feature request: debug log traces to be monitored in console

[kirisakow]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

no log traces to monitor in console

Describe the solution you'd like

implement log traces to be monitored in console

Describe alternatives you've considered (optional)

NA

Additional context (optional)

I often use SingleFile in Firefox on an Android smartphone. Hence two problems:

a. On certain websites (I'm not saying SingleFile's to blame) the saving process gets systematically stuck on Step 2 / 3 in what seems like a never-ending loop.

b. ...with no log traces to monitor in console to help me understand what's going on, e.g. via Firefox's Remote Debugging via USB.

[gildas-lormeau]

Since the problem is related to Android, I understand the need. Normally, SingleFile never gets stuck on step 2/3 but you may have to wait a few minutes. This is due to pending connections. You can activate the Network > set maximum download time option if this problem occurs too often.

[kirisakow]

You can activate the Network > set maximum download time option if this problem occurs too often.

So, I did that, on the same websites on which I usually use SingleFile: I set network timeout to 5s — unfortunately to no effect (ie it didn't help).

Also, the network traffic in the meantime was very low, < 1KB/s. Then I disconnected mobile data network completely for a minute — to no effect again: SingleFile remained stuck on Step 2 / 3.

Believe it or not, what happens in SingleFile in Firefox for Android at Step 2 / 3 really looks like an infinite loop regardless whether network traffic is alive or not. And it happens way more than half of the time. There really must be something that's incompatible with Firefox for Android. And the most efficient way to know what it is — is to add logging. Please 🙏 Thanks in advance.

[gildas-lormeau]

To do some tests, do you know of a website where this problem occurs?

[kirisakow]

This one may be a good example!

[gildas-lormeau]

Unfortunately, I was not able to reproduce the issue. However, I encountered a similar problem when downloading a very large file in ZIP format. So I applied the same fix during step 2/3. I hope this will correct the problem. The fix will be available in the next version.

[gildas-lormeau]

@kirisakow Are you still suffering from this issue?

[kirisakow]

Yes, I do. I am still experiencing an “infinite loop” effect in Firefox for Android, and still no hint or details on screen about what's going on.

I'd really love to help to debug this. I've tried to USB-debug it via ADB, but I couldn't extract any logs or anything meaningful.

[gildas-lormeau]

Android debugging is always a bit complicated. I'll have to test this again :p

On your side, try to look at the “Network” tabs of the debugger of the displayed page and the one of the background page of SingleFile if you can. You could maybe identify a pattern. You can also check whether errors/warnings appear in the debugger consoles of the displayed page and the background page when the problem occurs.

[gildas-lormeau]

@kirisakow I noticed a similar behavior when the device has some RAM issues. It looks like Firefox can kill the extension in such a case. How much RAM do you have?

[kirisakow]

4GB RAM

Firefox killing an extension's process may be a possible reason indeed. I also noticed SingleFile often works well in Android in a freshly started Firefox runtime, whereas it almost never works in a Firefox that has been running for a while.

[gildas-lormeau]

@kirisakow Thanks for the info, I think it's definitely something to look into in this case.