Solved: Fixing Chrome Hardware Acceleration Issues Under Wayland on Arch Linux

Are you experiencing Chrome hardware acceleration problems under Wayland on your Arch Linux system? This article provides a solution based on user experiences and technical details related to the issue. We'll cover the problem symptoms, potential causes, and a verified fix.

The Problem: Chrome's Lack of Hardware Acceleration on Wayland

Many users enabling Wayland have observed that Chrome reports a lack of hardware acceleration. This can manifest in several ways:

Slow performance: Noticeably sluggish rendering of web pages, especially those with complex graphics or animations.
White speckling: Visual artifacts, such as white speckles that follow the mouse cursor, particularly on dark backgrounds.
GPU report errors: Chrome's internal GPU report (accessible via chrome://gpu) indicates that hardware acceleration is disabled for various features like Canvas, Compositing, Video Decode, and WebGL.

Identifying the Cause: Nvidia Drivers and Chrome's Rendering Pipeline

The issue often arises when using Nvidia drivers in conjunction with Chrome under Wayland. The underlying cause can be related to how Chrome interacts with the graphics stack, specifically the EGL (Embedded-System Graphics Library) and ANGLE (Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine) components.

EGL Implementation: Chrome might fail to detect and utilize the correct EGL implementation, falling back to software rendering.
ANGLE and Vulkan: Problems can occur with ANGLE's Vulkan backend, preventing hardware acceleration even when Vulkan drivers are present.

The Solution: Using the `--ozone-platform-hint=auto` Flag and Updating Chrome

The primary solution involves launching Chrome with the --ozone-platform-hint=auto flag. This flag instructs Chrome to automatically detect and use the appropriate Wayland integration.

How to Apply the Flag: Modify your Chrome launcher or desktop file to include the flag. For example:
```
chrome --ozone-platform-hint=auto
```
Updating Chrome: Ensure you are running the latest version of Chrome, including beta or unstable builds. Newer versions often contain bug fixes and improvements related to Wayland support. A user reported that the m120 beta version resolved the core issue.

Verifying the Fix: Checking Chrome's GPU Report

After applying the solution, verify that hardware acceleration is enabled by revisiting Chrome's GPU report (chrome://gpu). Look for the following:

Graphics Feature Status: Ensure that features like Canvas, Compositing, Video Decode, and WebGL now show "Hardware accelerated" or "Enabled."
"gl=egl-angle,angle=vulkan": This implementation should be among the "Allowed implementations".

Important Considerations: Vulkan and Remaining Issues

While the --ozone-platform-hint=auto flag and Chrome updates often resolve the core hardware acceleration problem, some users may still encounter issues:

Vulkan Instability: Enabling the Vulkan flag in Chrome might lead to instability. If you experience crashes or rendering problems, it is recommended to disable the Vulkan flag.
White Speckling (If Persistent): If white speckling persists even after enabling hardware acceleration, there might be other underlying issues. Consider investigating driver-specific problems or compositor settings.

The Problem: Chrome's Lack of Hardware Acceleration on Wayland

Many users enabling Wayland have observed that Chrome reports a lack of hardware acceleration. This can manifest in several ways:

Slow performance: Noticeably sluggish rendering of web pages, especially those with complex graphics or animations.

White speckling: Visual artifacts, such as white speckles that follow the mouse cursor, particularly on dark backgrounds.

GPU report errors: Chrome's internal GPU report (accessible via chrome://gpu) indicates that hardware acceleration is disabled for various features like Canvas, Compositing, Video Decode, and WebGL.

Identifying the Cause: Nvidia Drivers and Chrome's Rendering Pipeline

EGL Implementation: Chrome might fail to detect and utilize the correct EGL implementation, falling back to software rendering.

ANGLE and Vulkan: Problems can occur with ANGLE's Vulkan backend, preventing hardware acceleration even when Vulkan drivers are present.

The Solution: Using the --ozone-platform-hint=auto Flag and Updating Chrome

The primary solution involves launching Chrome with the --ozone-platform-hint=auto flag. This flag instructs Chrome to automatically detect and use the appropriate Wayland integration.

How to Apply the Flag: Modify your Chrome launcher or desktop file to include the flag. For example:

chrome --ozone-platform-hint=auto

Updating Chrome: Ensure you are running the latest version of Chrome, including beta or unstable builds. Newer versions often contain bug fixes and improvements related to Wayland support. A user reported that the m120 beta version resolved the core issue.

Verifying the Fix: Checking Chrome's GPU Report

After applying the solution, verify that hardware acceleration is enabled by revisiting Chrome's GPU report (chrome://gpu). Look for the following:

Graphics Feature Status: Ensure that features like Canvas, Compositing, Video Decode, and WebGL now show "Hardware accelerated" or "Enabled."

"gl=egl-angle,angle=vulkan": This implementation should be among the "Allowed implementations".

Important Considerations: Vulkan and Remaining Issues

While the --ozone-platform-hint=auto flag and Chrome updates often resolve the core hardware acceleration problem, some users may still encounter issues:

Vulkan Instability: Enabling the Vulkan flag in Chrome might lead to instability. If you experience crashes or rendering problems, it is recommended to disable the Vulkan flag.

White Speckling (If Persistent): If white speckling persists even after enabling hardware acceleration, there might be other underlying issues. Consider investigating driver-specific problems or compositor settings.