Linux: System randomly freezes when an update is downloaded and pending restart

[Michael-Obele]

Preliminary Checks

• I have read and understood the important section above.
• I have searched existing issues and avoided creating duplicates.
• I am not filing an enhancement request.
• I have checked that this issue cannot be reproduced on Mozilla Firefox.
• I have checked that this issue can be reproduced once I removed all my Mods and Custom CSS.

What happened?

When Zen Browser downloads an update on Linux (either via automatic background download or manual download), the system begins to randomly freeze and experience general instability. These performance issues and system freezes persist until the browser is manually restarted and the update is fully applied. Currently, there is no prompt notifying the user that a restart is required, leaving the system in a degraded state.

Expected behavior

The background update process should run smoothly without causing system freezes or performance degradation on Linux. Once the app has downloaded and staged the update, it should clearly prompt or notify the user to restart the browser so the update can be applied.

Actual behavior

After an update is downloaded, the Linux system experiences random freezes and sluggishness. Because the browser does not prompt the user to restart and apply the update, the user continues working while the system remains unstable. The freezing and system issues only stop once the user manually restarts Zen Browser, which finally applies the pending update.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Zen Browser on a Linux machine.
2. Wait for an update to download automatically in the background, or manually trigger an update download from the settings menu.
3. Once the update is downloaded, continue using the system without restarting the browser.
4. Observe that the Linux system begins to randomly freeze and experience performance issues.
5. Restart Zen Browser manually.
6. Notice that the update is applied upon restart, and the system immediately returns to normal performance and stops freezing.

Screenshots and videos

N/A (System freezes are difficult to capture).

Version

Version 1.21.10b (64-bit)

What platform are you seeing the problem on?

Linux (Tarball)

What component is this issue related to?

Performance

Relevant log output if applicable

None applicable.