Address Book script hangup

Sher · 1 Sep 2007, 11:07 PM

When I go to Address Book, I have to wait 40 seconds, then get a message indicating a script is holding it up. When I 'Stop Script' it works fine. However, it is frustrating to have to wait 40 seconds and then stop the script every time I access the Address Book. What do I need to do?

n5bb · 2 Sep 2007, 01:36 AM

I'm not seeing this when entering my Address book today, which has 585 entries. You can see your total in the upper right corner of the Address Book screen. How large is your book?

I recommend verifying (rebuilding) you account. On the login page, select the link Account Problems?, which is located at the bottom of the login window. Follow the instructions, and see if it finds and fixes your problem.

Bill

David · 2 Sep 2007, 01:58 AM

When I first read Sher's post, I was wondering if the script might be running on the local computer (not on the web interface) hopefully that is not the case.......

Sher · 2 Sep 2007, 04:02 AM

David, it must be the local computer (my laptop) because it doesn't happen on my regular PC or when accessed from other PCs. What do I do in this case?

**Sherry** · 2 Sep 2007, 04:11 AM

Hi Sher,

I'm a little confused on which address book you are trying to open now. Are you logging into FastMail and clicking on "Address Book" at the top or are you clicking on a different one (like the one in windows or an email client like Outlook or Outlook Express etc.)?

Sherry

David · 2 Sep 2007, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sher

David, it must be the local computer (my laptop) because it doesn't happen on my regular PC or when accessed from other PCs. What do I do in this case?

I would advise to do nothing, until you find out exactly what the script is doing; it might be a virus (hopefully that is not the case)

Have you installed any type of software recently (that might use a script) on your Laptop?

I am no Windows expert and can't help much with further advice....

Sher · 2 Sep 2007, 05:38 AM

Sherry, it is the Fastmail Address Book. It happens when I click on it from the main/home page or from the Compose Page.

David, no new software. This started a few months ago when I downloaded an update to Mozilla Firefox (not the most recent). No viruses per Norton Internet Security.

The message I get when I try to access the Fastmail Address Book is "Warning: Unresponsive script. A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can see if the script will complete." When I choose 'stop', after 40 seconds it stops and I can use the Address Book. When I choose 'Continue', it grinds away for another 40 seconds and then the same message comes back up. Very frustrating!

BritTim · 2 Sep 2007, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sher

No viruses per Norton Internet Security.

Based on my experience, this is quite likely caused by an interaction between your current versions of Symantec/Norton and Firefox. I hate the Symantec stuff: cure worse than the disease IMHO.

n5bb · 2 Sep 2007, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sher

Sherry, it is the Fastmail Address Book. It happens when I click on it from the main/home page or from the Compose Page.

David, no new software. This started a few months ago when I downloaded an update to Mozilla Firefox (not the most recent). No viruses per Norton Internet Security.

The message I get when I try to access the Fastmail Address Book is "Warning: Unresponsive script. A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can see if the script will complete." ...

Please try the following:
In Firefox, go to the Tools > Options > Content tab, and insure that Enable Javascript is checked. And make sure that the Norton software allows scripting for the Fastmail website. Note that Javascript is often called "scripting" and is not the same as "Java".

If this doesn't fix the problem, I suggest upgrading to the latest version of Firefox. I use Firefox exclusively for Fastmail, and the current v2.xx works well.

Another idea: this might be due to low memory on your laptop causing Windows to page to your hard drive excessively. But my best guess is a scripting issue with Norton or Firefox.

Bill

rabarberski · 2 Sep 2007, 02:36 PM

I had this warning a couple of times already on other websites, but never on the Fastmail website (both using Firefox and IE). As I remember correctly, in my case the warning was generated by the browser (i.e. Firefox or IE).

This is my interpretation of what is happening:
It only happens when there is really lots of data, and a javascript in the background is for example sorting them. The browser detects that it takes a lot of time (a lot of data, not a lot of memory?), and warns the user about this.

I suppose you really do have a lot of address book entries, and a fairly old/low on memory computer?

znunxnyv · 2 Sep 2007, 03:40 PM

You can try to display only 10-25 items per page.

Sher · 2 Sep 2007, 06:42 PM

Hold those suggestions! I have to leave my laptop for several days. I'll try them when I return. (I have already downloaded the latest Firefox, which, to my dismay did not solve the problem.)

Thanks and regards, Sher

robmueller · 3 Sep 2007, 01:21 PM

That is very odd, it's suggesting that some javascript on the page is going into an infinite loop of some sort, but there's absolutely no reason for that to happen, the scripts run on that page are very basic and as you can see, the problem doesn't occur for anyone else.

Unfortunately this is a hard one to fix, because it would require some low level debugging in the browser itself to see what's going on.

My first recommendation would be to completely uninstall firefox, remove the profile folder (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_fo...ile_folder.3F), and reinstall in case something about the firefox install is corrupted.

The only issue, this will loose your bookmarks + plugins, so you might want to export your bookmarks first, and remember which plugins you had installed.

Rob

JRobert · 5 Sep 2007, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sher

The message I get when I try to access the Fastmail Address Book is "Warning: Unresponsive script. A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can see if the script will complete."

I've seen Firefox give this message when some javascript on the page runs too long (clock time, I assume). I've seen it happen when I run Firefox on an old 486-based Thinkpad. It might be interesting to find out whether, with enough "Continue"s, it will run to completion. If so, it may just be an unfortunate combination of a slow computer (older machine, perhaps?) and a complex script contained on that page.

-jeff-

Sher · 11 Sep 2007, 02:39 PM

This is all a bit puzzling, but the problem is solved, at least for now.

I determined it was a Firefox problem on my laptop. It only happened on my laptop with Firefox (not IE); it never happened on my regular PC with either Firefox or IE. So I uninstalled Firefox as Rob suggested, except I forgot to remove my profile. When I reinstalled, it happened again and was actually even slower to stop the script. But before uninstalling/reinstalling again, I decided to limit the items per page in the address book, as suggested by znunxnyv, and it worked; I no longer get the script hanging up.

I would not have thought a 5 year old laptop with 1GB of RAM and 45% of the hard drive free would create performance issues. I also checked to see if the files needed defragmenting, which they didn't.

Anyway, problem solved; I'm happy. Thanks to you all.
Sher

1 Sep 2007, 11:07 PM	#1
Sher Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NL & UK Posts: 12	Address Book script hangup When I go to Address Book, I have to wait 40 seconds, then get a message indicating a script is holding it up. When I 'Stop Script' it works fine. However, it is frustrating to have to wait 40 seconds and then stop the script every time I access the Address Book. What do I need to do?

2 Sep 2007, 01:36 AM	#2
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,926	Try rebuilding account I'm not seeing this when entering my Address book today, which has 585 entries. You can see your total in the upper right corner of the Address Book screen. How large is your book? I recommend verifying (rebuilding) you account. On the login page, select the link Account Problems?, which is located at the bottom of the login window. Follow the instructions, and see if it finds and fixes your problem. Bill

2 Sep 2007, 01:58 AM	#3
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	When I first read Sher's post, I was wondering if the script might be running on the local computer (not on the web interface) hopefully that is not the case.......

2 Sep 2007, 04:02 AM	#4
Sher Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NL & UK Posts: 12	David, it must be the local computer (my laptop) because it doesn't happen on my regular PC or when accessed from other PCs. What do I do in this case?

2 Sep 2007, 04:11 AM	#5
Sherry Moderator Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: USA Posts: 8,687	Hi Sher, I'm a little confused on which address book you are trying to open now. Are you logging into FastMail and clicking on "Address Book" at the top or are you clicking on a different one (like the one in windows or an email client like Outlook or Outlook Express etc.)? Sherry

2 Sep 2007, 05:38 AM	#7
Sher Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NL & UK Posts: 12	Sherry, it is the Fastmail Address Book. It happens when I click on it from the main/home page or from the Compose Page. David, no new software. This started a few months ago when I downloaded an update to Mozilla Firefox (not the most recent). No viruses per Norton Internet Security. The message I get when I try to access the Fastmail Address Book is "Warning: Unresponsive script. A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can see if the script will complete." When I choose 'stop', after 40 seconds it stops and I can use the Address Book. When I choose 'Continue', it grinds away for another 40 seconds and then the same message comes back up. Very frustrating!

2 Sep 2007, 02:36 PM	#10
rabarberski Master of the @ Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Ghent, Belgium Posts: 1,027	I had this warning a couple of times already on other websites, but never on the Fastmail website (both using Firefox and IE). As I remember correctly, in my case the warning was generated by the browser (i.e. Firefox or IE). This is my interpretation of what is happening: It only happens when there is really lots of data, and a javascript in the background is for example sorting them. The browser detects that it takes a lot of time (a lot of data, not a lot of memory?), and warns the user about this. I suppose you really do have a lot of address book entries, and a fairly old/low on memory computer?

2 Sep 2007, 03:40 PM	#11
znunxnyv Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 138	You can try to display only 10-25 items per page.

2 Sep 2007, 06:42 PM	#12
Sher Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NL & UK Posts: 12	Hold those suggestions! I have to leave my laptop for several days. I'll try them when I return. (I have already downloaded the latest Firefox, which, to my dismay did not solve the problem.) Thanks and regards, Sher

3 Sep 2007, 01:21 PM	#13
robmueller Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 6,102 Representative of: Fastmail.FM	That is very odd, it's suggesting that some javascript on the page is going into an infinite loop of some sort, but there's absolutely no reason for that to happen, the scripts run on that page are very basic and as you can see, the problem doesn't occur for anyone else. Unfortunately this is a hard one to fix, because it would require some low level debugging in the browser itself to see what's going on. My first recommendation would be to completely uninstall firefox, remove the profile folder (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_fo...ile_folder.3F), and reinstall in case something about the firefox install is corrupted. The only issue, this will loose your bookmarks + plugins, so you might want to export your bookmarks first, and remember which plugins you had installed. Rob

11 Sep 2007, 02:39 PM	#15
Sher Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NL & UK Posts: 12	This is all a bit puzzling, but the problem is solved, at least for now. I determined it was a Firefox problem on my laptop. It only happened on my laptop with Firefox (not IE); it never happened on my regular PC with either Firefox or IE. So I uninstalled Firefox as Rob suggested, except I forgot to remove my profile. When I reinstalled, it happened again and was actually even slower to stop the script. But before uninstalling/reinstalling again, I decided to limit the items per page in the address book, as suggested by znunxnyv, and it worked; I no longer get the script hanging up. I would not have thought a 5 year old laptop with 1GB of RAM and 45% of the hard drive free would create performance issues. I also checked to see if the files needed defragmenting, which they didn't. Anyway, problem solved; I'm happy. Thanks to you all. Sher