Firefox3 Final - DO NOT USE

numenory · Post by **numenory** » Sat May 31, 2008 11:01 pm

Further to a recent post in the tips section, i was noticing a build up of either zms / nph-zms processes. I have now traced this back to Firefox3 RC1 and the previous beta. I am not sure if this is down to zoneminder or faults/changes in the way that firefox handles the persistent connections.

The problem exists in both windows and linux versions of firefox.

If you open a window to view a live feed from the zm console a zms / nph-zms process is started as expected, but if you then close that live view window then the process does not end moreover even though the window has been shut the data is still being streamed to the client. Only when you completey shutdown firefox does the zms / nph-zms process end.

Just to confirm the system works fine from firefox 2 in both zms and nph-zms mode.

Lee

unclerichy · Post by **unclerichy** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:10 pm

I'm seeing the same on Firefox 2.0.0.14 and have to restart ZM from time to time

numenory · Post by **numenory** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 4:14 pm

I suspect if you are have problems with firefox 2 that this is related in someway to apache have you tried nph-zms rather than zms

unclerichy · Post by **unclerichy** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:53 pm

Haven't tried nph-zms but the system has been running fine for about two years, right up until the point when FF updated to 2.0.0.14. Once streaming has started I close the monitor window and the port that's receiving the stream stays open until I either restart FF or restart ZM.

Post by **Flasheart** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:35 am

I raised this bug with bugzilla a couple of weeks ago, lots of confirmations and I've since noticed three other outstanding bug reports saying the same thing. Here's mine; https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=434439

Basically, FF3 does not close the socket on a server-push mjpeg stream, ever. Therefore the bandwidth and CPU use in handling this socket continue, and any further streams you open and close (or even the same one) compound the problem.

Only way to fix is to close FF3 and restart.

The bug has not yet been officially recognised and with the speed they're rushing the RC's out, I get the feeling it's not a high priority for them.

I have not seen this behavior in any FF version < 3.

For me though - it means FF3 is completely unusable so will be sticking with FF2, and I urge anyone else who regularly views mjpeg streams to do the same.

numenory · Post by **numenory** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:40 am

Thanks for the reply, this was roughly the diag that i had come to but wasn't 100% whether it was zoneminder related in the way it was handling the streams and ff3, so thought i would check here first before raising a bug with mozilla.

numenory · Post by **numenory** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:52 am

With regard to the 2.0.0.14, I have this working in windows with no probs.

I guess I would try a clean install of windows with a clean install of ff2 and see if you are still getting the problem, if so i guess it seems likely it's down to your zoneminder /apache setup.

You could then try lighthttpd instead of apache. I have been trying this recently to see which of the 2 servers produce the least load, the results of which i will publish later. I can however confirm thus far that lighthttpd works fine with zm (at least on debian etch - apt-get install version).

numenory · Post by **numenory** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:57 am

I have now tried the final Release Firefox 3.0, whilst i like the browser and it has fixed many issues that 2 had. I confirm that it is still not suitable for Zoneminder use. The Issue is explained fully in this thread. When you view a camera a zms / zms-nph process will be started for each camera, these will not be closed until firefox is fully closed, moreover the data continues to stream. The net result is these processes building up and your zoneminder server dieing on its feet.... Applies to both windows and linux versions.

haus · Post by **haus** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:09 pm

So using this link:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Run ... +same+time

You can run FF2 and FF3 together on the same system. It's kind of a pain to set up - I'm still getting things set up, but at the moment I have a default profile linked to FF3 as the default browser and a "FF2" profile linked to a shortcut to FF2 on my desktop. All I have to do now is get my ZM system URL set into that desktop shortcut for FF2 and it should work.

A pain, but at least it lets me use FF3 (which I really like so far) and keep FF2 for ZM streaming.

Edit: it works! Here's the target for the shortcut (I installed FF2 in "/Program Files/Mozilla Firefox 2/"):

Code: Select all

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 2\firefox.exe" "http://<<IP ADDRESS>>?action=login&username=<<USERNAME>>&password=<<PASSWORD>>" -no-remote -p FF2

Obviously you need to replace your IP/hostname, username, and password above. And the FF2 refers to the profile name you associated with FF2 (I chose a rather obvious one). Then if you reinstalled FF2, you'll need to go back into about:config and set up the max-connections-per-server, etc. to get multiple streams on the montage view.

Confirmed working. FF3 is the default browser, and FF2 only opens when I hit the shortcut above.

dachikid · Post by **dachikid** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:13 am

after a bit of the same frustration with FF 3 - I discovered the "seamonkey".
Seamonkey is a FF clone, with the most recent version being quite stable, for my ZM box at least.

I have also fallen prey to the most recent version of FF, i.e. FF 3 final - and need the ability to stream from my ZM server.

I think that FF 3 was the reason for a recent server crash I had, causing a database full of corrupted files, and rendering my beloved ZM server dead. Never mind that I got annoyed at the inability to view streams and opened about 10 FF 3 sessions - I still blame it on FF 3

Hope this helps, until FF 3 gets fixed......soon I hope!

Oh and the url is
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

MikeH · Post by **MikeH** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:30 pm

Still the same problem in Firefox 3.0.1

weberho · Post by **weberho** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:13 am

MikeH wrote:Still the same problem in Firefox 3.0.1

When I remember right, I turned off the ZM_CAN_STREAM, which forces all browsers the java applet to use.

That does not solve the originating problem, but at least my small server running zm does not longer run crazy.

Johannes

royce · Post by **royce** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:53 am

I tried to work-around this by adding some javascript that used the DOM API to actually remove the streaming img element. Although I can sucessfully remove the image from the viewer page, the socket still stays open and the process still runs. No joy.

That process takes like 45% of the wimpy little (but fanless

) CPU I have looking after my cameras. Its a stinky bug. I don't think there is anything for it but to go in the C code of Moz or Gecko or where ever the issue is.

keynet · Post by **keynet** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:54 pm

I too am experiencing problems with Firefox 3.0.1.

The worst thing - for me it creates flaky behaviour in ZM (1.23.1 running on SuSe 10.3) - everything seems to be working but no alarms are generated by the analysis daemon after you've looked at zm live streaming. Very frustrating!
I've reverted to FF 2.0.0.16 (which thankfully is as easy as uninstall/install without loss of your setup

)

haus · Post by **haus** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:57 pm

Not to beat a dead animal but I really do recommend my dual-FF solution posted above. It works wonderfully and gives the best of both worlds: FF2 for ZM and FF3 for normal web activities.

ZoneMinder Forums

Firefox3 Final - DO NOT USE

Firefox3 Final - DO NOT USE

Firefox 3 Final

Best of both worlds possible