Unsolved A problem with browser hardware acceleration support, a problem with codecs

[DoctorG]

@YaAlex said in A problem with browser hardware acceleration support, a problem with codecs:

I have ubuntu 24.10 and vivaldi snap versions

For Ubuntu/Debian related Install the deb package version from vivaldi.com page and all is fine.
It is advised to use the OS related packages for installation.

[robjperez]

Yesterday i starting having a similar problem.
Youtube livestream videos are not working.

I'm also using snap on Ubuntu 24.10, i thought this was the best option but i'm not sure now.

Which is the best option to install Vivaldi in Ubuntu?

[DoctorG]

@robjperez See my previous post

[DoctorG]

I understand that user run a Snap when Ubuntu proposes it in its app store.

Unfortunately snap package sometimes has issues (which are not in deb package) and user can not easy switch browser profile because Vivaldi Sync is broken

Browser profile of snap resided in more different folders than deb package with .config – a hell!

[DoctorG]

I tested on Windows 11 in a VM Ubuntu 24 with Vivaldi Snap, Flatpak and Deb package and experienced 3 different issues with GPU and HWA.
Fiddling around with vivaldi://flags could help. But such experimental config is more a hell for users who do not use flags on Linux, lacking of knowledge what will really help.

---

I am happy enough about my Linux office PCs, they run nice with old Intel GPUs.

[DoctorG]

@YaAlex @robjperez I do not know if on your side it is a sandbox issue with apparmor.

Untested and unofficial shell command (one-liner):
printf 'abi <abi/4.0>,\ninclude <tunables/global>\nprofile vivaldi-all /**/vivaldi-bin flags=(unconfined) {userns,}\n' | sudo tee /etc/apparmor.d/vivaldi-all >/dev/null && sudo service apparmor reload

[DoctorG]

What make me tearing out hairs while testing Vivaldi is the fact that X11 and Wayland cause different GPU issues and sometimes with clipboard.

[Johnips]

@YaAlex same problem here. Ubuntu 24.10+Wayland+Snap. One of those that actually like snap. Shoot me .
Some HTML5 videos not playing.

In Firefox, also snap, everthing works.

[Johnips]

@YaAlex Did a clean install. Problems with FFMPEG and error message: "Kwebmediaplayerdestroyed".

[DoctorG]

@Johnips It takes a while until codec is downloaded from external chromium package and extracted.
Just restart browser.

[Johnips]

@DoctorG said in A problem with browser hardware acceleration support, a problem with codecs:

e until codec is downloaded from external chromium package and extracted.

A friend of mine has the same problem for several days now... It came with the latest update. Problems playing some Html5s.

[DoctorG]

@Johnips I install for Ubuntu and Debian related Linuxes the deb package from download page vivaldi.com and HTML5 works nice.

Snap is experimental for me.

[DoctorG]

I tested minutes ago and was not able to start HTML5 video on Snap, the package is broken.

My bug report:
VB-112690 "Snap does not play HTML5"

[robjperez]

@DoctorG Thanks for your answer

If I choose to install the .deb pacakge, is it automatically updated in the future?

I'm a little bit lazy about having to migrate from snap to deb, even with sync service back again, I need to re-login everywhere again.

I can wait to see if the snap package is fixed soon

[Ruarí]

It should now be fixed. Shutdown Vivaldi then issue snap refresh vivaldi and on starting again it should (hopefully) work.

Context
https://social.vivaldi.net/@ruario/113699262750820381

[DoctorG]

Sometimes Snap and Flatpak run into trouble because we need a external lib and other packagers changed something in between.

[Johnips]

@DoctorG How often does this actually happen and cause a problem, like now? This is the first time I've seen a problem with Snaps in this regard.

[DoctorG]

@Johnips said in A problem with browser hardware acceleration support, a problem with codecs:

How often does this actually happen and cause a problem

Very rare, i remember such happened twice or once a year.

The trouble is that FFMPEG codec could not be embedded in Vivaldi package, because of license restrictions, and had to be fetched externally.

[Ruarí]

These kinds of things do not just happen to use. Other browsers such as Firefox and Opera also download files to handle media rather than bundling them.

Regarding this issue, one of the Canonical team replied and we'll work better to coordinate these changes in the future.

https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/using-chromium-ffmpeg-in-third-party-browser-snaps/6545/66

[DoctorG]

@Ruarí said in A problem with browser hardware acceleration support, a problem with codecs:

the Canonical team replied and we'll work better to coordinate these changes in the future

Good to read that Canonical will act better.