Programmatically Disable Hardware Acceleration in the Chrome Workspace
- LaTroy
Google Chrome's hardware acceleration is enabled by default. When a GPU is available, it improves the browsing experience by offloading tasks from the CPU to the GPU. Sometimes, hardware acceleration can cause Chrome to lag, freeze, or crash. Disabling Chrome's hardware acceleration benefits most Chrome workloads in a Kasm Workspace.
What Is Hardware Acceleration?
Hardware acceleration refers to when a program uses a computer's hardware in support to perform some functions more efficiently than the software is capable of. The hardware was designed to perform some functions faster than software running on the CPU alone.
What Is Hardware Acceleration in Chromium-based browsers?
Google Chrome comes equipped with hardware acceleration, a feature that uses your computer's GPU to speed up processes and free vital CPU time. However, sometimes driver incompatibilities can cause this feature to misbehave, and disabling it could save you a few headaches.
In Chrome, hardware acceleration utilizes your computer's graphics processing unit (GPU) to tackle graphics-intensive tasks, like playing videos, games, or anything that requires faster mathematical calculations. Passing off specific tasks gives your CPU a chance to work tirelessly on everything else, while the GPU handles processes that it was designed to run.
Manually Disabling Chrome’s Hardware Acceleration in a Workspace
To manually disable a Chrome or Chromium based Kasm workspace’s Hardware Acceleration follow the steps below.
Launch the Chrome workspace.
Navigate to “chrome://settings/system”
Uncheck the “Use graphics acceleration when available” checkbox.
Click the “Relaunch” button (if visible).
Verify your settings change by navigating to “chrome://gpu/“.
Programmatically Disabling Chrome’s Hardware Acceleration in a Workspace
To configure a Chrome or Chromium based Kasm workspace to start with Hardware Acceleration disabled by default follow the steps below.
Edit the Chrome workspace configuration in the Kasm UI.
Add the following environmental variables to the Docker Run Config (Override).
{ "environment": { "APP_ARGS": "--start-maximized --disable-gpu --disable-software-rasterizer" } }
Save the configuration.
Launch the Chrome workspace.
Click the “Relaunch” button (if visible).
Verify your settings change by navigating to “chrome://gpu/“.
NOTE - The “Use graphics acceleration when available” checkbox on the chrome system settings page (ie: chrome://settings/system) will remain checked, but the hardware acceleration is disabled.
Related Docs:
https://www.loom.com/share/f63c83c26bc34fc68d46e4001c5f290f?sid=251555e8-7e23-40c8-ae14-087e0b265d0d
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