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For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Buster

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
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stevepusser
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For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Buster

#1 Post by stevepusser »

This has been a rare event, since it's updated frequently and can take a while to make it into Stable, but the stars have aligned, and I've backported the 80.0.0.3987.132 Sid sources to Buster. (and testing, until it makes its way there)

https://repology.org/project/chromium/versions

Note that this version also includes the vaapi GPU hardware video decoding patch, and its vaapi does work on my 2018 Coffee Lake laptop for streaming and local video files, but not on a 2016 Skylake laptop. :?:

x86 builds on the OBS: https://build.opensuse.org/package/show ... m/chromium

armhf and arm64 builds had to be a separate package, but just follow the same instructions as for chromium, since the packages end up in the same repo:

For Buster, AS ROOT: (Bullseye users replace the two "Debian_10" strings in the commands with "Debian_Testing")

Code: Select all

echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/schmonium/Debian_10/ /' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:stevenpusser:schmonium.list

Code: Select all

rm -f Release.key && wget -nv https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevenpusser:schmonium/Debian_10/Release.key -O Release.key  && apt-key add - < Release.key && rm -f Release.key

Code: Select all

apt-get update
After running those commands, chromium should installable or upgradeable from the repository.

The llvm-9 toolchain was also backported for the build, and is in the repo, in case you need to use it for another project, such as a newer Mesa backport for Buster. It's quite a long build otherwise.
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#2 Post by Deb-fan »

^ Just a congrats and bump so more people see/benefit from it. Must be somewhat involved and time intensive if it took more effort for a nixer like you/@Stevep awhile to get it done. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#3 Post by stevepusser »

Well, you can click on the "succeeded" link for some of the package builds there so see how long it took the OBS to build. Usually each build uses eight threads there. The llvm-9 builds take the longest in the real world.
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#4 Post by Deb-fan »

^ Thanks interesting and good to know. Been meaning to take more interest in re-compiling junk like Openbox, tint2 my file manager etc with poss better gcc optimizations. Things that don't get upgraded often. Things like browsers, they update so frequently gave up on even considering doing them. So efforts by nixer's like yourself should be appreciated. Save people much time, hassles and pains. Also seeing the Mx repo's being used more in more places which is also really cool. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#5 Post by stevepusser »

I'm seeing that the same version is now a security update in Buster, but my version is still seen as higher.
In the past, Debian has disabled features such as va-api for the backported version, and it looks like the same for this one.
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#6 Post by Deb-fan »

Had to Google va-api, in laymen's terms disabling this is a good or not thing, is or isn't in the Mx package? Ah you did say for but a glorious moment, stars had aligned etc. Don't generally even mess with Chrome/ium and had me considering installing it. If only to share in the moment. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#7 Post by stevepusser »

It requires a special patch in Chromium and some user configuration to get va-api working. The testing and Sid versions of Chromium have included the patch for a while now, and thus, so do the MX backports. Debian removes the patch from the Buster build for some reason.

The va-api works fine on my Coffee Lake laptop--I can set it to powersave on battery, and open a local 4K h.264 video file, and the CPU speed stays at about the minimum of 800 MHZ. The Intel GPU is doing the decoding work. The other advantage is using it to watch some sports event stream at 1080p and 60fps on battery and powersave, like an NBA game: the stream stays smooth as butter on Chromium, but will have some noticable micro-jerks/pauses on every other browser I've tried, including Google Chrome. I can work around that by setting the CPU power policy to performance on battery, but then that eats up the battery faster, and battery life is short enough as it is on this MSI GP63 compared to thin 'n' light laptops.
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#8 Post by Deb-fan »

So the moment has not passed! That's what google informed me of about the va-api thingy you're using(accelerated graphics/gpu, this n that) so seems like same browser version in backports but esp folks with gpu's could still want to opt for the one you took the trouble to package, if they want better graphics quality/performance. Yeppers Debian's stance on which software is classed as what or allowed where has seemed odd to me too many times, like current Firefox being considered unstable but whatever, it's Debian HQ, they know what they're doing/why much better than myself and easy enough for nixer's to install whatever we want anyway. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#9 Post by stevepusser »

Maybe va-api is buggy on some hardware, or causes some other problem, but I don't see anything in debian/changelog about the disabling, or the other patches they added for the Buster build, or the build flags they changed so it would build with Buster's llvm-7 toolchain. It was my understanding that the maintainer should have noted those changes, though.
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#10 Post by Deb-fan »

You're way more familiar with such workings than I am. Really makes mucho sense, packages that haven't undergone the full vetting but are backported due to demand and to attempt to safe guard or make more convenient for users by Debian maintainers. With stable the absolute emphasis is placed on stability reasonably. If people want anything more, even obviously things which can be beneficial, improve performance or outright aren't available in backports(current Firefox), have to do for ourselves or some cool nixer with the required know-how does for other folks. With stable long standing tradition of error on side of caution aka: ultra conservative. Likely isn't any technical reason for this situation.

Just the reality of the situation. There's no denying Debian gnu/nix is ultra-kickbutt though, so what n how they do it clearly works. Nonfree or (newer versions)whatever is still generally easy to get even in stable. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#11 Post by Deb-fan »

You're/@Steve no doubt aware of all such. Was just a Debian butt-smooch moment on my part and some nixers may never think about such. Dont mind a tad of booty smooching when it's warranted. You've been doing much packaging goodness for people for a long time. Am sure your efforts n know-how are appreciated. Also it's clear getting some pkgs from your/Mx repo's comes with benefits absent in some of those found in regular backports. If were using a good gpu or dedicated vidcard w Chromium would certainly want to have better performance out of the setup and lesser load on cpu's. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#12 Post by stevepusser »

And now all sports events have been suspended in the USA...great. Curse you, COVID-19!
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#13 Post by Deb-fan »

^That stinks, this discourse about latest Chromium with a nixer that's long familiar with backporting has brought something to mind. How long does it generally take for latest versions of something like Chromium to find it's way into Debian's backports ? Also can't help wondering why it's there and nobody bothers with Firefox ? Surely I'm missing something but just strikes me as odd. Though clear yourself and other distro devs-maintainers make latest FF quickly available. FF being absent has been on my list of things that make me go hmmmm list for awhile. Lastest Chromuim sure, FF ... nah ?
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#14 Post by stevepusser »

There's a new version in Experimental, so I'll see if it backports tonight. Today, already succeeded with porting over Ubuntu's linux-firmware to MX Linux to make up for Debian's strange lack of updates for new hardware, then Kodi 18.6 from Debian Experimental, so I might as well try for a hat trick of important packages. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#15 Post by Deb-fan »

Cool and interesting stuff. Stevep is going for the hat trick people. What will come out of the hat?! Stay tuned to find out. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#16 Post by Deb-fan »

Also gotta say thanks Steve. For a long time taken to advising people with newer hardware + Debian gnu/nix stable to install latest, at least newer firmware and kernels, little annoying to find out things are lagging behind in those very important pkgs. Not by anything massive, still enough to matter. Always tend to bypass backports personally, get critical pkgs upstream of them and on this antique laptop (latest firmware - kernels) doesn't much matter to me. Many times have started poking at particulars of what "debianized" pkgs/source even means, always end up distracted doing other dorkage.

Without the input from someone who has devoted the effort/energy to getting familiar with cool stuff like this, likely would never have known and just kept taking for granted this type of thing is being handled better than it is. Same thing behind it, this or that piece of software or feature not deemed proven enough to be brought into stable, errr even backports? Thanks for the heads up, dang good to know fellow nixer. Have hung around some of the same nix communities many yrs. You've always been a thorough, competent ... tell it like it is kinda guy. :)
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#17 Post by stevepusser »

I did port over the Ubuntu "linux-firmware" package for MX and have it replace all the various Debian ones that it would conflict with, since it has a lot of newer firmware, but it mixes up free and non-free firmware in one big deb. Not a problem if you don't freak out over that.

Got successful builds of the newer Chromium beta in Experimental after figuring out that it needed a backport of libvpx-dev from upstream, but va-api is broken on it now--the video is green and distorted. :( But it's just a beta. Video works fine if you switch off va-api in chrome://flags, though. And it takes roughly twice as long to build--maybe four hours on the i7-8750H laptop, twelve threads@3.6 GHz.
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#18 Post by Deb-fan »

^That type of thing is what I'd been guessing at, not proven or proven to be problematic for whatever reasons. Think the folks behind, really involved in the Debian gnu/nix proj are bound to really know what they're doing and why. Even highly experienced nixer's aren't going to have the same understanding, access or view of the big picture. Seen you mention some of the challenges involved in porting pkgs meant for Ubuntu, the whole choice to make their stuff binary incompatible such issues make sense. Good thing for users you're willing to devote time to trying to tackle it for them.
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#19 Post by None1975 »

Version of Chrome (version 80.0.3987.149-1~deb10u1) now in Debian Buster repos. Please check security tracker page at:
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tra ... e/chromium
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Re: For a glorious moment, enjoy the current Chromium on Bus

#20 Post by Deb-fan »

^Probably why he said a glorious moment, the moment has passed you should've gotten here earlier. :P Now Steve's moving on to Chromium beta from Experimental branch as he outlined in the above post. Still interesting link on state of security in different branches for a pkg. A lot of red in testing but guessing that will be resolved quick enough for it not to really matter anyway.
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