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Ask HN: What is wrong with Google Chrome?

https://imgur.com/Yqh9ILg I've been seeing this on multiple sites. The blue/green/purple text in the divs changes as I mouse over them

theandrewbailey 6y ago
Are you sure you don't have a hardware issue? (overheated?) That looks a lot like GPU artifacting.
- henriquez 6y ago
  Ya, Chrome uses the GPU and that looks like GPU memory failure artifacting. So it’s likely either a problem with the chipset or CPU if OP is on integrated graphics, or whatever discrete GPU may be installed. Worth updating all drivers before you buy a new computer / GPU though!
- isthispermanent 6y ago
  I'm not sure. Macbook Pro, no other signs of overheating from what I can tell
  - snazz 6y ago
    Can you verify that it only happens on the AMD GPU, or does it happen when the system is using the Intel GPU as well? Edit: https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211716 https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211716 and https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1068170 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=106817...
    - boksiora 6y ago
      Hello, i had the same problem and im on AMD GPU
- asveikau 6y ago
  About 12 years ago I had a laptop where some pins on the GPU were coming loose. It looked a bit like this. If I held it down with my hand on a strategic part it would temporarily resolve the issue. A heat gun also temporarily resolved it, but not for very long.
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    That’s how we fixed my T42 with a similar issue. Well, until I got drunk in college and fell on it. Heat guns don’t really fix that.
  - colejohnson66 6y ago
    Can’t really do things like that anymore (unfortunately) what with the massive heat sinks and the GPU manufacturers switching to BGA to pack more pins in
- rootusrootus 6y ago
  Would a hardware problem show up in a screenshot? It could be a picture of the screen, but the alignment is perfect.
  - cbg0 6y ago
    Yes, it would show up, as that's how it's rendered, artifacts and all.
  - bipson 6y ago
    Interesting argument. In fact if the fault would lie only between screen and the 'last mile' on the GPU you would be correct. But GPUs are slightly more than simple display renderers (at least nowadays), so (vast simplification) multiple renderings happen before the actual display output is generated and sent over the wire to the display. E.g. a failing memory on the GPU might only corrupt the output of a single window/application, since this window is using the GPU to render content, while everything else is fine.
  - CountSessine 6y ago
    Depends on where the hardware defect is. If the defect is before the frame buffer (shaders, triangle setup, rasterization), then yes it will show up. If it’s after the frame buffer (CRTC, resampling and DAC), then no it won’t show up.
    - rootusrootus 6y ago
      Now that is the answer I was hoping for. Thanks!
chipperyman573 6y ago
Try disabling hardware acceleration
anaphor 6y ago
What operating system / graphics backend are you using? Do you have multiple screens? E.g. you can encounter issues with hardware acceleration on Linux if you have multiple screens.
- isthispermanent 6y ago
  MacOS 15.14. I run two screens and hardware acceleration appears to be the issue
abnry 6y ago
You have seen past the veil. You must forget you've ever seen this. Some things are too great for a human to know.
- thomasjudge 6y ago
  The image translators work for the construct program. But there’s way too much information to decode the Matrix. You get used to it. I don’t even see the code. All I see is blonde, brunette, red-head..
rahidz 6y ago
https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/38144053?hl=en&msgid=41546793 https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/38144053?hl=en&msgi... Has the identical problem, disabling hardware acceleration is the suggested solution. edit: And https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1068170 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=106817... for the Chromium bug
geerlingguy 6y ago
I hit this same issue on some sites, but not others: https://twitter.com/geerlingguy/status/1257714544044052488 https://twitter.com/geerlingguy/status/1257714544044052488 It's so strange, because neither webkit/Safari nor Firefox has ever had any issues, but Chrome does this randomly on any Mac with a GPU, it seems.
mschuster91 6y ago
Last time I've been seeing this was back in 2010-such with the infamous Nvidia mobile GPU solder issue O.o
jpswade 6y ago
Search for GPU artifacts in Chrome, you'll notice it's quite common, but it's less to do with Chrome and more to do with a problem with your GPU.
jeroenhd 6y ago
Looks like GPU issues or memory corruption in the browser memory. You can try disabling hardware acceleration to prevent Chrome from using the GPU but if I were you I'd start checking if everything on my machine is backed up properly.
raldi 6y ago
Clickable version of your link, since it's a pain to select on mobile: https://imgur.com/Yqh9ILg https://imgur.com/Yqh9ILg
prpl 6y ago
Try rebooting your machine. I had this issue two weeks ago, it strangely was coincident with a chrome upgrade.
stjo 6y ago
This looks a tech support ticket, not HN thread
- ReverseCold 6y ago
  HN is Google's end user tech support forum ;)
  - geerlingguy 6y ago
    So true, it hurts. If I see another "Google deleted my account" [3 hours later] "Update: Google reinstated my account after someone spotted this" thread...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- arkitaip 6y ago
  HN and other sites have become de facto support channels for Google products because their own support is too difficult to reach.
  - progers7 6y ago
    I don't think this is true for the chromium project. Bugs filed at https://crbug.com https://crbug.com are quickly triaged.
jacobush 6y ago
I thought we were going to bash on its privacy issues. Mildly disappointed.
- FillardMillmore 6y ago
  As did I. Those threads seem to be monthly - but I feel as if we haven't had one in some time. I don't know why, though the threads on the topic here are usually tiresome and predictable, I still find them quite amusing.
- declnz 6y ago
  Lol me too. I was ready with 'Now, where do we start? The weirdly automatic "integration" with your Google account? No, all the full URLs going to Google for "Safe Browsing", erm, support?' etc etc Some other time!
ateamtexas 6y ago
https://ateam-texas.com/mvp-is-not-enough-your-product-must-be-awesome/ https://ateam-texas.com/mvp-is-not-enough-your-product-must-...
CawCawCaw 6y ago
Can we get Bruce Dawson to use this as source material for one of his deep-dive angry rants about software quality?

https://imgur.com/Yqh9ILg I've been seeing this on multiple sites. The blue/green/purple text in the divs changes as I mouse over them

theandrewbailey 6y ago

Are you sure you don't have a hardware issue? (overheated?) That looks a lot like GPU artifacting.

henriquez 6y ago
Ya, Chrome uses the GPU and that looks like GPU memory failure artifacting. So it’s likely either a problem with the chipset or CPU if OP is on integrated graphics, or whatever discrete GPU may be installed. Worth updating all drivers before you buy a new computer / GPU though!
isthispermanent 6y ago
I'm not sure. Macbook Pro, no other signs of overheating from what I can tell
- snazz 6y ago
  Can you verify that it only happens on the AMD GPU, or does it happen when the system is using the Intel GPU as well? Edit: https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211716 https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211716 and https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1068170 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=106817...
  - boksiora 6y ago
    Hello, i had the same problem and im on AMD GPU
asveikau 6y ago
About 12 years ago I had a laptop where some pins on the GPU were coming loose. It looked a bit like this. If I held it down with my hand on a strategic part it would temporarily resolve the issue. A heat gun also temporarily resolved it, but not for very long.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  That’s how we fixed my T42 with a similar issue. Well, until I got drunk in college and fell on it. Heat guns don’t really fix that.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  Can’t really do things like that anymore (unfortunately) what with the massive heat sinks and the GPU manufacturers switching to BGA to pack more pins in
rootusrootus 6y ago
Would a hardware problem show up in a screenshot? It could be a picture of the screen, but the alignment is perfect.
- cbg0 6y ago
  Yes, it would show up, as that's how it's rendered, artifacts and all.
- bipson 6y ago
  Interesting argument. In fact if the fault would lie only between screen and the 'last mile' on the GPU you would be correct. But GPUs are slightly more than simple display renderers (at least nowadays), so (vast simplification) multiple renderings happen before the actual display output is generated and sent over the wire to the display. E.g. a failing memory on the GPU might only corrupt the output of a single window/application, since this window is using the GPU to render content, while everything else is fine.
- CountSessine 6y ago
  Depends on where the hardware defect is. If the defect is before the frame buffer (shaders, triangle setup, rasterization), then yes it will show up. If it’s after the frame buffer (CRTC, resampling and DAC), then no it won’t show up.
  - rootusrootus 6y ago
    Now that is the answer I was hoping for. Thanks!

chipperyman573 6y ago

Try disabling hardware acceleration

anaphor 6y ago

What operating system / graphics backend are you using? Do you have multiple screens? E.g. you can encounter issues with hardware acceleration on Linux if you have multiple screens.

isthispermanent 6y ago
MacOS 15.14. I run two screens and hardware acceleration appears to be the issue

abnry 6y ago

You have seen past the veil. You must forget you've ever seen this. Some things are too great for a human to know.

thomasjudge 6y ago
The image translators work for the construct program. But there’s way too much information to decode the Matrix. You get used to it. I don’t even see the code. All I see is blonde, brunette, red-head..

rahidz 6y ago

https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/38144053?hl=en&msgid=41546793 https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/38144053?hl=en&msgi... Has the identical problem, disabling hardware acceleration is the suggested solution. edit: And https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1068170 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=106817... for the Chromium bug

geerlingguy 6y ago

I hit this same issue on some sites, but not others: https://twitter.com/geerlingguy/status/1257714544044052488 https://twitter.com/geerlingguy/status/1257714544044052488 It's so strange, because neither webkit/Safari nor Firefox has ever had any issues, but Chrome does this randomly on any Mac with a GPU, it seems.

mschuster91 6y ago

Last time I've been seeing this was back in 2010-such with the infamous Nvidia mobile GPU solder issue O.o

jpswade 6y ago

Search for GPU artifacts in Chrome, you'll notice it's quite common, but it's less to do with Chrome and more to do with a problem with your GPU.

jeroenhd 6y ago

Looks like GPU issues or memory corruption in the browser memory. You can try disabling hardware acceleration to prevent Chrome from using the GPU but if I were you I'd start checking if everything on my machine is backed up properly.

raldi 6y ago

Clickable version of your link, since it's a pain to select on mobile: https://imgur.com/Yqh9ILg https://imgur.com/Yqh9ILg

prpl 6y ago

Try rebooting your machine. I had this issue two weeks ago, it strangely was coincident with a chrome upgrade.

stjo 6y ago

This looks a tech support ticket, not HN thread

ReverseCold 6y ago
HN is Google's end user tech support forum ;)
- geerlingguy 6y ago
  So true, it hurts. If I see another "Google deleted my account" [3 hours later] "Update: Google reinstated my account after someone spotted this" thread...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
arkitaip 6y ago
HN and other sites have become de facto support channels for Google products because their own support is too difficult to reach.
- progers7 6y ago
  I don't think this is true for the chromium project. Bugs filed at https://crbug.com https://crbug.com are quickly triaged.

jacobush 6y ago

I thought we were going to bash on its privacy issues. Mildly disappointed.

FillardMillmore 6y ago
As did I. Those threads seem to be monthly - but I feel as if we haven't had one in some time. I don't know why, though the threads on the topic here are usually tiresome and predictable, I still find them quite amusing.
declnz 6y ago
Lol me too. I was ready with 'Now, where do we start? The weirdly automatic "integration" with your Google account? No, all the full URLs going to Google for "Safe Browsing", erm, support?' etc etc Some other time!

ateamtexas 6y ago

https://ateam-texas.com/mvp-is-not-enough-your-product-must-be-awesome/ https://ateam-texas.com/mvp-is-not-enough-your-product-must-...

CawCawCaw 6y ago

Can we get Bruce Dawson to use this as source material for one of his deep-dive angry rants about software quality?