How do I fix Chromium-based browser lags

[unix_lover]

@ricklinux

Sorry i have a spelling mistake in the first one.

All good.

@ricklinux

But what you are looking at is the files for if you are using the Intel driver.

Yes I am well aware.

@ricklinux

There are two parts to the video. One is Intel Drivers and the other is modesetting. What i have written is what i see for modesetting.

He was editing three files if I remember correctly.

@ricklinux

Check my spelling by the way. When i type it doesn’t always come out right.

I do the same thing too

@ricklinux

What you have there is for Intel drivers. You have to do one or the other! Are you testing Intel or modesetting?

I have edited the three files but like in the third file, the guy who made the video had an error, he says to type Driver "intel" But as you can see in the vim editor he types Driver "Intel" (the first letter of the word Intel was capitalised) so the confusion is do I type intel or Intel? And yes I have tested it after a reboot and I guess it is smoother but like still a bit choppy.

[ricklinux]

Okay if you are adding the third file for testing for Intel that’s fine. But i’m only looking at the first part of the video that has to do with modesettiing. They have two config files. The other one is for if you are going to install the Intel driver. It’s fine that you set it up if you are going to test one or the other. There is also the modprobe file to set for the intel drivers. So there are two to set up for modesetting and two you have to deal with and set for Intel. There are only two options either modesetting or Intel. My understanding reading is that modesetting should be better but you’ll have to judge that. I don’t have Intel and from all the dealings that i have had and seen with the i915 Intel if i were to get a laptop it would not have Intel graphics or hybrid graphics. I would only go for dedicated graphics. I don’t care how much power it uses. I care about how it works.

[ricklinux]

@unix_lover

Edit: I installed Brave-bin and it works fine on my system with ATI HD 3870 which is an older graphics card.

[unix_lover]

Chromium-based browsers are all unnecessarily taking up too much CPU processing power. I pressed shift+esc on both Windows and Linux within the browsers and I found that Brave was taking up way too much CPU processing power compared to Windows. So I compared two websites Benchmark Your Graphics Card On Linux and WhatsApp Web

CPU use for Brave for Windows

Benchmark Your Graphics Card On Linux

Idle: 1-4
Scrolling: 30-40

WhatsApp Web

Idle: 0
Scrolling: 30-60

GPU Process (for Benchmark Your Graphics Card On Linux website)

Idle: 0-3
Scrolling: 18-48

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CPU use for Brave for EndeavourOS

Benchmark Your Graphics Card On Linux

Idle: 17
Scrolling: 140-160

WhatsApp Web

Idle: 0
Scrolling: 153

GPU Process (for Benchmark Your Graphics Card On Linux website)

Idle: 2-5
Scrolling: 110

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So I am not too sure why on Linux Chromium-based browsers are taking up more CPU processing power compared to Windows, if anyone knows what is going on I would love to know. Thanks

[anotherusername]

@ricklinux

I installed Brave-bin and it works fine on my system

So does on mine, with intel integrated graphics. I am so unsure of what OP is experiencing.

[unix_lover]

Ok so as mentioned above, the problem is that the chromium-based browsers are taking up way to much processing power compared to on Windows. That is what is possibly causing so much lag. I don’t know why on Linux does it take up so much more processing power. Generally speaking using other softwares such as Blender on Linux performs better than on Windows, I end up with more fps on Linux.

[anotherusername]

Have you tried any differente distribution? Like Ubuntu? They’re packed distributions. If the browser in question perform better on those distributions, we’ll know that we’re missing some piece of package.

[unix_lover]

I will try it in live mode then.

[unix_lover]

I have tried Xubuntu, pretty much the same issue, I don’t believe EndeavourOS or any distros are the culprit for this lag, the drivers work fantastic on my laptop. its chromium that is just taking up way too much excessive processing power.

[ricklinux]

Why use a a Chromium based browser then? Just use Firefox …my favorite bar none! Did you try PopOS? I am not a Ubuntu fan but out of all Ubuntu based distro’s PopOS would be my choice. Why? Because i believe in what System76 is doing with open source hardware and core boot.

[SGS]

@ricklinux

Why use a a Chromium based browser then?

I’ve been asking myself that question for 69 posts.
You can also make life difficult for yourself.

But if you (unix_lover) have no other problems

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OT
I will never ever use WhatsApp and Brave browser.
But if you use Windows (and google) it doesn’t really matter.

@unix_lover

the problem is that the chromium-based browsers are taking up way to much processing power compared to on Windows.

Windows has already prepared your personal data for Brave. Under Linux, they have to be read from your hard disk first, that takes some time and power

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If I’m wrong, I’ll think of something else.

[ricklinux]

The problem is it’s the hardware. Not all things can be fixed with settings and software. It is what it is unless you replace it with something that works. Or you can use Windows. I will never use Facebook either.

[Trekkie00]

I just tested the website you claim to be laggy. Indeed it is displayed smoother when using Firefox. But I think it’s not a browser problem. I think the website is quite crappy and performs better when using Firefox. I too have an Intel chipset integrated in the computer I’m writing on right now. Here is some technical info :

CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Atom x5-Z8350 bits: 64 type: MCP L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
           Speed: 1646 MHz min/max: 480/1920 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1574 2: 1586 3: 1729 4: 1738 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.7 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (Cherrytrail) v: 4.6 Mesa 19.3.4

vainfo
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.6 (libva 2.6.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel i965 driver for Intel(R) CherryView - 2.4.0
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
      VAProfileMPEG2Simple            : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileMPEG2Simple            : VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileMPEG2Main              : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileMPEG2Main              : VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264Main               : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264Main               : VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264High               : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264High               : VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264MultiviewHigh      : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264MultiviewHigh      : VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264StereoHigh         : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264StereoHigh         : VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileVC1Simple              : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Main                : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Advanced            : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileNone                   : VAEntrypointVideoProc
      VAProfileJPEGBaseline           : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileJPEGBaseline           : VAEntrypointEncPicture
      VAProfileVP8Version0_3          : VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP8Version0_3          : VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileHEVCMain               : VAEntrypointVLD

I’m using Chromium on that machine and it meets my needs for daily needs and work.

You will not get a better performance, no matter what parameters, kernel settings or whatever you might change. Disabling modesetting would be the worst thing to do. That would completely cut the high level communication between kernel and GPU. This would end up in a bad display resolution and the system could no longer take advantage of speed optimzing features of your graphic card.

Edit : That little machine allows even to watch smooth full HD video in chromium.

Edit 2 : I’m also running KDE on that computer (alongside some other DEs).

[Trekkie00]

I did a quick research how browser performance can be improved. Maybe profile-sync-daemon does the job for you.

profile-sync-daemon (psd) is a tiny pseudo-daemon designed to manage browser profile(s) in tmpfs and to periodically sync back to the physical disc (HDD/SSD). This is accomplished by an innovative use of rsync to maintain synchronization between a tmpfs copy and media-bound backup of the browser profile(s). Additionally, psd features several crash recovery features.
.
.
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Since the profile(s), browser cache*, etc. are relocated into tmpfs (RAM disk), the corresponding I/O associated with using the browser is also redirected from the physical drive to RAM, thus reducing wear to the physical drive and also greatly improving browser speed and responsiveness.

It can easily be installed via package management (Community).

[ricklinux]

Maybe a new hard drive is all that is needed?

[unix_lover]

@ricklinux

Why use a a Chromium based browser then? Just use Firefox …my favorite bar none!

For me I don’t like firefox because it is laggy on both Windows and Linux when using web applications such as WhatsApp Web. Chromium-based on Windows feels very smooth.

@ricklinux

Did you try PopOS?

Nah but I don’t think I want to use Debian based distros as my daily driver. I hate apt over pacman.

@SGS

Windows has already prepared your personal data for Brave. Under Linux, they have to be read from your hard disk first, that takes some time and power

Yes that is another problem with Winblows.

[unix_lover]

@Trekkie00

I just tested the website you claim to be laggy. Indeed it is displayed smoother when using Firefox. But I think it’s not a browser problem. I think the website is quite crappy and performs better when using Firefox.

That particular website is indeed crap, but on Windows using chromium it takes up far less processing power. When I scroll on any website the browser takes an insane amount of CPU on Linux compared to Windows.

@Trekkie00

You will not get a better performance, no matter what parameters, kernel settings or whatever you might change. Disabling modesetting would be the worst thing to do. That would completely cut the high level communication between kernel and GPU. This would end up in a bad display resolution and the system could no longer take advantage of speed optimzing features of your graphic card.

Ok I won’t do that and I have not done it yet.

@Trekkie00

I did a quick research how browser performance can be improved. Maybe profile-sync-daemon does the job for you.

profile-sync-daemon (psd) is a tiny pseudo-daemon designed to manage browser profile(s) in tmpfs and to periodically sync back to the physical disc (HDD/SSD). This is accomplished by an innovative use of rsync to maintain synchronization between a tmpfs copy and media-bound backup of the browser profile(s). Additionally, psd features several crash recovery features.
.
.
.
Since the profile(s), browser cache*, etc. are relocated into tmpfs (RAM disk), the corresponding I/O associated with using the browser is also redirected from the physical drive to RAM, thus reducing wear to the physical drive and also greatly improving browser speed and responsiveness.

It can easily be installed via package management (Community).

Thanks I will take a look at it and see what comes up.

[ricklinux]

You seem to have a lot of lag issues. I find it very strange. I don’t believe it is browser problems. There are lots of other users on Intel graphics that do not have any issue with Firefox or Chromium based browsers. You keep referring to no problem on Windows. Why are you using Linux then if it is not working for you? You should just use Windows then the problem solved.

[unix_lover]

I don’t get it either, I want to use Linux cause honestly it is much easier to use over Windows, there is no preinstalled spyware, its so much more powerful, and also it actually performs better with everything else. Remember the benchmarks that I have done, and even using Blender works much nicer than on Windows (I often use Blender). Also with Windows using languages such as Rust do not work correctly whereas on Linux it works properly. Its just chromium that takes up way too much CPU. I am sure on Windows it would be laggier if it took up the same amount of CPU.

[ricklinux]

@unix_lover

Have you tried the vaapi enable chromium browsers from the AUR?

chrome://flags
Hardware-accelerated video decode (set to enable)
h264ify extension for Chromium browser (This is an extension for Chromium)

Edit: The chrome flags is unavailable on my platform

To enable hardware acceleration in Chromium (GPU accelerated video decoding) you’ll need to use Chromium with a VAAPI patch. Not sure any of this will work but you can try it if you like.

You may be able to set the flag here but not sure whether it works on your currently installed Chromium browser.