Very slow startup times

[TheWattyk]

The same as issue #123
Only difference I'm using Mozilla Firefox 115.11.0esr (64-bit) instead of Chrome.

[Juraj-Masiar]

The startup time at that time was caused by Chromium issue when the addon database contained long strings (thumbnails were stored as text for compatibility reasons).
I've then released update that replaced the strings with "Blob" files which 100% fixed the issues and since then, I haven't received any more reports.

Note that recently there have been some reports of slow Firefox, although not related to my addon:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1899015

Try to backup your dials and thumbnails to a file, then uninstall my addon, then restart Firefox and see if helped.
Then install it back and import your exported file. More info here:
https://github.com/fastaddons/GroupSpeedDial/wiki/Fixing-broken-dials-page#what-if-restarting-pc-didnt-helped

[arbaev]

Hi!

For some time now, GSD has also started to take a long time to start. I attributed this to the fact that I use too many dials. Today I got around to deleting GSD and doing a clean default installation. The result is that the lag remains, alas! And this is only with the default dialer group - an Examples.
When disabling GSD, Firefox starts almost instantly. I even disabled all other extensions to avoid conflicts with them. No effect.

I recorded a short video demonstrating the delay: https://monosnap.com/file/qouhM55QA0PbsRY2qSzBTIe2P7GBaC
At the same time, all my 159 dials start very quickly in Chrome 126.

What could be the problem? 🤔

My setup:
Firefox v127.0.2
Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.2728
GSD 25.2

[Juraj-Masiar]

Hello @arbaev ,
That's insane, am I seeing it righ? It's that slow even without imported data?
But the addon is empty, it cannot be slow :).
This is highly unlikely caused by my addon, we can test that by trying a different addon that overrides new tab page, for example:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tabliss/

Also, could you open your Windows Task Manager, switch to Performance tab and look - while Firefox starts - which PC part is being used, for example is disk 100%? Or maybe one of the CPU?

Regarding fixing, since this is most likely issue in your Firefox profile, the best solution is to reset it, more info:
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

[arbaev]

Hi @Juraj-Masiar!
Most likely you are right, the problem is in my Firefox profile, it is very old. I am not ready to refresh the profile now, but installing Tabliss confirmed the assumption - with this addon Firefox also starts slowly.
I recorded a video: https://monosnap.com/file/otuc7kxayOVhRUDsSo2VAXLEAOhSHy
Yeah, the SSD is loaded at 99% for 10 seconds. Then I cleared the entire browser cache (2.6GB), now start-up time takes about 3 seconds. Well...

But now it is clear that the problem is not in GSD. Thank you for your answer! 🤝

[Juraj-Masiar]

Thanks for the update!
It's most likely caused by the bug I've linked above, or one of those other linked in that bug:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1778472
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1899015
It seems that some storage initialization takes way too long and then addons that uses synchronous storage (like localStorage) will be blocked until it's finished.
The good news is, they increased priority for those bugs so it's more likely it will get fixed.
Until then, clearing cache should help a bit.