Unresponsive Script Error in Firefox Using Gmail

Gmail has been driving me crazy ever since upgrading to Firefox 1.5, particularly when trying to send a relatively large attachment. One of Gmail’s best features is the ability to send attachments that are up to 10 MB in size, but uploading a file of that size simply takes some time.

Apparently in Firefox 1.5, the time that a script can run for before it is considered to be unresponsive is automatically set to 5 (seconds, it appears). To fix the problem, type about:config into your address bar in Firefox, then in the filter field type “dom.max_script_run_time” (without the quotes). Then double-click on the record that comes up, and set it to something more rational, like 60.

Hat tip to Itchyhands for the solution.

Tags: Gmail, Firefox, unresponsive script

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2006 and is filed under Email, Gmail. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

#1 by JAG at February 3rd, 2006

Does not work all the time.

Quote

#2 by Dale Wisely at June 9th, 2006

Thanks for this fix!

#3 by Nathan Lyle at November 14th, 2006

I was glad to find this out… I’m using version 2.0 of FireFox but was running into the same problem. Though I’m happy I know now another way to tweak the browser, there seems to be a problem with Gmail. I’m getting the “unresponsive script” error when attempting to reply to an email that doesn’t have any attachments. I hit reply and the thing goes catatonic. I will continue my search for a solution for the moment… but I just wanted to thank you for the post.

#4 by Paul Puppo at November 18th, 2006

THANKS!

I was getting so fed up with the sluggish unresponsiveness. I was going to throw my girlfriend’s computer out the window!

#5 by Tracy at November 19th, 2006

Thanks so much for the fix! It was getting to be severely annoying!

#6 by nmcguinn at November 28th, 2006

Yes – I am getting “unresponsive script” error replying to mail in Gmail under Firefox 2 also. Wonder why?

#7 by Alex at December 5th, 2006

i also made the adjustment to 60 seconds and now my computer freezes for a full minute before i get the error message… so i switched back to 10 seconds, that way at least it’s frozen for 10 instead of 60 seconds.. will keep looking for the solution..

#8 by Alex B at December 19th, 2006

I just narrowed it down and fixed it for myself:

1. I had installed CalGoo 0.3 (google calendar program) today.
2. I began experiencing the user script error only after installation.
3. I had the error message on google searches only when I was signed in to my personalized Google site.
4. I disabled add-ons until I found that one add-on: Google Calendar Quick Add – was causing the problem.

I propose that, at least for some users, the interaction between CalGoo and Google Calendar Quick Add is causing the issue.

-Alex

#9 by Alex B at December 20th, 2006

Solution to my previous post:

Get the updated version of the Firefox add-on called Google Calendar Quick Add. Earlier versions of the add-on caused this error.

#10 by J.ar at September 8th, 2007

firefox doesn’t even open. i dont know if im suppose to click, stop script or continue for tha actual browser to come up, i’v tried both and either the compter freezes or nothing happens.

#11 by PReDiToR at November 24th, 2007

I found this to be a problem with outdated AdBlock Plus lists.
I fixed it by going to the AdBlock Plus Preferences and right clicking the subscriptions, and choosing “update”.
Now my mails will open again without having to go to the “basic HTML” setting of Gmail.