Hey everyone, so I just migrated from Windows to Linux with Zorin 18 OS, but there's a bug bothering me. When I open an app that's not part of Linux (Brave, Chrome, WhatsApp, etc.), it has strange and scary glitches that bug the entire application and it freezes permanently. Then I can't use it anymore and I have to restart the PC. I've tried many methods and nothing has really worked. Can anyone help me?
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Can you list your system specs (Primarily, GPU information)
lspci
sudo lshw -C video
and list what you have tried? For example, did you disable Hardware Acceleration on browsers?
I'm not exactly sure how to use this, but here's what you asked for.
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation H61 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port Desktop SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM]
01:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6450 / 7450/8450/8490 OEM / R5 230/235/235X OEM]
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
*-display
Description: VGA compatible controller
Product: Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM]
Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
Physical ID: 0
Bus information: pci@0000:01:00.0
Logical name: /dev/fb0
Version: 00
Width: 64 bits
Clock: 33MHz
Capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list fb
Configuration: depth=32 latency=0 resolution=800,600
Resources: memory:e0000000-efffffff memory:f7e20000-f7e3ffff I/O port:e000(size=256) memory:c0000-dffff
And since I couldn't find any tutorials, I asked gpt what to do, and he told me to force the secure graphics driver, use the old graphics (which works more or less, but I can't use it properly that way).
What do you mean by 'use it properly?'
There is a difference between Radeon driver and AMDGPU driver - AMDGPU will conflict on Radeon cards.
I mean, it's bad for me, I don't like it, it's not pleasant.
How do I solve this?
Well, I think we need to see it... But for your AMD card, you are best served on the Radeon driver (ChatGPT would be right on that.)
But, have you tried disabling hardware acceleration?
whatsapp-desktop --disable-gpu
google-chrome --disable-gpu
and testing if that works?
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To install Mesa drivers on Zorin OS 18, follow these steps:
1. Update Your System
Open a terminal and run:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
2. Install Mesa Drivers
Mesa is usually installed by default on most Linux distributions, including Zorin OS. To ensure you have the latest version and related packages, install:
sudo apt install mesa-utils mesa-vulkan-drivers libgl1-mesa-glx libgl1-mesa-dri
3. Verify Installation
Check your Mesa version:
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"
If glxinfo is not available, install it:
sudo apt install mesa-utils-extra
reboot
try to open normally your apps
Where do I enter those commands for brave and edge? I am having problems with both. If I enter them in terminal, I receive - command not found.
That may be that I got the names of the apps wrong.
Chrome may be called google-chrome-stable
You can check their .desktop files in /usr/share/applications as a user in read mode - look at the Exec line and you will see the exact launch command
Then add the flag --disable-gpu
If That Works: you can add that flag in the .desktop file Exec line, and save the file (This must be done elevated to root for Write command).
If you want to launch brave browser with disabled hardware acceleration:
brave-browser --disable-gpu
When the browser opens normally without crashing, you can disable hardware acceleration in your browser settings.
If edge browser is installed as flatpak, the .desktop file is probably at
~/.var/app/com.microsoft.Edge/
When you search the file with your file manager, press ctrl+h to show the hidden files.
If edge browser is installed as .deb package only for your user, the .desktop file is at ~/.local/share/applications
This is what is executes - /usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=/app/bin/edge --file-forwarding com.microsoft.Edge @@u %U @@
How can I edit it to add --disable-gpu ?
In your Exec Lines, you see similar examples of launch flags:
--file-forwarding--branch=stable
using --disable-gpu follows that same logic.
/usr/bin/flatpak run --disable-gpu --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=/app/bin/edge --file-forwarding com.microsoft.Edge @@u %U @@
The position is not important.
/usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --disable-gpu --arch=x86_64 --command=/app/bin/edge --file-forwarding com.microsoft.Edge @@u %U @@
As long as there is one space between each flag.
Still locks up after adding it as your example.
Also, when I edit, there are now 2 Microsoft Edge entries in the Menu Editor but none on the Main Menu when I expand the Internet option.
Another thing I notice is the icon on the task bar is a gear instead of the normal icon for Edge.
How can i remove Microsoft Edge and clean up anything linger pieces and parts?
Yes, you can use the flatpak uninstall command followed by the org.whatever name flatpak has for Edge Browser to remove it.
I am not really sure why editing that file had that menu listing result...
Was there an Edge Browser icon in the App menu before editing?
You can also go to Software Store and uninstall Edge browser there.
If you want to add the icon to the start menu, take a look at menu editor if Edge browser is enabled there. At properties you can see which one is the one with the added disable gpu command.
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It was but somehow the one with the gear icon appeared. I did both the flatpak and Software Store uninstalls and now they are both gone.
I was able to successfully do the Software Store uninstall.