Phoenix, I tried substituting the version of IE Tab you recommended above in my newly installed FF 12 package... Once I uninstalled the prior different version I had and replaced it with the version you recommended, every time I called it in FF it froze and crashed my FF 12 browser.

So now I'm back to IE Tab 2 (FF 3.6+) 4131. It looks like that add-on was updated with a new version today according to its web page.

phoenixblue -- No, when I used IE Tab Plus, it opened in a new Tab with the IE icon on it. Since then I have removed IE Tab Plus and installed IE Tab 2.0.20120203, the same situation occurred. it opened in a new tab with the IE icon on it. When I tried to play any song, the song did play but again it slowed down my FF and sometimes not respond at all. So I am not using IE Tab for GM anymore.

jfchandler -- I just updated to FF 12 and all of my add-ons remained the same except AVG Safe Search, which has been disabled whenever there's a new FF update, so no surprise there. I was able to play GM as usual with Chrome View (I assumed you used Chrome View's context menu and view the page in Chrome, right?) It opened the Chrome browser and GM played fine there.

Update: IE Tab 2 appears to have been updated and working better than my previously recommended IETab (Standard) - Am still verifying GM in IE Tab 2 but initial tests work on my system - See later comment

jfchandler: This is why I dislike "workarounds" instead of actually fixing an issue. I am now having the same problem as you with IETab and GM. It will actually play music on my system, but the browser eventually hangs. Annoyed to say the least. IE Tab 2 quit working for my Exchange OWA, and IE Tab originally fixed it. Will test the new "2" and see what I find for the old problems encountered before switching.

I did try IE Tab 2 with different settings for the "IE Compatibility Mode". One or two seemed to play fine. However, this was a quick single test on each setting and not across any extra variables.

OK... now GM is playing again in my FF... ver 12 with Google Chrome and the Chrome View add-on installed in the background but not called/running.

I first tried all of that with my newly reinstalled IE Tab add-on, the 4131 version I mention above, and it didn't crash like the other version, but it also wouldn't play GM.

Then switched back to regular FF, as mentioned in my 1st pgh above... First attempted play got the browser refresh error... Hit the play button again for a different file, and then it played...and it's now playing for other additional songs as well in a regular FF browser window. I've done a half dozen or more successive songs via the play command now...and it's playing fine. But for how long...

silkphoenix: That is the proper operation. However, your Firefox slowing down probably has more to do with system specs than anything. Running multiple programs on any system will require extra resources, and IE Tab x is not just an extension which will only bump FF... it literally opens IE in the background so requires its full resources as well.

IF you wish to test the theory, you can try running both FF & IE at the same time with GM playing in IE. Your system should have a similar hit.

Silk, no, I've never gotten GM to play directly by calling a new web page/browser window called via the Chrome View context menu.

I'm getting GM to play now in a straight FF 12 browser menu... with the Chrome browser and Chrome View add-on for Firefox installed on my Win 7 laptop... but NOT called or running when I'm playing GM in FF.

phoenixblue -- OK, I tested your theory, it turned out that if I play GM in the actual IE browser, it slowed down my IE and sometimes not respond as well, however FF operates normally.

While I was doing that, I am also watching my CPU consumption on another screen and found out that if I stop playing GM, then browser to other sites, IE operates normally without slowing down. So it seems like it's GOOGLE PLAY which is the one slows down the browser, not IE Tab or FF, or IE for that matter.

jfchandler -- And you said earlier "but uninstalled Chrome View, GM no longer worked in FF".

Does GM act the same way?

If that's the case, it's very weird because in order to use Chrome View, a Chrome browser window has to open, which means the site has left FF and will run in Chrome instead. If you can play GM in FF without any Chrome opens, that means your GM is working properly in FF, so your issue is solved! And Chrome View should have nothing to do with that.

OK... this is totally ridiculous...and I'm done for the day on this... Here's what I got.

After working fine in straight Firefox, I closed FF and GM and tried a couple other things...

1. Opened FF 12 in safe mode on my laptop -- still with Chrome and Chrome View installed by not running -- and GM played fine in FF without any fiddling. That's good. So Safe Mode continues to work for GM on my Win 7 machines.

2. Opened my IE 9 and just checked GM... GM played fine in regular IE 9.

3. Then went back to regular FF 12 without safe mode and now GM no longer plays there and I once again am getting the browser refresh error. Makes absolutely no sense, given that the exact same setup was working fine a half hour ago before I closed out FF to try items 1 and 2 above.

So to recap for now on my Win 7 machine:

--GM not working on FF 12 with Chrome and Chrome View installed but not running.

--GM not working on FF 12 using IE Tab 2 v. 4131.

--GM working in regular FF 12 safe mode.

--GM working in regular IE 9 browser.

jfchandler 1: Upon upgrade to FF 12, I am using GM in FF fine (No Chrome View). However, upon first testing I am also required to do a single initial "reload" before proper operation. I have unloaded/reloaded the browser many times and can replicate this flow every time. One reload and then GM continues to work properly.

jfchandler 2: I also upgraded to FF 12 on a second system and have been running Google Music within IE Tab 2 for the past 30 minutes with no issues. The setting selected under "IE Compatibility Mode" is "IE 8 Forced Standards Mode" (I do have IE 9 installed on my system and have not done any further testing with the other modes, also honestly have no desire to unless we REALLY need an alternative)

For all interested, the home page of IETab 2 is: http://www.ietab.net/

I am going to change my posts regarding IE Tab (Standard)

silkphoenix: I am having no FF or system performance issues while playing GM within IETab 2 and the "plugin container" (the memory area to look at) is remaining under 100Mb. (If IE Tab 2 / GM is closed, the plugin container disappears from memory) Upon your last comment, what version of IE are you running?

Silk it WAS "solved." As I recount in the post above, I was running GM fine in regular FF 12 without having called or opened Chrome or Chrome View... But then closed FF, did some other things with IE and FF in safe mode as I mention above, then came back to regular FF to try again, and GM would no longer play there...even though I hadn't uninstalled or changed anything in the meantime. Makes absolutely no sense that I can figure.

Phoenix.. thanks for the update above re the IE Tab config settings. I'll try those after I get some sleep.

and yes, I was having that same experience with FF 12... in that it wouldn't play on the first GM load and gave me the browser refresh error, and then SOMETIMES would play if I refreshed or hit play again. ON my last goround, repeated play cycles didn't change anything and still gave me the browser refresh error.

BINGO PHOENIX!!! I think you've got a winner...

I just replicated your IE Tab 2 use with GM by setting the IE Tab compatibility standards setting to "IE 8 Forced Standards Mode" under the IE Compatibility Mode tab.

That's not the default setting for IE Tab 2. Mine was defaulted to "IE9 Standards Mode" and that didn't work when I tried it earlier today... But the IE 8 Forced Standards mode worked right out of the box...at least on my Win 7 machine.

GM is also still working fine on my Win 7 machine in regular Safe Mode... But you guys with XP and Vista machines are saying FF Safe Mode isn't working for yours... Dang...

jfchandler: I will try to replicate your scenario later as I am now very late :-)

Current finds on this end: If I log out of GM, close the tab, then reload FF 12, I have to go through the single click reload process one time before GM begins playing correctly.

If I simply remain logged in and restart the browser, I can hit play in GM and it takes off right where it was.

Initial thoughts, Google is asking for something to be loaded/accepted from the browser upon first GM load. I have not done any port/data transfer tests, nor any testing in FF safe-mode or regarding all of the other add-ons currently within my install(s). However, if Google is requiring something to be transmitted and it is being blocked or timed out the first time, then GM fails. Personal opinion, if this theory holds (which part must be true since certain blocking extensions have no question caused GM to fail) then I am curious of what hidden info or back-end tracker Google is requiring be accessible for public use of its "free" music offering. These "hidden" trackers irk me since it isn't made public knowledge and your customized FF might actually be doing its job by not letting it fully communicate -vs- other browsers remaining wide open. Hence the reason for FF and its scalable security. (Again, this is only an initial theory and opinion)

phoenixblue -- I am running IE 8 since IE9 does not run on XP machines.

When I am in GM, FF plug-in container usually is around 350 MB and the same goes with IE, runs around 350 MB as well. Other websites runs around 100MB.

Phoenix, re your initial thoughts above, when I installed the other version of IE Tab tonight that kept crashing my FF browser, as that was occurring, I was getting script error pop up messages on my browser screen. And I didn't save a screen cap of them, but I was reading the info, and it said something about "Google" something... a second word for some kind of communication... I just can't remember the second word, but it was a name I didn't recognize... Whatever that exact term was, it gave me the impression there was some kind of "talking" going on behind the scenes when running GM.

silkphoenix: I will run some tests on my XP Pro test bed and see how it compares to your numbers. Also, can you tell me how much physical ram you have in the system?

How to check amount of ram in XP: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_much_ram_memory_windows_pc.html

jfchandler: Obviously there will be constant communication between the browser and Google to stream, and most knowledgeable users are aware of Google Analytics and the like. What makes me curious is what other or new specific streams are being considered "bad" by misc extensions, or are simply timing out inside of FF. I will play with my Ghostery later, but even when I white-listed the GM domain it still failed unless I actually disabled/paused the extension.

If there is an actual "timeout" for this hypothesized background required connection, this would also explain the different results being reported across GM users on this thread. What speed internet is everyone connected to? How is the relative processing power of your system? Both these could lead to timeout scenarios and in turn cause sporadic results. My systems are pretty up to date spec wise and have solid backbones at either location.. Therefore connectivity is not an issue. If per se somebody were to be connecting through a satellite ISP, their chance of not meeting this hidden "requirement" is much higher. (Of course with satellite, they may never be able to actually stream continuously anyhow, but you get the point)

phoenixblue -- I have 3.25 GB of Ram, which is the max my laptop can hold.

1. Disable FF auto update. I never, ever accept FF updates any more without a couple of months going by. They create too much trouble. The reckless Mozilla tactic these days--which they proudly announced awhile back as if it were a good thing--is to create constant new version updates on a quick basis. Unfortunately, they have a tendency to screw things up while often offering little. They break add-ons. There is no real reason to upgrade immediately and constantly. Upgrade-itis is a disease. Wait until the new update is stabilized, i.e, the add-on developers have a chance to catch up. Make sure the new update has something in it you need. I updated to 11 promptly for instance when the Sync capabilities were improved. I waited awhile on 10.

2. The fact that the update clobbered everything again is a bit of a clue pointing to a broader problem, I'd think.

3. I've given up. I now shell out to Chrome to play GMusic there. Chrome works so far as I can tell with every site with which I have a problem. That's a thumb on the scale that one day may mean I simply give up all together on FF, especially as Chrome matures and grows more powerful (or for that matter, the new version of IE is supposed to be fine...), but at the moment, shelling out to Chrome is a solution of sorts for GMusic, I suppose, if a slightly ridiculous one.

Still, there is no real reason i have to play GM in Firefox. Chrome works fine. The browser window can be in the background. It beats going around in circles.

I have no confidence in this being resolved any time soon given the long standing issues without resolution from FF and the general disdain from Google tech support, and I think collectively we lack the knowledge of what both FF and Google are doing under the hood to really fix this except by luck.

hence..Over and out. Thanks for the ideas and discussion..

Just a few adds this morning, after doing some more testing on my Win 7 32 bit laptop:

After getting Google Music working now consistently, I decided to go ahead and un-install the Chrome View extension from my FF add-ons, since presumably all it would be doing was calling my Chrome browser. And I wasn't using or needing the Chrome browser.

After uninstalling Chrome View, I went back and re-tested both of the GM playing methods that are working for me -- running FF 12 in safe mode, and running FF 12 with the IE Tab 2 ver 4131 and set to Forced IE8 Standards Compatibility. And as I suspected, both of those methods continued to work fine on GM even after Chrome View was uninstalled.

Re IE Tab 2, in its settings, the add-on keeps a running list of websites you've used with it... and you can select in that list to automatically load those pages (or not) in IE Tab mode. So now, having added GM to that list, anytime I open GM in FF, that browser window is going to automatically open in IE Tab mode and thus play GM without any problem.

Have you guys with Win XP and Vista machines tried GM in FF using the IE Tab 2 4131 extension with the IE8 Forced Compatibility setting?? I know earlier several of you said regular FF Safe Mode wasn't working for you, even though it is working for GM on my Win 7 machines.