Chrome Browser Crashing with SmartGWT

[solomon123]

We are recently facing some problem with our application built on SmartGWT when we upgraded to Windows 10 ver 1903 (using Chrome Browser). The application is crashing the browser when using some components like dropdown. It crashes after a few random clicks on dropdowns etc.

In fact we noticed the same issue with SmartGWT Showcase site itself. The details of the version we are using is as below:


OS: Windows 10 version 1903
Browser: Chrome 77.0.3865.120 (64bit)
SmartClient: Version v11.1p_2017-10-09/Enterprise Deployment
Smartgwt : Version 6.1p
GWT: Version 2.8.1

Has anyone faced this problem? We don't have this problem with any other browsers, its only with mentioned Chrome & Windows version. Appreciate any solution for this problem.

[Isomorphic]

We are unable to reproduce this. We've tried the configuration you list (Windows 10 / Chrome 77.0.3865.120 (64bit)) against the latest 11.1 build and against the showcase, trying various interactions including using drop-downs.

It's possible you're seeing an already-resolved issue. If you haven't already, please try the latest nightly 6.1 / 11.1 build and see if the problem goes away.

If you're still seeing this, can you provided us with concrete steps to reproduce the problem? We'd recommend demonstrating the problem against a showcase sample if possible (that way we are starting with shared code that is known to work in other browsers)

Regards
Isomorphic Software

[solomon123]

Thanks for the prompt response. Appreciate it

We tried with the latest nightly build 6.1/11.1. The issue still persists. Attaching the video to demonstrate the crashing of the chrome browser when accessing the showcase.

The problem may not occur at the first click of the dropdown, but a few clicks should reproduce it.

We are suspecting the isc.EH.handleBlur() function on the picklist component.

[Isomorphic]

Unfortunately we simply can't reproduce this issue.
From your video it appears that the problem occurs for you on our live showcase here: https://www.smartclient.com/smartgwt...ntrols_various

This is running the current stable 12.0 build, so the problem doesn't appear to be a 6.1-related issue.

We haven't had any other reports of this issue. Our best guess at this stage is that there's some configuration difference with this machine that is causing the crash - possible some Chrome extension?

Some steps you could take to investigate this further:
- if you have access to other test machines, see if you can reproduce the problem in any other environments
- audit / disable Chrome extensions on the machine that has a problem (you can see "Extensions" under the "...more tools" menu in Chrome)

You mention the EH.handleBlur() function - we're not sure why you think that would be causing the browser to crash -- if you've picked up additional information from logging somehow (either using our built in developer console or native browser debugging tools) feel free to share that information with us and we'll let you know if it makes things clearer

Regards
Isomorphic Software

[solomon123]

The problem seems to be occurring in both versions 12 & 11/6.1. Our application is on 11/6.1. The issue is with the Chrome Browser ver Chrome 77.0.3865.120 (64bit) & the windows version (Windows 10 version 1903). When we downgrade one of them the problem is not occurring.

We tested this in few other machines and it is consistently giving this problem. We also checked the plugins and disabled the add-ons. The issue still persists.

The particular line of code that is giving the problem identified using the browser debug is as below. The debug stops here and on the next line crashes. When we removed this line during debugging, the problem is not happening. Seems the select list component is generating this code.

[Isomorphic]

This is a relatively common configuration, so if this were really happening with standard machines this forum would be flooded with reports.

Also, it’s been a very long time since a production browser has had a hard crash from ordinary JavaScript usage.

Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that something is special about your machines. It may be something like a development tool that your whole team uses, that isn’t obviously related to Chrome, but replaces some libraries that Chrome relies upon with buggy versions.

[lpolvani]

Multiple developers of ours have noticed this behavior recently. Some are seeing it more than others, some not at all. We are still trying to gather information to identify any patterns in who is seeing this more often but we are afraid our clients will begin to see this issue soon.

Any time Chrome crashes we are able to load up the exact same screen, perform the same action, and Chrome will not crash again. Then a few hours later it will happen again.
Sometimes it occurs from clicking a combo box, other times it is switching tabs on a Grid.

We are currently running 12.0-p20191212 and Chrome Version 79.0.3945.79 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Are there any logs from Chrome or any settings we can enable to provide more information?

[Isomorphic]

It seems unlikely this thread is related.

Could you elaborate on “crashing”? JavaScript error? Chrome reports an issue with one tab and says to reload? Or entire browser (all tabs and windows) exits?

If it is either of the latter two, your bug is with Chrome, not SmartGWT. There’s nothing that SmartGWT, or any web page, should be able to do that would cause Chrome to crash, and our logs won’t be useful. If you Google “capture Chrome crash logs” you will see information on how to get logs to report to the Chrome team.

Also, just for other readers: what platform(s) are showing this problem for you? Please be specific about versions.

[lpolvani]

By "crashing" I mean that ALL Google Chrome tabs and windows will instantly close, just like the video linked by solomon123.
We are not able to consistently reproduce it, it can occur a few times every hour. Enough to be very annoying to users but not enough to troubleshoot easily.

From one of our developers we got information that the issue might be related to the Windows update to 1903 since the error seems to be a Windows memory exception:

It is just very strange that we ONLY see this with applications using the SmartGWT framework.

Chrome: 79.0.3945.88 (Official Build) (64-bit) (but started with v77)
SmartGWT: 12.0-p20191102
GWT: 2.8.2
Windows: Windows 10 Pro v1909 (but started with v1903)

There is also a post in the Google Chrome support forums but it has not gained any traction:
https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/16461073?hl=en

We understand that this may be an issue with Windows/Chrome but since it's only affecting our screens using SmartGWT we would appreciate any help you are able to provide us or troubleshooting steps we can follow.

[Isomorphic]

As we’ve covered, you want to file a bug report with Chrome and provide crash logs. That’s the next troubleshooting step. Logs or diagnostics from SmartGWT will not be useful, as SmartGWT is not crashing, and this is not a bug in SmartGWT, so there is nothing to fix.

[Optimistz]

Hi,

we have exactly the same issue in our environment and we have done a lot of research.
The chrome browser crashed every time we open an dropdown list.

We looked into the brwoser extensions and found one, which use a tool from Microsoft called Inspect.
This is a legacy tool and so I installed the new version called Accessibility Insights from https://accessibilityinsights.io/

When this tool is running in background you can reproduce this problem

[aderosso]

Looks like Chrome version 80 fixed this. I haven't been able to reproduce since updating:

https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/16461073?hl=en