Embedded video hangs during play

[Necris]

Recently installed Zorin OS 18 Core on a Dell Lattitude 5500 (gen8 i5, 16gb ram) Uninstalled Brave, installed Firefox. Use it mainly for browsing.

But i have encountered a strange problem. When playing a video e.g. on Youtube, wac.rip, or any other embedded video, the first 2 seconds the video play just fine but then it starts lagging and after a few seconds it completely hangs. When i check the system monitor firefox.exe and a gnu process have a high CPU usage.

Now here is the strange part. When i plug in the power adapter it play perfectly fine. No lagging, no hangs, no high CPU. Just as it should.

Tried disabling hardware acceleration in Firefox but that didn't solve it. Tried booting Zorin Desktop on Xorg, didn't do anything either.
Must admit that i have not tried a different browser, but i somehow doubt that's the problem.

Anyone familiar with this?

[Forpli]

In which package format is firefox installed (flatpak, snap, Zorin package)?

You could try it with the Zorin package if it is installed as flatpak or snap.

Does it makes a difference what energy profile is set (power saving/balanced/performance)?

[Necris]

Not sure what you mean with "which package format" but i installed FF from the build-in software store.

Energy profiles is a good one, that i'll have to check and get back to you on that one.

[Forpli]

In the Software store you can get three packages for apps: Zorin packages (apt), flatpaks from flathub and snaps.
On the right side you can often choose (arrow) which package format shall be installed.

[Aravisian]

Also, what Graphics Card are you using? We may need to check your drivers.

If you need to plug in the notebook computer for it to play videos, have you tried disabling powersave?

[Ponce-De-Leon]

Welcome to the Forum!

Do you have installed the Codec Support? Open Gnome Software, scroll down and click on the Codec Button. Then, You get an Overview with different Codec Packages. Install them all.

Then open the Terminal and type:

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras ffmpeg vlc

ubuntu-restricted-extras is a bundled Package with additional Codec Support and Microsoft Fonts. The last is the Reason why You will get a Licence Agreement Prompt. Navigate there with the Tab Key to ok and press Enter to accept. ffmpeg give more Codce Support. vlc is a Media Player but offers Codec Support, too.

[Necris]

Hi Aravision,

I have tried setting the Power Mode to Performance, and it then it plays just fine.
Checked the gfx and its an Intel UHD Graphics 620. CPU intergrated i believe.

@Forpli i installed the flatpaks package of Firefox.

[Aravisian]

@Necris

I have tried setting the Power Mode to Performance, and it then it plays just fine.

This does narrow it down. I suspect powersave features are causing the issue.

Can you try booting and testing using the i915.enable_dc=0 grub parameter?
Following this guide:

[HOW TO] add a grub parameter

There may be times that a user must add a specialized grub parameter in order to overcome an issue. The purpose of this guide is not to provide parameters, as that would be a case by case basis. It is to provide a guide on how to add one. To add a parameter, in a terminal (TTY, Recovery Prompt or Terminal Emulator) run: sudo nano /etc/default/grub Arrow key down to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" and place your parameter within the quotation tags. For example if you are adding th…

Do Not Use nomodeset. Instead, use i915.enable_dc=0, so it looks like:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.enable_dc=0"

Once the line is ready, tap ctl+o to overwrite, then enter key to save as current configuration.
Tap ctl+x to eXit the editor, then run:

sudo update-grub

Reboot, then test...

[Ponce-De-Leon]

@Necris

i installed the flatpaks package of Firefox.

Then, I would suggest to try the .deb Version of Firefox. You should fin it as an Option in Gnome Software. Or take the Instructions from Mozilla to add their Repo and install Firefox:

Install Firefox on Linux | Firefox Help

[StarTreker]

This sounds like power saving features to me, its pretty obvious, as soon as you plug the notebook back in the wall, it suddenly starts acting correctly. All notebooks enter a power saving state when unplugged, its very common. This is why all gamers have to keep the notebook plugged in, won't last much beyond an hour running at full performance, running off the battery.

I agree, keep the computer set to full performance, if you don't want you bluetooth, WIFI, internet, dropping off like a dead fish, and your video streaming to crash.

---

[Necris]

That should never be an issue to be honest. That would simply that mean you cant use a laptop for what its ment for.

But the problem is fixed with a different version of Firefox. I installed the APT version, so the flatpak version seems to be wonky. Could have done that before but didnt think of that.

Thanks all!