relevant error messages, but I have no idea how to do that in OS X. Usually I launch Firefox from a terminal and watch the messages it spits out.

edit: One last thing you can try is running "export MOZ_USE_OMTC=1" from a terminal. This ensures the env variable is set, but it's temporary and may not affect TFF if it is not launched from that terminal.

 

[eyoungren]

Like I said, it may just not work in TFF/OS X, but if you notice a difference, I'd stay with it.

You can try viewing the console log to see if TFF is producing any relevant error messages, but I have no idea how to do that in OS X. Usually I launch Firefox from a terminal and watch the messages it spits out.

Well, that's just opening the Console app.

Not seeing a whole lot of anything there for it though.

Yeah, I knew it might not work, but I just wanted to make sure I did it the way you understand it should be done before I determined it wasn't working.

Still, the about:config tweaks seem to be effective.

 

[eyoungren]

edit: One last thing you can try is running "export MOZ_USE_OMTC=1" from a terminal. This ensures the env variable is set, but it's temporary and may not affect TFF if it is not launched from that terminal.

Personally, I think it's working but not reporting correctly in about:support.

As I indicated, it seems to be perceptably quicker.

 

[Altemose]

Thank you for this thread and I look forward to any updates. These tweaks made me move from Leopard WebKit back to TenFourFox.

 

[eyoungren]

Get to vacuuming!!!

Here's another tip…

Ever wonder where Mozilla browsers store your bookmarks and history? Well, it's actually stored in a database file called "places.sqlite". It's a file inside your profile folder and if you retain your history and have a lot of bookmarks the file can grow. If you rely on the URL bar to prompt you for places you've been to – that information is also stored in this file. Mozilla based browsers (including TenFourFox) can be slowed down by the fact that the browser is searching the database in this file for appropriate information.

Like all databases, over time, the file can become fragmented and bloated. However, there is good news. The file can be optimized, or 'vacuumed' as it's termed in Mozilla addon language.

Here's an addon called Vacuum Places Improved that can help. You can schedule automatic optimizations or you can set it to alert you on your schedule as to when to optimize.

If you've never vacuumed places.sqlite before you are likely to notice a significant improvement in UI responsiveness.

 

[desantii]

Thanks for this post, followed tonight for my cube

 

[jbarley]

Is there a "preferred" version of TenFourFox for older systems such as a SawTooth 450 Mgz?
It seems that when I upgrade to the newer-latest versions TFF just gets slower and slower.

 

[eyoungren]

Is there a "preferred" version of TenFourFox for older systems such as a SawTooth 450 Mgz?
It seems that when I upgrade to the newer-latest versions TFF just gets slower and slower.

Other than the G3 version, the G5 version and the two versions for the G4 (one for 7400 processors and one for 7450) no, no preferred version.

I would suggest using the 7400 version for the Sawtooth.

You have to keep in mind however, that as Mozilla adds more stuff and Kaiser trys to keep up AND web designers continue to ignore optimizing their websites for less powerful computers things just are going to get more difficult.

You can of course use a non-current version (I use T4FX-17 Intel on my Mac Pro at work) but you may miss out on certain things such as Facebook compatibility. But that's a personal decision based on your usage.

 

[MacinDan]

NO Google Analytics 0.6 - Blocks Google Analytics. Simple, kills Google Analytics, one of the most CPU intensive hidden parasites that websites load in the background while you aren't watching. As a user I hate analytics.

If you already have NoScript, that can block Google Analytics, too.

browser.cache.memory.capacity, 0 - When images are loaded, they can be cached so they don't need to be decoded or uncompressed to be redisplayed. For e-mail and newsgroups (i.e., Thunderbird and SeaMonkey), messages for IMAP accounts are cached as well in either disk or memory cache, unless synchronized locally already. This reduces the amount of network activity to reload previously viewed messages. This preference controls the maximum amount of memory to use for caching decoded images, messages, and chrome items (application user interface elements). My memory cache is disabled. I don't want T4Fx taking any ram for cache, that's what the hard drive is for.

browser.cache.memory.max_entry_size, 0 - Maximum size of each memory cached entry. Mine is zero, again, because I don't want any caching in ram.

browser.cache.memory.capacity seems to be deprecated. Also, you should add a note saying disabling memory cache can slow browsing as reading from RAM is much faster than from disk.

config.trim_on_minimize, true - On Windows operating systems, when a program is minimized and left for a period of time, Windows will swap memory the program is using from RAM onto the hard disk in anticipation that other programs might need RAM. Because of the way Mozilla applications are stored in memory, Windows is much more aggressive in swapping out the memory they use, which can cause a delay when the program is restored. This preference determines whether to mark memory as preferably swappable, from a minimized Mozilla Windows application. A Windows setting, but who knows. I set it to true anyway.

This has no effect on Macs, and Mozilla investigated this and found it has no effect on Windows, either!

With all the http and pipelining about:config tweaks, has anyone ever presented any benchmarks to prove they speed up things? When people say "seems" faster, that screams out placebo.

Thanks for the Local Load tip. I'm trying it out, but it hasn't been updated in quite a while and I wonder if it has any effect. Maybe I'll benchmark it!

 

[128keaton]

Thanks eyoungren. Just used this to make Firefox on Mint linux on an old Dell Latitude much snappier.

 

[eyoungren]

If you already have NoScript, that can block Google Analytics, too.

Yes. That is true. However, there are times where I need/wish to disable NoScript temporarily but still wish to have Google Analytics disabled.

browser.cache.memory.capacity seems to be deprecated. Also, you should add a note saying disabling memory cache can slow browsing as reading from RAM is much faster than from disk.

I'll note that. However, if you look at the settings I give you will see that BOTH RAM and disk cache are disabled. I.e, caching is off. Everything is drawn down directly from your network connection. With a fast connection this is possible.

This has no effect on Macs, and Mozilla investigated this and found it has no effect on Windows, either!

You will note that I mention several times that some of these settings could be deprecated or just not work. Everything I've put in there comes over time beginning with Firefox 2/3 and some very old Mozilla based browsers. Consequently, settings I made in 2005, 2006 or so as an example - probably aren't relevant any more. But making those changes aren't going to hurt the browser.

With all the http and pipelining about:config tweaks, has anyone ever presented any benchmarks to prove they speed up things? When people say "seems" faster, that screams out placebo.

I have no hard numbers. You use the word placebo. That's fine. It may be all that is. However, ngpaintdelay alone is worth all this. I can wait until the browser completely loads the page before it displays the page to me. Or I can force the browser to start showing me content the moment it loads it.

The choice is staring at a blank white page for the entire time it takes the browser to load the page or visually seeing the content being loaded and, I might add, being able to interact with some of the elements as they load. Perhaps it's the same amount of time, perhaps it's faster, perhaps it's not. But my choice was choosing not to wait until a page completely loaded before displaying content. I'd rather see SOMETHING happening then just staring at a blank screen.

Thanks for the Local Load tip. I'm trying it out, but it hasn't been updated in quite a while and I wonder if it has any effect. Maybe I'll benchmark it!

It's had an effect for me. That's all I can tell you.

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Thanks eyoungren. Just used this to make Firefox on Mint linux on an old Dell Latitude much snappier.

Awesome! Glad I was able to help!