Many users experiencing extremely slow load times (or no loading at all)

[Brave-Matt]

Description

It appears that we have a good number of users reporting that the browsers load times have slowed to a crawl, if sites load at all. There don't appear to be many common threads between reports other than that. There are several reports that I will continue to add to this issue as I dig them up. One user left a recording of the behavior (shown here: https://youtu.be/KW0dPinJKBo).

So far, we've seen that:

• A couple users seem to have better results after using switching to Shields v1 (via flag), but this does not resolve the issue for all users
• Un/reinstalling resolves the issue temporarily but after a while the issue returns
• Disabling FPP did not resolve the issue
• Disabling HWA did not resolve the issue
• Clearing cache for site(s) resolves the issue temporarily (for some users) but the issue persists after a while

Steps to Reproduce

No official steps to reproduce just yet — seems to simply "happen" without any direct action causing it.

Reproduces how often:

Frequently

Brave version (brave://version info)

v1.39.111

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release? Y
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel? Y
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel? Y

Other Additional Information:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? N
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards? N
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome? N

Miscellaneous Information:

User threads:

• https://community.brave.com/t/infinity-load-in-random-pages-slow-loading-or-no-loading/398629

[rebron]

cc: @atuchin-m @goodov We still need to get investigate and get this into a reproducible state.
@nullhook Some comments that maybe shields v2 related but still need the test case to see.

[d-j-a]

cc: @atuchin-m @goodov We still need to get investigate and get this into a reproducible state. @nullhook Some comments that maybe shields v2 related but still need the test case to see.

I have recorded a few minutes of screen activity that show the issue and how I was able to reproduce it. I am happy to test and/or provide any additional information as may be helpful.

https://youtu.be/Q0W0JCGY7z4

Thanks!

[Brave-Matt]

Potentially related issues:
#23187
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/v01z1c/need_to_reload_a_page_for_it_to_actually_load/
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/uytxb3/brave_not_loading_certain_pages_until_i_reclick/
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/v4v8h9/is_anyone_elses_brave_suddenly_much_slower_or_is/

[agalli93]

Thought I would offer a website where I can ~more consistently replicate the problem.

Using explore mode on google flights, clicking a city destination, and then clicking a flight in the results column in the left seems to 30-50% of the time cause the problem.

I've recorded some footage if it could help.

Windows 10 21H2,
Version 1.39.111 Chromium: 102.0.5005.61 (Official Build) (64-bit)

https://www.google.com/travel/explore?tfs=CBwQAxoaagwIAhIIL20vMGQ5anISCjIwMjItMDYtMjMaGhIKMjAyMi0wNi0yN3IMCAISCC9tLzBkOWpycAKCAQsI____________AUABSAGYAQGyAQQYASAB&tfu=GgIgAw

Reach out if I can be of assistance.

BraveNoLoad1.mp4

[atuchin-m]

#23187

[atuchin-m]

Thanks you guys for the reporting.
Does the problem reproduces on recent nightly builds? It seem to be fixed in #22610.
If not, could please collect more details (we don't have a stable reproduction of the bug yet):

1. Does it happen only on navigations from Google?
2. Does disabling De-Amp (on brave://flags) or/and Brave Shield globally resolve the issue?
3. Could you share brave://histograms & brave://net-export/ when the problem happens? (make sure that you select Strip private information)
4. Could you please also record & share performance traces?

[atuchin-m]

The DeAmp fix was already merged in 1.39.x 5 days ago and a new version is scheduled in the next few days.

[valynor]

1. Does it happen only on navigations from Google?

Definitely NO. I have the problem on a wide variety of webpages and I don't use Google search either.

[d-j-a]

Thanks you guys for the reporting. Does the problem reproduces on recent nightly builds? It seem to be fixed in #22610. If not, could please collect more details (we don't have a stable reproduction of the bug yet):

1. Does it happen only on navigations from Google?
2. Does disabling De-Amp (on brave://flags) or/and Brave Shield globally resolve the issue?
3. Could you share brave://histograms & brave://net-export/ when the problem happens? (make sure that you select Strip private information)
4. Could you please also record & share performance traces?

Still happening on a brand new install of nightly build with amp on and off. I'll try to grab the info requested when possible.

[labrnth]

I can replicate this issue consistently with one of our vendor's support site (they use Servicenow). To complicate matters, we use Proofpoint for our email security so all URLs in our email messages are rewritten so that when the user clicks the link in the message it analyzes the URL/website first and then redirects the user to the site if it's safe.

Every time I click on one of these links to this vendor's support website it hangs and never loads.

I'll try to collect some of the requested info.

[atuchin-m]

@d-j-a I believe that in most cases the problem is triggered by DeAmp, but not it yours.
Could you please collect extra details in my recent post?

[agalli93]

Disabling DeAmp did nothing for me on the release build.

Since d-j-a said it still happens on the nightly I got some net-exports just on the release. I wasn't sure what exactly to provide of the histogram? I can look into performance traces more later.

Change the .txt to .json since github wasn't happy with me uploading json.

chrome-net-export-logOneMiddleFailandLastFail.txt
chrome-net-export-log3rdAnd5thFail.txt

Edit: for the 3rd and 5th fail, I did a refresh and that caused the page to load.

[radPhil]

Just had this problem again in latest Nightly (Version 1.41.42 Chromium: 102.0.5005.78 (Offizieller Build) nightly (arm64))

Here are the requested files:

Histograms.txt
trace_Wed_Jun_08_2022_11.40.46.json.gz
chrome-net-export-log.json.txt

Edit:
I can easily reproduce it now:
Search for "Brave Community" in Google. Click on first result --> empty screen. Every time.

[atuchin-m]

@radPhil thanks for the details, looking into traces.
Just one sanity check: Does disabling all the extensions solve the issue?

[radPhil]

No, disabling extensions doesn't solve it.

[atuchin-m]

Thanks you all guys for the extra info.

Well, the problem seems to be more complicated. The traces help to localize the problem. We've found a broken state inside blink HTMLDocumentParser, but we're still unsure how it happens. The problem seems to be racy and hard to reproduce..

1. Does disabling all this: DeAmp, debouncing, Speedreader, Shield globally help?
2. Does the problem happen on a fresh profile (pass --user-data-dir=<some-empty-directory> to command line to launch browser on a new profile)?
3. If for 2 the answer is yes, could you try this nightly revision v1.40.57 (chrome 101), v1.40.58 (chrome 102)?

If someone other can share the perf trace, it would also be extremely helpful.

[valynor]

The latest update to Version 1.39.120 Chromium: 102.0.5005.99 (Official Build) (arm64) has not fixed it for me.
Here's a way to semi-reliably trigger the bug on my system:
Go to http://explosm.net/comics/latest (yes, http!). This forwards you to the latest webcomic and the server also redirects you to the https version of the site (I have upgrade to https set to off in shields).
Most of the time the tab doesn't load (eternal spinner, empty dark grey page). After doing a Shift+CMD+R it loads immediately. If you try again hours later it's back to not working until you do another Shift+CMD+R.

[rudolphos]

Version: Version 1.39.120 Chromium: 102.0.5005.99 (Official Build) (64-bit)

@valynor
I tried opening that website and it doesn't load.

I disabled brave-shields and it started working.

@atuchin-m
Disabling de-amp didn't fix it.

EDIT:
@rebron Yes.. But actually the problem still persists on other pages, even with shields disabled. Only that specific page started loading without an issue with shields disabled.

[rebron]

@rudolphos Do you have other extensions installed? I'm not able to reproduce what you're seeing with shields up (or down).

Brave	1.39.120 Chromium: 102.0.5005.99 (Official Build) (arm64)
Revision	870f7bcc58dfa811cc68c2186439721385e086d0-refs/branch-heads/5005@{#1125}
OS	macOS Version 12.3 (Build 21E230)
JavaScript	V8 10.2.154.7
User Agent	Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/102.0.5005.99 Safari/537.36

[labrnth]

@atuchin-m here is a link you'll be able to reliably test against. I don't mind sharing it as doesn't contain any sensitive data. I just tested now and the page just sits there loading indefinitely until you manually reload the page (in my case ⌘ + R).

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://beyondtrustcorp.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0015891__;!!NRZJKXZLOPM!bKTuJlniIb0A319pyqIa59mxqDV9hMw2AnEcouPfX9VlGKIOzxFawQzZIP3-btq9cYoMQ-uCQVnvH-5c-spcvSFaoVncDXo$

[agalli93]

@atuchin-m here is a link you'll be able to reliably test against. I don't mind sharing it as doesn't contain any sensitive data. I just tested now and the page just sits there loading indefinitely until you manually reload the page (in my case ⌘ + R).

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://beyondtrustcorp.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0015891__;!!NRZJKXZLOPM!bKTuJlniIb0A319pyqIa59mxqDV9hMw2AnEcouPfX9VlGKIOzxFawQzZIP3-btq9cYoMQ-uCQVnvH-5c-spcvSFaoVncDXo$

Clicking this link on the release build, shields up, de-amp off, loads perfectly fine for me. Even trying it 10x over.

[labrnth]

@atuchin-m here is a link you'll be able to reliably test against. I don't mind sharing it as doesn't contain any sensitive data. I just tested now and the page just sits there loading indefinitely until you manually reload the page (in my case ⌘ + R).
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://beyondtrustcorp.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0015891__;!!NRZJKXZLOPM!bKTuJlniIb0A319pyqIa59mxqDV9hMw2AnEcouPfX9VlGKIOzxFawQzZIP3-btq9cYoMQ-uCQVnvH-5c-spcvSFaoVncDXo$

Clicking this link on the release build, shields up, de-amp off, loads perfectly fine for me. Even trying it 10x over.

Weird, so I just tested with a new profile and that link works just fine. However in my main work profile it doesn't. I've disabled all the extensions as well and it still doesn't work in my main profile until I reload the page. I'll try with de-amp off.

[atuchin-m]

@Autonomic
This difference can be caused by variations/settings/extension.
Could you please:

1. Restart a browser on the fresh profile and check again;
2. Post brave://version/?show-variations-cmd from the main & fresh profile here?

[labrnth]

@atuchin-m So I just checked the output of the show-varations-cmd and ran a diff against both of them and the only difference is the "Profile Path". Everything else is the same (with the extensions disabled in my main profile).

With that said I was able to get that link to work in my main profile a couple of times (not sure why), but now its back to it's old tricks and not loading.

[atuchin-m]

Thanks @Autonomic
Could you and other please try to launch browser with --disable-features=EarlyBodyLoad?

[radPhil]

[...] try to launch browser with --disable-features=EarlyBodyLoad?

Did it. No problem for now.
Will keep using it and report back.

[animanoir]

That didn't worked for me. In fact now websites apart from Google and Facebook never load...

Are you sure the flag is active? See if appears in brave://version

How do I correctly write it? Right now in the Target textbox for the shortcut I have this (in Windows 11):

"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --enable-features=NavigationThreadingOptimizations

[agalli93]

Reporting in that this does seem to have resolved the issue for me as well. Thanks guys! 1.39.122 Win 10 21H2.

[valynor]

Version 1.39.122 Chromium: 102.0.5005.115 (Official Build) (arm64) on macOS 12.4

Unfortunately the issue still isn't fixed completely for me. It's a lot better now but I still run into the occasional infinite loading page, e.g. I just entered https://www.apple.com/de/ into the omnibox and went to the usual dark grey page with infinite spinner/loading.
Reloading immediately loaded the site. :-|

I also just tried http://explosm.net/comics/latest again, same result: doesn't load, loads immediately on reload.

[animanoir]

It is happening a lot of times now.

[ashtonian]

pr almost there ...

[valynor]

Just updated to Version 1.40.105 Chromium: 103.0.5060.53 (Official Build) (arm64) and clicked on the version string to get to the release note page at https://brave.com/latest/ and .. infinite loading LITERALLY on the first page I visit. :-|

Second page I tried is http://explosm.net/comics/latest and again, dark grey page with infinite loading.
Sorry to say but the issue is not fixed at all.

[djprmf]

@valynor
try clear your cache. The new version appears to have solved all the issues.
If the issue still persist, test if is not something from your system or extensions.

[valynor]

I cleared the cache and restarted Brave. Problem persists exactly like it was before.

[djprmf]

@valynor
Check your extensions.
Also, test in a new profile.

[nintendork07]

@valynor

it doesn't look like it's implemented yet in the newest update, as it wasn't listed in the changelog and this thread is still listed as "in progress".

keep using the terminal command to open brave with the set command of enabling navigation thread optimizations. it will fix the loading problem until you quit brave

[valynor]

@nintendork07
Thanks, I just checked brave://version and it still says:
NavigationThreadingOptimizationsCompat:Disabled

[animanoir]

This is still happening to me. Partially fixed since now right-click Google searches load, but, let's say, docs.google doesn't.

[Condobloke]

So far a fresh download of the latest release (1.40.105) has solved the problem.......with ONE exception

When I open brave, it loads 4 homepages (all news)
They open quickly, no dramas whatsoever.
ONE of those pages (9news.com.au) shows the constant loading/infinity load icon.....and yet the page HAS loaded successfully. If I click the 'reload' icon it turns that icon from an X to the normal half circle arrow......but it DOES NOT affect the page itself and the "infinity load' just keeps going, also with out affecting the page itself. Serious Weirdness.
It does not do this in any other browser, It DID do this back in 1.39.122

[Dtaggart]

The expectation isn't making everyone do a fresh install or create a "new profile" for a bug that was introduced right? Once this gets merged in and released it should be working as expected after a update and restart without any other steps to fix the issue correct?

[Condobloke]

^^^,,,@Dtaggart.......I believe that what you have said is Correct.

I fresh installed for other reasons.

[ryanbr]

Can someone confirm, if they're still having issues (copying the same Brave release profile to the beta folder)

Beta v1.39.106 (Chromium 101.0.4951.67) Good so far
Beta v1.39.108 (Chromium 101.0.4951.67) Good so far May 18, 2022
Release v1.39.109 (Chromium 102.0.5005.50) Bad May 19th 2022

[animanoir]

v1.40.105 in W11 not fixed at all.

[atuchin-m]

Guys, we recently have rolled out the feature to all audiences.
We believe you shouldn't have this issue anymore.

If it seems you still have it, please restart the browser (to update the feature config) and check the symptoms.
The original issue had a few characteristic symptoms:

• Absolutely blank page, no any visible content;
• True infinite waiting loop, not a delay (nothing is changed after minutes/hours);
• Reloading the page usually helps;
• Disabling Shield/DeAmp doesn't change anything;

If the symptoms don't look like this, please file another issue.

If you are absolutely sure that you have this issue please post here:

• brave://version/?show-variations-cmd
• Recorded performance traces during the problem (https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/trace-event-profiling-tool/recording-tracing-runs/#capture-a-trace-on-chrome-desktop)

[Dtaggart]

Guys, we recently have rolled out the feature to all audiences. We believe you shouldn't have this issue anymore.

If it seems you still have it, please restart the browser (to update the feature config) and check the symptoms. The original issue had a few characteristic symptoms:

• Absolutely blank page, no any visible content;
• True infinite waiting loop, not a delay (nothing is changed after minutes/hours);
• Reloading the page usually helps;
• Disabling Shield/DeAmp doesn't change anything;

If the symptoms don't look like this, please file another issue.

If you are absolutely sure that you have this issue please post here:

• brave://version/?show-variations-cmd
• Recorded performance traces during the problem (https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/trace-event-profiling-tool/recording-tracing-runs/#capture-a-trace-on-chrome-desktop)

What release should this be in. I don't see any notes on any of the tagged releases. I ask because in the last 12 or so hours there have been 5 releases tagged. It would help to know when I test that I am on a version with the fix.

[atuchin-m]

@Dtaggart
The issue was fixed by updating a feature config that is fetched by the browser from time to time.
Any release should works fine now.

[Dtaggart]

This seems to be fixed on my end. Not that the version matters I am on v1.40.105 and the configuration seems to of updated correctly and I am no longer seeing the issue,

[valynor]

Update: the Active Variations in brave://version changed for me only today (like 6 hours before this post) and since this point in time the problem seems to be fixed.