T60 (and X61) Graphics problem in Firefox

[surrealmind]

I've not seen this problem detailed elsewhere, but on both my T60P and X61T, I get occasional graphics problems using Firefox, so I'm guessing it might be a driver issue with this generation of Thinkpads. What happens is, when I'm viewing graphics-intensive websites in Firefox, the screen will stop "refreshing." That is, the webpage will seem to freeze when I scroll down, but if I try selecting text with the mouse, the selection area will show something different, indicating that I really was successfully scrolling the whole time, it just wasn't being displayed/updated. If I size the window smaller, then sometimes it will start displaying correctly again. There aren't many pages that cause this problem, but the new Google Maps is an especially bad culprit. I hold my breath every time I use it, because it's like a ticking time-bomb before the display problem kicks in. I've tried disabling hardware acceleration, but no luck.

Has anyone encountered anything similar? The T60P uses Windows 7, the X61T Vista. Happens on both.

Thanks.

[Dekks]

Does it happen on any simple pages or just google maps JS heavy pages? If the latter its just the CPU/GPU running out of steam or available RAM.

Whats the CPU utilization when these freezes happen?

[surrealmind]

Does it happen on any simple pages or just google maps JS heavy pages? If the latter its just the CPU/GPU running out of steam or available RAM.

Whats the CPU utilization when these freezes happen?

Thanks for the response -- it almost always happens on script-heavy pages with high CPU utilization. I am usually not running many programs, and the problem just seemed to creep up on both my Thinkpads at about the same time, so I figured it was either a Firefox bug or a lagging driver update. This didn't use to be a problem. I guess it's been a few years now, but these machines seemed so nimble/capable compared to my poor R51. Could Windows bloat still be a factor in the post-XP era?

Maybe I need to come to grips with the notion that 2 GB RAM is not enough for 2015.

[theterminator93]

This doesn't happen in my T60, but I get Firefox oddities on my T61p; if the browser is open for more than half a day or so, it will 'black out' pages/tabs - simply restarting the browser fixes it. I just recently reinstalled Windows on that machine so it's either drivers, hardware, the browser itself or some combination of all three. I've tried newer drivers, but no luck. I've just kind of accepted it for now... maybe eventually I'll dig in to figure out what else can be done about it. All my dual core TPs have at least 3GB - although I doubt that's related to the issue.

[Dekks]

Does it happen on any simple pages or just google maps JS heavy pages? If the latter its just the CPU/GPU running out of steam or available RAM.

Whats the CPU utilization when these freezes happen?

Thanks for the response -- it almost always happens on script-heavy pages with high CPU utilization. I am usually not running many programs, and the problem just seemed to creep up on both my Thinkpads at about the same time, so I figured it was either a Firefox bug or a lagging driver update. This didn't use to be a problem. I guess it's been a few years now, but these machines seemed so nimble/capable compared to my poor R51. Could Windows bloat still be a factor in the post-XP era?

Maybe I need to come to grips with the notion that 2 GB RAM is not enough for 2015.

Does FF throw any script errors?

[surrealmind]

This doesn't happen in my T60, but I get Firefox oddities on my T61p; if the browser is open for more than half a day or so, it will 'black out' pages/tabs - simply restarting the browser fixes it. I just recently reinstalled Windows on that machine so it's either drivers, hardware, the browser itself or some combination of all three. I've tried newer drivers, but no luck. I've just kind of accepted it for now... maybe eventually I'll dig in to figure out what else can be done about it. All my dual core TPs have at least 3GB - although I doubt that's related to the issue.

Well, it's comforting to know I'm not the only with a problem, at least. And it's helpful to know this issue surfaces even on a fresh install.

Does FF throw any script errors?

No error pop-up boxes, but good point -- maybe I should run Google Maps for a while with the Firebug Console open.

[jronald]

Go to this website
http://thechive.com/
Forget about a smooth scroll, not gonna happen.

Ron